Trust in the Lord with all your Heart

I just re-listened to this sermon from Jim Mackinga at Baycities Church in Redondo Beach, CA. I have it recorded from a previous Sunday, thank God for their foresight and ability to preserve them like that !

He is talking about how God wants us to deal with pain in our lives. And this sermon series came in very good timing for me! Thank God again for sending Jim Mackinga and Baycities church !

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6

There are so many things these days that I just don't have the answers for. So many difficulties that I am unsure of what to do. And, of course, I have some solutions I would like to put into action, but I am not sure that they are the right course. Throughout my life, I have been pretty decisive, and a doer. I have accomplished a lot and people describe me as persistent and successful. But I am currently out of my league, and I think that God planned on that, to sort of force my hand... to turn to him. There are a couple of different issues that I have turned over to him and I am now diligently waiting for him to provide the answers, the solutions.

It is not easy for an action oriented, controlling person to give control over to God, and wait. But that is what I am doing. I trust in you, dear Lord. I know that you can solve these problems in my business and in my relationships. I am keeping my eyes and heart focused on you Lord, every day. And I am waiting and trusting in you for the answers.

Non-believers, and even my old self, would think that this sounds lazy, or easy or il-advised. But it's not... It's not lazy, I have to work on focusing on God, when I want to go out and manipulate the situation and the people. It's not easy, I tend to worry, which is not right, and not very trusting. I have to continually turn it back over to God. It's not il-advised - God has the power and the wisdom and the love to provide all the answers that I need. Who on earth could possibly come up with a better answer than God !? Certainly not me.

Once again Lord Jesus, I ask for your guidance and I give my life over to your will. Please show me the way lord to solve these business problems and fix these broken relationships. I am your trusting servant, Father. Please take the throne of my heart and make me into the person you want me to be. And thank you for Jim Mackinga and Baycities Church.

The Stumbling Block - Faith

I could never answer the question -' Why should I have faith in some unseen, unproven thing !?' and most of the time I didn't need to answer it. Most of the time my faith was just there, I had enough to get me through what I needed it to get me through... But in recent years, after prolonged struggles, my faith began to waiver somewhat. I thought perhaps I had been abandoned or God just wasn't there for me anymore, or maybe there was no personal God watching out for any of us.



But in my recent renewal of faith, I am coming closer to answering that question, at least for myself. And when I read from the Old Testament and see how difficult it was to gain salvation. There was a time when God's tolerance of our sins wore out and he wiped things out. There also seems to be a lot of complicated instructions that come from God, that would have been very difficult to complete. So now, in that light, putting my trust in Jesus Christ and knowing that I will have forgiveness for my mistakes, seems extremely easy and I am very grateful for it ! What a great love he must have for us to give us this great gift !

So where faith had been a stumbling block for me in the past, now that I have been broken down to absolutely needing his help in my life, and reading from the Old Testatment, what it was like w/o that redemptive powers... Faith is not my stumbling block any more. I am very thankful for Jesus Christ for taking the punisment for my sins and I give my life to him - my Lord and Savior. May he take the throne of my heart and make me the kind of person he wants me to be.

If you are looking for me, you will find me on they way... not in the way - Romans 9:33

Live Every Day With Joy and Without Fear

To experience joy every day and to live each day without fear is what I ask, and I believe what Christ offers when we walk in him and him in us.

Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, I will never, never fail you nor forsake you. That is why we can say without any doubt or fear The lord is my helper and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me.

Hebrew 13:5-6

My biggest fears are around money, losing it, not having enough of it... Yet, God has always provided for me very generously. So why do I doubt him and fear this? These are earthly fears and doubts from Satan. Please forgive me Lord for my doubts and faithlessness. I confess that I am weak, but in Christ, who strengthens me, I can do all things.

It is not even money that I desire. I desire to live fully, with Joy and Love, to feel the purpose of life that God has given me. Today I put my fears aside, with the knowledge that Christ is my Lord and Savior and he has promised to lift me up and save me and forgive me.

When I have even the smallest fear I will say - The Lord is my helper and I am not afraid !

Christ Strengthens Me

This morning on my walk I thanked God for the mystery that he is unfolding in my business. One of my sales team is undertaking a new market due to God's direction and guidance and I could see his blessings upon this endeavor. This provides comfort to me.

As I looked out on the ocean, I could see how wide and deep God's love is, like the ocean. I dipped my house into the ocean of God's love and asked for his blessing on the renovation and sale of it. This provides strength and comfort to me.

Today I started 2 tasks that have been causing me angst and worry. They turned out not to be a problem after all and the people I had to deal with were not a problem. Christ gave me the strength and the blessing to make them easy. Thank you Lord.

I also prayed about a business relationship that I have been feeling intimidated over. And God told me to take my daily steps that are needed and allow him to work between us. I submit this relationship and this business venture to God's will and I allow him to make it what it will become.

Thank you Lord for all that your provided for me today and for all that you helped me to do! You are my king.

May it be to me as you have said. - Luke 1:38

Focus on God

Today, I started out with a worry over a business relationship, one that has been bothering me a lot lately. God rebuked my questions on what I should do to handle this matter and said I must FOCUS my attention on him and he will handle the other.

Last night, I tried to start this blog.... I researched software to use, and sites to host on and ways to make money with my blog... not that I was going to start out with that.. but maybe for future reference. I wanted to set it up 'right' in the start, to have it look nice, as integrated into a web site, my mind was really on that 'future' money making endeavor. Well God please forgive me for losing focus on what was at hand. I am guilty as charged. Anyway the task became complicated and technical and not at all God-focused. Very complicated ! When what I really needed to do was to start writing. Well, I got frustrated and went to bed w/o writing a word. I thought I had good intentions, but I guess I let them get distracted and tainted. Forgive me lord.

This morning, I called and canceled the hosting account that I had paid for and started over, here at blogger.com. Man was this easy and very focused on my task of blogging about my walk to God ! Thank you, blogger.com for being there for me. Within minutes I was up and writing and it feels great!

An Endurance Event

In our talk yesterday, he said that this is an endurance event. That I must prepare myself for the long haul... like an athlete in training.

What all could that mean?

• Taking care of myself: Feeding my soul, with the good company of other Christians, family and good friends.
• Taking care of my health - eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep
• Seeking out ways that I can serve the lord and keeping my FOCUS on him, -this blog is my one step to that end.
• Learning more of his word, I can't wait until my bible study resumes from the holiday break. - BTW, a great book we are using, 'Having a Mary Spirit' , it ties right into this walk of mine.
• Giving up worry, busyness and FOCUSING on God.
• Memorize scripture verses to help sustain me.

Just Getting Started

Although I have been a Christian all of my life, I am now seeking out a deeper, meaningful, personal relationship with God/Christ/Holy Spirit. I have always prayed, and in times past I was able to hear his directions for me pretty well. But in recent years I have been struggling to hear him, struggling to know his direction for my life, as well as struggling with my life.

So here I am, renewing my bond to Christ, giving my life over to him, seeking out his help, his guidance, his blessings... more than ever before.

As I struggle in my life, I pray... for guidance, to be filled with holy spirit, and for forgiveness. So every morning I walk... I walk and talk to God. I ususally try to tell him about my problems on the outbound leg, and try to listen more on the inbound leg... Sometimes it actually works out like that.