What are you fishing for?

Are you fishing for a husband , a wife , money? Today I realized so much of the time , I am fishing for compliments. The praises of men rather than the praises of God. Not that I wanted to be exalted, but rather liked. Then when I am noticed I think I would rather be un-noticed. It is a delicate balance and I'm working on being content with knowing that I'm doing the Masters work.I love to be with people and do things for them, but I love it even more when I keep quiet and let God receive the glory that He's due. I want to be a fisher of men rather than a fisher of the spotlight. Today I'm fishing for a closer walk with God, a peace in the midst of the storm. When I am obedient rather than showy, the joy that  floods my soul that is unspeakable.There are many in the Bible who were content just to be with Jesus and even suffer afflictions.This year,I have made a resolution to be a hidden vessel, but at times I find it a struggle. But God sees more than I ever can or will and so I am hoping that this may help someone else who may be going through a similar situation. I'm fishing for peace and a closer walk with God.Im fishing for the praises of God rather than the praises of men. I have been fishing for health, money, praise.. all of this when you catch it, what good has it really done? I am reminded of King Solomon, he had everything a man could want, but it still wasn't satisfying. What are you fishing for today? Only Jesus can satisfy our souls.  

Wait Here

I was just thinking this morning about how Jesus left the 99 sheep and went after the 1 that was lost. I imagine if a shepherd were talking to the sheep, he would have told them "wait here". Have you ever been somewhere and somebody told you to wait ,they were coming back? I was thinking about how impatient I get and how sometimes instead of waiting, I run off. I thought about the sheep, imagine if they had wandered off. The same is true of Jesus our shepherd. He has told us to wait here, He`s coming back. Some of us He comes for a little sooner than others,but in the meantime we still must wait. I remember reading about the prodigal son, he didn't want to wait and look at the mess he created. There have been times in the store , I was with somebody and I was supposed to wait here". Instead of waiting, I went looking for them, and by the time I got back to my original spot, neither of us was in the right place. But there is joy in waiting. We must wait for the rose to fully blossom to enjoy the beauty of it's entirety. We must wait for a birth in order to have a healthy child. We must wait for the right person to marry or our lives could become pretty disastrous.Sometimes children can hardly wait to grow up. The butterfly must "wait here" in certain stages of it's life And so we must "wait here" until the Lord returns for us.

seeing the unseen

We don't always see what's ahead or the final outcome. Sometimes we envision, sometimes we question. My mind was blank for a blog today, but as I was looking for something in the closet, this title came to me ... "Seeing the Unseen". I have been feeling sick all afternoon and I began to get uneasy and question why. Maybe it's just my body's way of saying slow down. I gave something away, then later I asked myself why.I think my heart says one thing , my brain follows and then instead of just surrendering , I analyze it to no end and try to change the unchangeable.Maybe someone's death was a heartache for us, but an opportunity for them.I had some tests done last year and the first one came out with a bad result so I had to have it redone. I chalked it up to a bad reading, but what if God moved on my behalf and I  didn't even see Him at work. I may never know the reasons to so many things, but if I look at everything... knowing there may be an unseen reason, but it all works for my good,even if it's unto death. 

Directions

Directions should be easy to follow,right? Or at least that's what I think in my mind. How hard can following directions be? But I get lost going from room to another. I call it directionally challenged. While on vacation last year we got lost and had to stop and ask for directions. Nowadays we depend on our electronic devices for directions, well I decided a map was better because there are a lot of places with no signal. The map wasn't up to date , and it got confusing. We ended up taking the long way around more than once, but the scenery was spectacular. God's word gives us clear directions, but like anything else I fail to take the time to figure it out and depend on people or my own self to get me there. Many times the scenery is beautiful when taking the long road, but it can also be very painful. 

I think of all the time wasted because we didn't have clear instructions.At one point the GPS had us headed to Japan. One day I was trying to put together a light kit with a friend of mine. The directions were only pictures and not very clear at that. We managed, but I sure couldn't have done  it alone. I need God's help every moment to find my way in this lost and troubled world. I need His direction and not necessarily the path that has been beaten out and looks so clear. Sometimes looking for direction means standing still and taking in our surroundings. Sometimes it means going through a dark valley with just a candle. Directions take you on a journey, but only if you follow them.

In The Masters Hands

Most people think of clay when thinking of something in the masters hands. But today I want to take you on a journey with me to some different things in the masters hands. It all started with a simple piggy bank. The chubby little pig had a hard time giving up it`s coins today,for safe keeping in another bank. The last few coins seemed to be stuck in the inner most parts of the pig and refused to show themselves. As I held the ceramic pig in my hands, I shook and shook to get those last coins out. I thought about what a thief would do. A thief wouldn't care about breaking the pig wide open and ruining it. But in the masters hands it was a vessel to be treated with care. A thief doesn't care how much damage he does to our hearts, he cuts it open and leaves it to bleed.When the coins hid I took a flashlight to search them out, and so it is with the master He takes a light to shine out the hidden things in our hearts that need to be removed.

A rose in the masters hand is something beautiful. He sculpted it, petal by petal and added fragrance. A gardener takes the rose and waters ,and fertilizes and prunes the rose so it will grow. A thief tears apart the petals.

An artist sees a canvas and with each stroke of the brush he creates a scene and eventually a masterpiece. He steps back when he is done and admires the work maybe even going back to add finishing touches. A paintbrush in the masters hand is valuable.

A pen in the hand of a writer can transform a life. The master is the writer and the pen is the vessel he uses to create.

These are just a few examples of things in the masters hand. Imagine what God can do with me if I commit myself a willing vessel, into the masters hands.

How God Sees me

I am a perfectionist when it comes to myself. Someone told me once about a lady who was such a wonderful housekeeper, that all her drawers and closets were organized. So what did I do, I went and organized all the closets and drawers. I see people with neat garages, so what did I do, organized the garage. I spent so much time trying to be perfect that I missed out on enjoying life. I recently did some dog sitting for a friend. I have been over there many times and I never saw a thing out of place. Guess what, it wasn't messy by any means, but neither was it the Taj Mahal. I thought it was. I saw bills neatly stacked in a letter holder. I saw magazines on a table.There was actually dust on the floor that I had previously thought didn't exist. A normal family lives here , not one of great wealth with servants. All I saw was the beauty in this home, never any flaws.  

That's when I began to think, I wonder if God sees me this way. I see myself as somebody who is of flawed character,and of no beauty. If I look through Gods eyes, I see someone who although flawed is lovable and a child of the King. God doesn't look at me through dirty dishes in the sink, or dust on the furniture. He doesn't look at me to see if I measure up to Marilyn Monroe or the queen of England. When God looks at me he sees so much more. Just like I don't go to my friends house to see if  it passes my idea of what a home should be; when I see myself through Gods eyes, I can see He`s not measuring my organized closets or matching socks even. Hes looking at me through eyes of love. And love doesn't  find fault with every fiber of it's being. 

In The early Morning Hours

It seems that for the past year maybe longer I wake up at 3:00 A.M and usually I can't go back to sleep. I finally discovered this is the best time to talk to God. It seems I wrestle all day long with thoughts and feelings,and learning. By the time I hit the hay I'm usually asleep within minutes. This morning when I woke up at 4:00 A.M, I felt a peace settle over me. There was a slight chill in the air and though I was covered with  blankets I still felt cold. Then it seemed as if someone covered me with a warm blanket and I fell into a peaceful, sort of restful state of being. I listened and it was silent, but a different sort of silent. A hush if you will as if God and I were the only two people in my neighborhood for  minutes. 

In those quiet moments I heard God speaking to me and reassuring me I am in the place he wants me.

I fell back to sleep only to awake from a troublesome dream. I know where the dream came from, it came from frustration and worry,so I shook off the cobwebs  as it were and went to take care of a friends dog. It was still early, so again, I had quiet. There weren't many cars on the road and the radio seemed to play every song I needed to hear. I can't remember everything now that I learned in those quiet moments, but I believe God has a hiding place for these special moments and at  the proper time I will recall them. I kept hearing God tell me to rest and I couldn't figure it out. I thought it meant physically until someone told me to quit struggling. She didn't know all I was struggling with but God surely did. Then in those last quiet moments, just before civilization would awaken and demand attention, I found it, The scripture I have been hearing in my heart so much lately. Matthew 11:29

The last part says you will find rest unto your souls. While I needed rest in my physical body, God came to me and gave me rest for my soul.