Thankful Thursday: Faith Like a Child...

1) There is a really really good Jars of Clay song of the same title...(minus the Thankful Thursday part, naturally)

2) I shall attempt to weave two post themes into this one, and hopefully it will be all smooth and seamless.

3) God is Magnificent and deserves all our praise, all our worship, all of everything we are.

We all vaguely know Jesus' opinion on Children, and how He says that we must become like children..in short, just ref. Matt. 3:18..unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you can never enter Heaven.

Usually, our first, deep down true instinct is to get all indignant, like...but children know precious little! they are just naive there and know nothing of what is real..how can i put all my knowledge aside and make like i know nothing? my intelligence is insulted..okay, so maybe there are people who honestly hear this and go..hey! fabulous idea! and then just morph into the required kid mode...

What, then, is unique about being like a child? Well, as with everything else with God, everything is linked to everything. This, vague as it may be at first sight, is about His love for us, and wanting us to live in the way that enables us experience it to thr max.

Here we go again, right? God asks things of us not so that He can be all smug like, look what i made them do...but so that we can bask in His love...Yeah, He's odd and selfless and romantic like that. See..We are agreed on the part where we are His children, right? Okay. Also, He is God, right? The very same one who created the earth and all that's in it? We're still together on this? okay, good. So, it is safe to say, that we can trust His decisions, right? His choices too?

To have faith like a child before God, is to let go of our pride. It is letting go of what we think we know and have achieved by our might, and letting God. Letting Him take care of you, letting Him teach you how to walk again, how to speak again, how to listen again. Do you see where i'm coming from? Flash back to when you were little. Your parents were your everything. Their word was absolute truth as far as you were concerned. I personally was covinced beyond all reasonable doubt that if i swallowed an orange seed, it would grow out of the top of my head. I also cried genuine tears when this mistakenly happened, until i was reassured that i'd be fine.

What it is, is this. You had absolute faith in your parents. You trusted that they would not give you instructions that would bring you harm. You ran to them with any problems, believing that they could fix it. And then we grow up and get wise and think we know it all and start teaching them a thing or two..and this is not bad..but at the same time, they will still always be your parents and still always be the same amount of years ahead of you and still able to guide you right...but that is a detour.. What i'm learning, what i'm trying to share, is that God calls us to go back to that place where we are completely defenceless before Him, trusting in Him, because He is God, and He knows, and He CAN make it all alright, and He knows what is best...if we could be this way with our mortal parents, then how much more with God?

And thus we shimmy into the next theme...Luke 12:32, then Luke 12:30..in that order :) see, it is God's good pleasure to give you good things. And He knows what you need, He knows the basic things you need, He knows the special things your heart desires.

This is continuing the theme of Faith like a child in that one of the reasons why we hold back and try to continue leaning on our own understanding is that we suspect that God might be up to handling things in a way that is not the best for us as we imagine it needs to be. This is sad, but often true. We think..i have to give this up..but look how it's been working in my life since..and now God is asking me to give it up..i'll never be the same..and for some reason the underlying understanding casts a negative tinge on this and decides that God doesn't quite know what He's taking away...and other thoughts to that tune...

But it's not like that at all. God not only knows what you need and want and truly desire, but He knows the best form in which to give it to you, and He also has this habit of giving us extra. Just pressed down and running over and newest model and just the very best plus extra of whatever it is that we want, need...not to mention the surprises He throws in, because He knows it will bring us joy. So my petition is this. Believe God, trust Him. Trust that He has your best interests at heart and He deserves for you to be able to let go, dismantle all your guards, be vulnerable and childlike in His presence, trusting, loving, and ready to lean on Him and learn what He teaches, because, like that other bible verse goes...If a son asks for bread, His father will not give him stones...

also, Luke 12:22-34.

I am thankful for Life.

I am thankful for God.

I am thankful that He saved me, and keeps saving me and is in my life every second, of every day.

I am thankful for my relationship with Him.

I am thankful that He looks out for me.

I am thankful that He is go Kind, and gracious and merciful and thoughtful. Also, God is sweeeeeeeeeeet! He will just drop all these presents and love notes all through my days and have me smiling and tearing up..and there are no ulterior motives with Him. :)

I am thankful that He is my joy.

I am thankful that He speaks to me through His word, through inspiring others, through everything and anything that He can.

I am thankful that i have cause after cause to rejoice.

I am thankful for prayer.

I am thankful for answered prayers.

I am thankful for prayers which He answered with No. He has kept my feet from stumbling.

I am thankful for love

I am thankful for do-overs

I am thankful for the times when He reaches out and steadies me and doesn't let me act out of anger or spite or pure foolishness

I am thankful for my family

I am thankful for my friends both old and new

I am thankful for communication with Him

I am thankful for His love..it is all encompassing, blanketing, loving love :D

I am thankful for His guidance

I am thankful for insight He provides me with

I am thankful for His peace, for the calm He pours over me in the midst of storms

I am thankful for Lara George )))

I am thankful for music...there is something about switching of your brain and allowing your heart to sing out the words

I am thankful for learning

I am thankful for bonding

I am thankful that He will move mountains, part seas, do the seemingly impossible for His children...like joke like play, i went for BigBro's wedding...and it was beautiful. there was no part of the entire week away that wasn't exquisitely touched by God...This is what i was on about in the last post :)))

I am thankful for BigBro and his BEAUTIFUL wife...kai..if you see her...you'll know that it's the God in her that gives her that glow like none other...say a prayer and cover their marriage in blessings and favour and love!

I am thankful that He has blessed, and blesses me so..and abundantly too, i might add...He has put a song in my heart.

I am thankful for faith

I am thankful for who He has made me be. Past, present, and future...Also, He is teaching me to love me through the love He has for me...thinkabourrit...He made me!

I am thankful! oh so very thankful..for each and every day, for each day i wake up and pray, for His word, for His presense, for Him. He does not abandon me, He is there for me come rain or shine...and that is more than enough to sweep any girl off her feet ;)

p.s>>next post, i should write on how we try to replace Him with anything we can lay our hands on, try to find sources to provide what only He can...

Also...testimonieeesss..dem full barrel remain :P

Thankful Thursday: It's not your decision.

I think this is one mistake that we keep making, and are blissfully unaware of. It's deciding what God can, and cannot handle. We limit Him based on the tiny tiny visions that our little minds can grasp. We limit Him based on our faulty and blind "logic". We say..naahh, that's not possible, so i won't bother God with it...

Lies! ANYTHING, ANYTHING that crosses your mind, take it to Him in prayer. Do not censor it, do not filter it, do not try to work out the ways in which it may happen, and then turn to God to make that plan you've seen in your head come to pass.

That is not how it works. You tell Him, and allow Him do it His way. No matter how improbable or impossible it seems, He will do it, because His word is Law, and His word is Life, and He is faithful, and He is GOD.

I know i'm capitalizing and stating the obvious over and over...but i need to get this through. I asked God to send me inspiration for this post today..and that, as it turns out, is a bold thing to do, because when God delivers, He rocks your entire world. He doesn't do "just enough" to satisfy your needs, He gives you, pressed down and running over..He goes ALL OUT!

When i do tell this story, it will sound too good to be true, it will sound like pure fantasy. But it's true, all of it..and that's my testimony, that's truth, that's proof...things like this make me wonder at those moments of pure stupidity where i forget how awesome He is, where i close my eyes to Him and do some foolish thing that i know is not pleasing in His sight...how can i trade this, this magnificent, very much involved God, for some foolishery that serves no purpose..like, what good does venting anger bring? what good does gossip bring? I am in awe right now. there is no other word to describe it..Awe. Sitting here, brain too stunned to process...awe.

So this is what today's post is about..it's ridunkulous how the idea of it came to me a while ago, popped up again earlier today..and then THIS happens, like actually this happens, and is basically the principle brought to life...and somebody wants to talk about God being a myth? something we work ourselves up into believing? our own might? plix plix plix!

Don't decide what God can and cannot handle. Don't choose the tasks He is fit to undertake, Don't limit Him in your own little mind. He created the universe and all that's in it..believe me, He sees wider and farther than you can ever imagine, and He will make a way where you think it's a solid wall you've come up against. He will cause things to HAPPEN in ways that stun your entire being. And then you're sitting there with this huge grin and tears in your eyes, unable to do anything but thank Him and acknowledge that HE is God, and HE is capable of anything. He is there for you, He is your comfort, He is your strength, and He listens...Trust Him and live the way He says you should...it is not punishment, but the key to true joy.

Faith.

I am thankful for God.

I am thankful for prayer.

I am thankful for His presence in my life.

I am thankful that He keeps saving me.

I am thankful that He listens.

I am thankful for my family.

I am thankful that He answers my prayers in the most optimal ways.

I am thankful for THIS FEELING.

I am thankful for Life.

I am thankful that He is just so awesome.

I am thankful that He has set me on this great adventure.

I am thankful for the lessons He teaches me.

I am thankful for His patience.

I am thankful for my mother.

I am thankful for repaired relationships.

I am thankful for clarity of vision.

I am thankful, that He is teaching me to love me, for He loves me and finds me worthy, and i do not need anyone's approval because this is enough.

I am thankful for inspiration.

I am thankful for Love.

I am thankful for my Big bro's and his angel of a wife's wedding yesterday. Every time i think of them i end up with rivers of tears of joy. Their love is inspiring, their story is inspiring, them together is inspiring, and God completes the sense of rightness.

I am thankful that i have such wonderful role models.

I am thankful for my sisters. Their wonderfulness is something!

I am thankful that God dries my tears, comforts me, takes away my sorrow and pain and repaces them with causes to rejoice.

I am thankful for God.

I am thankful for all the miracles that are in my life each and every moment of each and every day. God looks out for me.

I am thankful...

Thankful Thursday: The Great Adventure// Emi a rire!

The post last week was going to be on Jonah, and how his situation is not the God-will-haunt-you bad bad situation that people tend to interprete it to be. I think it is something to be ecstatic about! That God has a plan for you. His plans are perfect. All this is, is that He will make sure you end up where He wants you to be...in any case, He will do everything to lead you there. If your own stronghead pass that one, your loss. I personally find comfort in it. That He will find me under any rock and during any lapse of common sense and prod me out into the light. Do you realize how amazing that is? i could paint analogies..but this is supposed to be another post. Also, Proverbs 19:21. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. I dunno about you..but that gives me comfort.

Ehe...oya ring the bell, it's testimony time :P

Yup, i'm here again bursting with Joy. It's downright ridiculouuuuussssss! i cannot say this enough, i cannot pinch myself enough, i cannot go over the facts in my head enough. God is AWESOME and i haven't been the same.

Seeing how my thoughts and emotions are all over the place, i will just stick with the script and start with the Great Adventure part ( Emi a rire, i gather, means "I will find Favour"...amennnn!).

Thing is...when you're faced with the decision of taking that crazy jump i mentioned in my last post, "common sense" starts whispering at you that you're in for boredom, you're in for rules and more rules (ooh, btw, i shall address this with *Liberty...interesting that it is exactly what came up for my devotional this morning)...anywho..so common sense is there whispering at you that you've just about given up everything and what awaits you are days of wearing sackcloth and dusting yourself with ashes and never laughing.

Lies! :P But i guess why it IS about taking that crazy leap and trusting...because since i just carried all my load and handed it over to God...i have had more opportunities, more "coincidences", more interesting turns, more cause for rejoicing and just plain MORE in the last month or less than i've had in a very long time. Now, i'm not saying "allow God in your life, so that you can have a party". It isn't about that, and if that's why anybody signs up..they'll never get it...it's more like the very wise "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all else will be added on to you" thing. Don't set out to get everything else in place, before you feel you are now equiped to search for God.

You do not have to become holy first, drop all your bad habits first, learn to pray first, read your bible first, and then be "qualified" (i am overusing the quotation marks in this post, aren't i?". If that's how you think it goes, you're holding the picture all wrong. God never asked you, or expected you to do, or be able to do anything on your own. Your business is to bring it to Him in prayer,and He will see you through. You just show up, and He will show you how to do it. It's not like school..you don't need a certificate in order to be accepted. You don't need to have any sort of previous skills.

Mahn, it's like a thousand and one thoughts..but i hope that one central one is getting through.

I can list out clear ties between prayers and results. Each and every one. It's humbling, knowing that God is not only listening and hearing...but is responding in ways that make you sway. I spent most of the week before last in a super emotional state, crying my eyes out because of the love He has enveloped me in. I was having issues with some things, had serious decisions to make concerning something that was tearing my will apart...and i kid you not, i stumbled not only across bible verses that dealt specifically with it, but He threw in two videos on youtube into it, in case i wanted to be slow...anybody that feels like oh, they can call it coincidence...but i call that God.

I could go on and on about situations like that...but i will not finish this post EVER then. It's better that you guys try it out for yourselves...me i'm still stunned and awed and grateful.

*about Liberty...heavily paraphrasing here...it's the Joy of the Liberty God gives is that..it truly sets you free, unlike most of us assume when we imagine turning everything over to God. It is the freedom to do everything you should be doing, and doing that, you'll reach heights that are dizzying. In the book, the analogy was with cars..and again, heavily paraphrasing: if you drive carefully, within the speed limit,and sober, you have the potential to drive to mars. That is freedom while doing what you ought to...because, you know...it's sensible. Now you could be drunk and going at it breakneck..feeling free and under nobody's control...but then the risk of crashing and making it nowhere are significantly higher, no?

Also, in related joy bringing things...gospel, praise and worship...to be perfectly honest, there was a point where i was like..music is music..mm Jesus music can be cool too...but lately...no matter what mood i'm in...gospel and praise just leave me elated. It's something new, to be so emotional over...music! but then...Praise has more power than you can imagine.

To be honest though, this post is coming out a bit choppy for me...i do hope, though, that when i go over it after posting (for this girl does not edit :P you guys get it gbagaun and all) it passes a message that resembles what is in my heart.

I am thankful for Life

I am thankful for prayer

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for Praise

I am thankful for Faith

I am thankful for Mercy

I am thankful for Grace

I am thankful for Forgiveness...lol lool up..all these women i'm thankful for sef..heh

I am thankful for Humour

I am thankful that God has a sense of humour

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful for His faithfulness and relentlessness

I am thankful for thankfulness...it's the gift that gives back :P

I am thankful for my life, and everything He is has made, and is making it

I am thankful for how He sweeps me off my feet and opens my eyes wider than they've ever been

I am thankful that He teaches me

I am thankful for my family

I am thankful for Love

I am thankful that He always leads me to where i need to be. and even when i stray, He intergrates that into His Plan, or yanks me out of there and sets me where i need to be.

I am thankful for Thankful Thursdays :)

I am thankful that i have been warm these past "coldest days this winter"

I am thankful for praise and gospel songs that uplift my spirits

I am thankful that He answers my prayers

I am thankful that He comes to my rescue and is my comfort and joy

I am thankful that anyhow e wan be...i have God...and that makes ANYTHING have hope.

I am thankful for the Hope i have in Him

I am thankful for inspiration, and everyone He inspires such that their words and actions inspire others'

I am thankful for role models

I am thankful...I am so thankful....there are no words.

So there...turn to God, run, jump, come as you are, and He will show you what to do.