As I was driving to church this past Sunday the popular acronym “WWJD” came to me, it made me think very seriously at, what would Jesus do in situations that occur daily for each of us? Now I realize we all encounter different things and are inclined to be in conversations that may be radically different for one another so, I am going to use my own personal experiences to explore WWJD. I have attended a few different denomination churches in my life; spanning from Community non-denominational, Baptist, Methodist, and Lutheran. To be honest, my experiences had more to do the people of the congregations rather than the denomination and its particular traditions, sacred histories or symbols. My foundational belief is I believe in the Trinity, God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. I was created by God, I have salvation because of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ’s through His life, death and resurrection and daily I am encouraged and directed by the Holy Spirit. In the past, I was drawn to churches for a variety of things such as times of services (crazy work schedules), the Pastors, classes/workshops and the congregation. As, I look back and ponder on these things, I am reminded how very happy I have found a church that truly feeds me, teaches me, supports me and loves me unconditionally. God knew my plan all along; it just took me a bit longer to find my path to free-ness and happiness. A church cannot and should not be the foundation of your faith, churches are merely buildings in which believers gather to share and praise God. My church serves communion weekly, this is an awesome experience and weekly I can refresh my spirit, recommit myself to God, and restore my soul. Church services offer a time for community and conversations, coffee and juice to feed nutritionally and scripture, message, singing and prayers feed the soul to overflowing. It’s a chance to engage with others as we work towards a common goal to spread the love of Jesus with one another but more overly our world. So, the question is WWJD…over and over throughout the Bible, Jesus meets with people, the common usually ignored people, He respected people and He loved people. He was sincere and preached to people in a manner that was simple to understand, not like the Teachers of the Law at that time. Jesus did not put on public displays all His power and authority for mere recognition, He healed and saved people whose faith allowed healing to take place. When Jesus prayed, He did not do so openly for all to see, He spoke with His Father in a quiet and private personal manner. God does not want His children to display themselves in a proud and gaudy way of worshipping Him; this only brings recognition to self. God wants and desires a personal relationship with Him; He wants to bless us beyond our capabilities to comprehend. God’s invitation is for all people, no one is excluded, NONE…we are called to share the Good News to all, all are created in God’s image and to bring glory to God, He has a plan for each of us…I recently, attended a workshop “Pursuing Your Unique Purpose,” it was a great workshop and I was able to name and claim my spiritual gifts as well as find clarity to put them into action. Life is meant to grow, increase and even stretch (as I recently discovered at the ACC sermon on 09/08/2013…look for it soon on the website if you missed it http://www.avonchristian.org/ Sermon “Refreshment for the Soul”) WWJD…confronting self and others with grace and mercy, stretching yourself to grow, refine and refresh your soul. I am going to challenge myself when confronted with decisions and actions, WWJD…we are all human and sinners and honestly judgment comes into life every day, what if we just meet people where they are with no expectations, just loving them as Jesus would, not judging but with grace and mercy.
Peace and Blessing~

I have been away for a few days and it was difficult to write during that time for reasons that are difficult to explain but my thoughts are filled with things I want to share. I have just returned from visiting with family, family…that word itself can ignite memories or develop a spark for what the future may hold. It is used to describe relatives by birth, marriage or adoption; people joined together with a common bond; and someone’s lineage. For me, family is the people in my heart! As I was driving home today from a long weekend with my father, brother, aunt and cousins I was awe-struck with an overwhelming feeling on blessedness. I have been fortunate to have known my great-grandparents; grandparents; aunts and uncles; cousins (1st, 2nd and 3rd generation)…but even more than my blood relatives God has blessed me with friends from high school; college and jobs, each are every bit my family as well. And, more amazingly God continues to place people in my life that are more than just friends, I love them as family. I guess I’ve known this extraordinary feeling of love for a very long time without truly recognizing its depth or reciprocal value until I had faced some very sad and painful events in my life. The one single thing that has remained in my life through all the good and the painful things that I have experienced and sadly I failed to see it on a regular basis and that is the everlasting, unconditional love of God. God has never left me, though I often leave Him out of my life. It’s sometimes easy to remember say thank you to God when life is good, but even then we think “look what I did!” and leave God completely out. But, we are quick to think of God when things go bad! I can’t lie; I have been guilty of the later more times than I care to say. We never want to take responsibility for the bad choices we make, it’s somehow God’s fault, and the good things that happen to us…Look what I did! God is never mentioned. I have come to this conclusion after rediscovering the most profound thing, I belong to God! Without God I would not be here, I would not have even been born. All that I am, all that I have is a gift from God. I am a sinner, I was born a sinner and only by the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ am I able to proclaim that I am a child of God, God is my family, He created me to bring glory to Him and He gave me a purpose, my life has a purpose. Daily, I struggle to be the person I was born to be, the struggle is my humanness and only by inviting God to be with us and in us through the work of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis can we truly be happy, the kind of happiness that fills you from the inside out. I am the woman I am because of God, because of the family I was given to…I have no regrets because if not for the experiences I have had, I would not be who I am now…through it all, a child of God. I could and have sometimes do compared myself to others, and think if I had only understood life and took it more serious years ago, I would not have wasted time and been doing God’s will and living out my purpose. There I go second guessing God; He precisely and purposely was in control the whole time. Thanks be to God! I feel as if my eyes have been opened, I am purposely starting and ending my day with conversations with God and invite Him on this journey through life. He’s always been there, and I think it makes God smile when I simply say, “Let’s go and meet the day together!” I do not understand all life’s experiences, but I know that God is with me, always. A very dear friend (thank you!) gave me Psalms 62 today and I pray it blesses you as it did me!
Peace & Blessings˜

Psalm 62
New International Version (NIV)

1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
3 How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”

a

 

But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.” (NLT) ( Nehemiah 1:9 ) Even if you have done wrong, God will always forgive you, take you back and welcome you with open arms. Is there something shameful in your past you’ve been carrying around? God can turn your circumstances around and use them to bring honor and glory to His name. Take a step towards returning to God, spend a moment in your Bible reading about God. Download this app to get your daily devotions:http://jctrois.com

I am reminded of the darkness that covered my afternoon with negativity and dishonor, as I sit here typing letters to this page, forming words to describe the feelings I have pinned up in my head, my very soul is agitated, feelings are bouncing around in my head, is that supposed to happen? I’m angry but failing to understand why?  When this day started I was focused and driven, by mid-afternoon I became a woman possessed…loud, negative and condescending, it was as if I lost total control of who I am.  I did not recognize the person I became, a  stranger in my body acting absurd and foolish.  I believe I actual had a temper tantrum, seriously at my age.  Could this anger come from being afraid? I’ve  never been good at asking for help, always thinking someone will figure me out  and just know what to do for me.  Less accountability on myself…I’ve never  been a mom but my mom could tell by the sound of my voice or simply my actions  to know something was up…I miss my mom.  I try to get what I need from my  friends, but when they fail to recognize my needs, I implode like an old forgotten casino in Vegas, giving way to new neon lights…I melt like ice cream  in late July!  As if its someone else’s responsibility to magically know what I  need! Oh God, I’m broken and I need help, help me find my missing pieces.  Teach  me to ask for what I need, show me the difference between making a request and  begging & being burdensome, teach me how to accept the truth.  I stand in  shame of my actions, wishing I could take it all back but what is done, is done.   Such finality of it all! Oh God of mercy I am utterly ashamed of my words and actions and though I am not worthy of your forgiveness, I seek your mercy and  grace to be upon me as I close out this day and may I be reminded of your  steadfast and unconditional love for me and that I will see others through eyes  of mercy and grace even in my humanness, to God be the glory forever and ever!   Amen.

Psalms 92  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2092&version=NKJV

Psalm 136  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+136&version=NIV

My very being is restless tonight, my mind is rapidly trying to form some sense of order to the thoughts that are invading all corners of my soul. Have you ever wondered, seriously wondered why we have such a vast variety of everything. There always seems to be one thing or the other thing, right or left, front or back, first or last, right or wrong…I think you get my idea. Then to take that information further, why do we choose one over the other, often times its more than two things to choose from, but the bottom line is we all choose. One could argue, it’s been this way since the beginning of time, more narrowly in Christianity it is thought it started with Adam and Eve, they chose, not wisely but that’s not the issue in this conversation only the choice part. God created mankind to glorify God and created each individual person with a purpose. My belief is that in creating us as individuals, using our specific purposes we can support one another in building strong Christian communities that glorify God. I’m fearful that in our individualism we forget our creator and we begin to splinter off and decide to create our own purposes for our own glory forgetting God and that without God, nothingness is all that would exist. When we take God out of creation and boast about ourselves and what we can do, things can look pretty successful from our own point of view but soon our egos outgrow the space we occupy and sooner or later it all blows up and we are seen for the frauds that we truly are. As humans, we have all contributed to the messes we have in the world. God never intended for nations and countries to be constantly at war, never agreeing upon anything, always accusing…how quickly we forget why we are even here and alive, to glorify God and to live into the purpose of why we were created.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

My restlessness comes from disenchantment with believers with boundaries for loving. Love has no boundaries, it is a gift from God Most High, who are we to decide who can be loved and who cannot? Am I more lovable as a Republican or as a Democrat, man or woman, black or white, blue-collar worker or white-collar worker, American or Chinese, short or tall, rich or poor…the list goes on and on, the point I am trying to make is God never used anything to distinguish who is loved…ALL are loved, no one better or worse than another, we are all born sinful and the way to be changed is through the belief and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that only through His life, death and resurrection we are made anew. Amen!

Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? .

What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAo73QtDzdQ

My Purpose Statement and Life Verse:

To love and respect all, to receive and promote the unconditional love of GOD.   “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9

Yesterday was the last formal gathering for the workshop I have been attending for the past four weeks, I found it to be a rather bittersweet event.  My knowledge gained from this learning experience has by far exceeded my expectations.  My goal was to come away with clarity, through the direction and guidance of our facilitator and interactions with members of the group I now have that clarity with a clear understanding of my spiritual gifts as well as how they are manifested through me.  I have been able to make purpose statement using the gifts that God is using through me, (giving, intercession and mercy).  I am so thankful for the gifts that I have received and I receive great joy in sharing them.  The others that I have had the privilege of sharing this journey of seeking and finding our unique purposes has strengthened me in regards to my own faith and I was able to see and feel the energy of each individual in the group through the stories they shared.  I felt the very presence of God and His Spirit in the room as some shared deeply personal accounts that have occurred within their lives.  God is truly alive and is making a difference in this world through people of faith while using their specific spiritual gifts.  What I encountered while listening and sharing was true community and connectedness that fills a void in my life.  There was a strong interest from all who attending last night to continue on this journey, from “Pursuing Our Purpose,” to “Finding/Identifying Our Purpose” to “What’s Next.”  For me, the “what’s next is “Living Into My Purpose.”  Life is a journey and I am excited to continue, I can see now that I have been fearful of the future for quite sometime and no power on this earth can stop the momentum of moving forward.  If we choose to stop or even slow down, the effects are only felt within ourselves.  I have been holding onto the past because I was happy then, not wanting to be hurt by the unknown.  God created each of us unique and individual for His glory and with a unique purpose, how awesome it that?  I don’t want to be afraid or live in fear any longer.

Some who read this may be thinking they do not have any gifts to offer but believe me when I say, ” YOU DO!”  They are already in you and most likely you are already using and sharing them daily.  Read the verses below and know you are a gift and God has blessed you uniquely and He wants to help you use the gifts you were created for.  Feel free to contact me if you have questions, I may not have the answers but I can help you search.  Blessings to YOU!

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.   My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  Psalm 139:13-16

Yesterday’s Scripture reading at church was Luke 13:10-17 and Jeremiah 1:4-10

With regards to the scriptures used in yesterday’s sermon, I did a lot of reading and I am discovering there is so much I want to learn and to write about that it is starting it overwhelming me, but in a good way. I believe this feeling is in part due to not connecting and attending church services for the past two weeks, there is a power in community that can not be reached or felt outside of the community gatherings of Sunday morning church services. Sundays for me is more than coffee and salutations and hearing a sermons of the rights and wrongs of Christian life…it is an opportunity to re-energize and supply myself with spiritual provisions to meet the obstacles that life will set before me in the coming week. It’s a chance to fill my emotion tank with hugs and smiles as I face a week of uncertainties. It’s an opportunity to participate in a meal with my brothers and sisters in Christ and to physically take communion and realign my spiritual barometer towards God and seek forgiveness and guidance to be a living example of God and His love for all mankind. Taking the bread and drinking the wine in remembrance of the selflessness of Jesus because He loves us like no one can and to freely share His unconditional love with us. Communion is the most sacred act for me and I missed participating in it yesterday. What I understand about the scripture reading is the Sabbath is a holy day and we should set aside at least one day for only God, the Sabbath is about God and all that He has done, doing and will do for us, we can become very calloused about the ceremonial things to the point of simply performing the act and completely take the significance of why the act even exists…communion is a good example if you do it because it makes you look holy and everyone else is doing it and if you don’t do it people will question your faith…if any of these things are your reasons for taking communion you have completely missed the message. Communion is a very personal act of reconnecting with God and a time to be honest with ourselves and put our pride aside, for me it is a total surrender of my pridefulness, an opportunity to literally feel God wrapping His love around me and reassuring me that He is in-control, I need this humbling experience to keep me grounded in truth…if God be for us who can be against us!

A second thing I understand about Luke 13:10-17 was Jesus’ act of healing the woman was His compassion for people. He saw her suffering and wanted to relieve her pain. He was not thinking, the laws do not apply to me and performing a miracle of healing is to show His defiance towards the law, His act was directly from His heart which is filled with unending compassion and love. Jesus brought common sense to His followers, He used stories/parables that people could relate to and understand. My thoughts about the reason the teachers and scribes of the synagogues were so troubled at the healing was fear, fear that if people were making decisions based upon common sense and understand the laws in a practical manner they would become insignificant within their community/synagogues. Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law not to destroy the law. So, even though my job requires me to work on Sunday, the Sabbath it can in no way take the significance of the day away from me, it is within me and the Holy Spirit guides me through my day.

The second scripture reading for the sermon yesterday was Jeremiah 1:4-10. My understanding of this scripture is that God chose Jeremiah to deliver His will. Through my reading and studying of the Bible, God uses meek, stubborn and even defiant individuals as instruments to deliver His messages and will. Moses was not outgoing and he stuttered, he begged God to send his brother Aaron but that was not God’s will. Then there’s Jonah…reluctant and defiant but in the end, Jonah did do the will of God. It has been my experience that God continues to use the “Moses’, Jonah’s and Jeremiah’s” of today to spread the Good News just as Jesus shared His ministry with the marginalized of His day. We are all called to share the “Good News!” Listen and seek God’s call for you, for those who follow my blog or just know me, know that I am actively seeking, searching and listening for my call into ministry. I am attending a class titled, Pursuing Your Purpose it is a wonderful journey of discovery and I am eager to share my experiences and knowledge with the world. Starting my blog,  I feel is in part fulfilling my purpose, I am excited to continue my journey and to share my experiences with all who will listen to me and read my blog. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. May the wonderment of God be revealed to you this day!

*http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/a/Jonah-And-The-Whale.htm

*http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/israeljudaea/a/aa091499_2.htm

Daily, we all are faced with choices and most often they are basically one of two things, a need or a want.  One is not more important or more valuable than the other, provided you know the difference.   I have personally been looking at each more intensely over the past few years and what I have figured out is, I have a very limited list. A valuable lesson learned is it is ok to want specific things, the danger comes when we find ourselves wanting things so much that it becomes a distraction and jealously creeps into our hearts and blinds us to the dangerous path we are traveling down.  In regards to needs, what do we really need?  Sometimes, I think we use faith as title or trait of ourselves, when in fact it is really an action word to describe our love and affections for our salvation through Jesus Christ, meaning is our faith increased when we diligently pray and seek God’s will in our lives to provide for our needs or do we sit back and assume our faith is strong merely because we believe in God and He will provide for whatever our needs my be?  Personally, I do believe in God and that He knows my every need and He lovingly wants to provide my every need and my every want, He is just waiting for me to openly and sincerely ask Him.  God is a generous God, He wants to be our provider, our Savior!  It is not sinful to have nice things or to enjoy material possessions, they are only sinful when they take and distract us from the reason we have them.  Never forgot to thank God daily for your blessing. Keep yourself humble to others and share your gifts.  I have two favorite prayers that humble me each time I hear them, I pray they touch you as deeply as they do for me

“Oh God all that we are and all that we have is a gift from you, take our gifts multiply them and transform your world, Amen!”

“Oh God help us to be masters of ourselves, so that we may be the servants to others, take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire, Amen!”

Below is something I had written a few years ago, I am happy to say that my thoughts are clearer today, I still have days where the world feels cruel but I am reminded this world is my temporary home. This conditional world tries to convince us that all we need for happiness is material things, not true…God is the great provider and He knows our hearts and will bless you abundantly!

I don’t need to be in love
I want to be loved
I don’t want to give care
I want to feel care

My faith is weak
My anger is strong
I want to run
I need to be held

I want to let go
I’m all tied up
I want to scream
I’m too scared

I want to cry
I need to cry
I curb my wants
I deny my needs

God wants in
I push God away
I blame, I question
Silence is all I have…

~C.A.Robinson
10/25/2011
12:36am

Yesterday was such a long day, it was the same amount of hours of all the previous days but somehow it felt different.  There was a heaviness in the air and often felt like life was playing out in slow motion.  I have plenty to be thankful for in my life, I wasn’t wanting for anything  in particular but I was feeling drained, and needing something but what?  God continues to bless me beyond any expectations and definitely not deserving, but I am truly thankful for the countless blessings I have received.  Lately I have been thinking that I’m getting a second chance at become the person I was created to be.  As a kid, like all kids I had dreams of what I thought I wanted to be…professional softball player, that was a long time ago and to be honest I’m not even sure there was such a thing.  It was the one thing I was completely confident about in my life.  My parents were so supportive, allowing me to play for several different teams at one time and they drove me all over the state if Indiana to play softball, it was a lot of fun!  I would have to say that I experienced pure joy all those summers ago playing a silly game.  It is good to have something that can fill your life with pure joy, recently I have been getting that feeling of pure joy, through my increased participation with my church and spending time with friends, having conversations about life, the Bible and searching for purpose, my purpose to be more direct.  Relationships within a church can be whatever you need it to be, for example you can mentor others, be someones big brother or sister, formulate study groups, form social gatherings, befriend someone in need…you get the idea. We are all God’s children and we are commanded to love one another as we love ourselves, this is also to forgive ourselves for the wrong things we’ve done, when we sincerely pray for forgiveness, we need to let it go and learn and grow from the experience.  I have been extending myself to help with several little projects because I’m learning I need the contact with others to feed me socially, academically, emotionally and most importantly biblically. I have questions, I have comments and I just want to share my faith with others.  As I continue on my journey I hope you will seek out your joy and then pursue it.