Who's Dancing in Your Head?

So many times I cry out to God in my place of fear, suffering, humiliation, etc. needing to make sure He sees what I'm going through.

I need to make sure He has a full understanding of my situation, just in case He was off somewhere having coffee with Abraham, Moses and the gang and missed what's going on.

So many times I feel like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. On one side I'm thinking O, pity me, Lord look at me, see what I'm going through. Out of the other side, I'm saying God, You are well able.

Acting like the petulant child I allow myself the luxury of having a come apart, whining to the Most High God about my situation, while the other side of my head it telling me He's all ready got it taken care of for me.

Oh please someone, tell me I'm not the only one that has two decidedly different visions of their situation doing a version of Dancing with the Stars inside their head!

Much has and can be said on this dance competition. Coming before God in prayer for help is a topic greater Christians than me have written about, but I'd like to share my take on this.

Psalm 100

1. Shout for joy to the Lord

2. Worship the Lord with gladness

3. Come before Him with joyful songs

4. Know that the Lord is God, He made us, and we are His.

5. Enter His gates with Thanksgiving.

6. Enter His courts with Praise.

7. Give thanks to Him, Praise His Name.

Do this because the Lord is good, His love endures forever, and His faithfulness continues through all Generations because of His Covenant with His people.

I think once we've gone through these steps the things that are messing with us will grow strangely dim and His presence will move the mountains far from us.

We with our finite minds will be able to put our situation in the proper perspective, that would be God's perspective not ours.

Proper protocol goes a long way in approaching the King, and I think approaching our King, Father with praise and worship will get us a lot closer to His ear than our incessant whining about our situation.

Nothing surprises Him, and he all ready knows exactly what's going on. He doesn't take coffee breaks, He's ever present, always watching, waiting for us to approach Him with thanksgiving.

When we get so full of thanksgiving we bubble over, the dance competition will be over and God will be the winner!

Blessings,

Princess, Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty

Cure for the Winter Blues

The cat is Angel, her picture was taken in the summer on our back porch at a Birthday party.

I have two cats, Sheba is smart, Angel is the pretty one...

I love the heat and sunshine of the summer months, there's something about it that just makes me feel good.

Not so much the winter, I hate being cold. I can't describe how miserable I am having to wear socks, layers of sweaters and still being cold. Yes, I live in Florida, but right now it's cold here.

Before you pre-judge and assume I'm a southern light weight I was born and raised in Ohio.

It gets cold there. The days are mostly overcast and when the sun does come out everyone runs for shelter in fear of the big strange looking fire ball in the sky. All I ever wanted to do was move somewhere that didn't get cold and the sunshine was a familiar sight.

I think in winter many of us get the Blues. I'm constantly looking for a heat source to get my blood flowing again.

Sheba, the smart cat, must feel the same way I do about being cold. I have a lamp on my desk and when I have the light on, up she jumps wrecking havoc with the pile of papers that constantly collect in her spot.

She sits up straight with her face pointing upward toward the source of light, the light bulb. To her it must be some wonderful thing that causes warmth to flow into her cold body. She thoroughly enjoys soaking up the light, never in a rush to move away usually laying down for a snooze in the warmth of the light.

Watching her I couldn't help think, when our Spirits get cold we need to seek out the Light to get the Blood flowing through us so we can warm up and radiate the heat that comes from basking in the Light of the World.

John 8:12, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." NIV

When we take time to praise and worship God we begin to be immersed in the warmth of His light. His Blood begins to cover and fill us with a warmth and energy we can't get anywhere else.

The longer we bask in His Light the warmer our Spirit becomes and the more distant the chill of the darkness becomes.

His light is transferred to us freely. His warmth radiates from us and we are no longer bound by the clouds and chill of everyday troubles. We are raised up in His Light and are given the ability to see our situations through His eyes, the eyes of the Spirit.

Next time you find yourself feeling a little blue from all this coldness seek out The source for Light. Read, sing, dance, praise or pray you'll find your temperature rising and the warmth from His Light will change you from the inside out.

Blessings,

Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty

Cloud by Day, Fire by Night

I promised a picture of the front of our church. Sorry the picture isn't better, but it does give you an idea what I get to look at while I'm Worshiping the God of all creation.

Today during worship Pastor Mark encouraged each of us to just be quiet and listen. Let God speak to each of us right were we were.

Now, I admit sometimes it's very hard for me to stop and listen. I have constant "chatter" going on in my head and to turn it down much less off is a challenge. Something I am working on as I grow in the Lord.

Standing there looking at this stained glass God spoke to me. Not in an audible voice, but I knew what was in my head was from Him.

He reminded me of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that lead His people through the wilderness.

Ex. 13:22 says: Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

He never left, 24/7. He was there in front of them leading the way to their destiny. They could look up and physically see His presence. Awesome isn't it?

What He showed me in those few minutes is this.

He's right there in front of us trying to lead the way, but we can't see Him because all we look at is the "stuff" in our life that blocks our view of Him.

I know what most of my "stuff" is, some I still haven't figured out, but I have to be diligent in hacking my way through my "stuff" so I can get Him in my sights all day and all night. I can't settle for a glimpse of Him now and then when the dust from my "stuff" settles.

We all have "stuff" to clear away from our line of vision. I don't know what yours is, but I do encourage to take stock and start clearing the "stuff" that's blocking your view from the One that is in front of you by day and by night.

He's there, in front of each of us always and it's our responsibility to look at Him and not our "stuff".

Sounds impossible, but He has put in us everything we need to clear "stuff" from our line of vision and behold Him.

Blessings

Princess, Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty

God's Family

I would love to have you visit my church. Not only because it's a group of people with a strong desire to be in God's perfect will, not because we are a new church, but because we meet in a Jewish Temple.

The fact that Jesus was Jewish, and we are grafted into Abraham's line by the blood of Jesus, makes our meeting there more special to me.

In the front there is a beautiful stained glass circular window, in the window are twelve squares situated clockwise around the inside of the circle, the banner of each of the twelve tribes of Israel is in a square. Sometime I'll post a picture of it for you to see. It's beautiful.

We had our first praise and worship night a couple of Sundays ago.

God is always faithful to His people when they let go of all the outward trimmings and just get down to business and worship Him for who He is.

No laundry list, no bargaining, no looking around at what others are doing, just pure from the gut worship. You and God and no one else.....there His power is released on our behalf.

While singing I looked up at the stained glass window and started crying. You see, the pictures on the stained glass suddenly became very real to me.

I couldn't take my eyes off the piece. Each of the twelve Tribes represented there, in a place where God is so sacred, were real people.

Families, Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents, Babies, Teens, Aunts, Uncles, rich, poor, sick, healthy everyone in Abraham's lineage became human to me. These were now my people, because I have been adopted into God's kingdom.

They were real people, not just names, and words on the pages of my Bible, not just historical figures. They were real, I could see them.

At that moment I knew it wasn't just our little group worshiping, but millions of people who have gone before us. Members of those original twelve tribe and all their descendants were joining us in worship.

I was completely overwhelmed at the bigness of that moment.

Every time we raise our voice in worship it's not just us, but a chorus of ancestors all related by a covenant made thousands of years ago that's still in effect today. A covenant threaded through history, joining us by the blood of Jesus, our common denominator, the ultimate sacrificial lamb.

I think we tend to Americanize Jesus like we have a lock on all things Holy.

We get so caught up in today's modern religious practices we forget about the rich history that led us to where we are today. We forget these people are real, and we don't have a lock on anything, these people paved the way for us to be who we are today and we are paving the way for future generations.

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Gen. 22:17

We are numbered in that count, our children and grandchildren are numbered in His family

Someday people will be worshiping and we will be a part of that heavenly chorus joining them.

And so it goes, one generation leading the way for another, teaching, setting an example, telling our stories to glorify our Creator. It's so much bigger than politics, jobs, cars, jewelry, bank accounts, it's about being part of a family that is so big the numbers can't be counted.

God's Family.

So my Family members, God our Father craves our worship because He is God, we worship Him because of who He is.

Today and everyday as you go about your business take time to worship Him and listen for the millions of voices joining you in singing His Praises.

Blessings,

Princess, Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty

Whose Battle is it?

These are my children. The Bride is my newest daughter-in-love. My other d-i-l was probably chasing kids. Not sure where my son-in-love was either. Aren't they beautiful? I digress.

I firmly believe the prayers of a Mother for her household have a special place in God's heart.

Sometimes our prayers are ones of thanksgiving, but for the most part our prayers are battle cries.

When a Mother is crying out for the salvation of one of her children, or praying a covering over a child that she doesn't know where they are, or a Mother trying to capture her child out of the jaws of death all heaven is moved.

When these Mother's groan in travail for their children, with no one to turn to but God Himself, I can see God hushing the Angels and saying, "Hush, listen, that's one of My Girls, she needs Me."

I know with out a doubt the fervent prayers of a Mother touches the very heart of God. And those prayers hold a power only God, the Angels and another Mother can understand.

I have anointed pictures, pillows, clothing, mattresses and whatever else I could sneak a dab of oil on while praying over my children. I've cried, spent sleepless nights, cried some more praying,praying,praying for issues to be dealt with and healed, for restoration, salvation, guidance, the list goes on.

Every now and then something spectacular happens that lets me know God hears me and is bringing His plan into reality for me.

I'm changing my mental picture of a Mother. You know the one, apron on, dinner cooking, laundry folded, carpet vacuumed, gentle, smiling, mild tempered. Mrs. Cleaver, we all know the image.

What I'm beginning to see is not a domestic goddess but a warrior. Totally clad in her battle gear, sword drawn, watching, on guard, alert, standing ready at a moments notice to storm hell's gates for her household if needed.

2Chronicles20 gives us our battle plan step by step.

In vs.3 Jehoshaphat proclaimed a three day fast when he heard about the armies on their way to attack. During this time he was determined to hear from the Lord .

When the whole nation was gathered Jehoshaphat spoke out in verse 12 saying, "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You "

Then someone from the crowd spoke out and said, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not your, but God's. Then he told them, "You will not have to fight this battle, TAKE UP YOUR POSITIONS; STAND FIRM AND SEE THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU. DO NOT BE AFRAID; DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you."

After that Jehoshaphat and the whole crew bowed down in worship before the Lord. Then the Levites stood up and praised the Lord with a very loud voice... no whimpering or crying here, praising loudly is how we are to go into battle.

Jehoshaphat appointed worshipers to go out ahead of the army. The worshipers were the front line assault force in this army.

As they began singing, praising, and worshiping the Lord Himself set ambushes for the enemy army. The bad guys became so confused they began killing each other, not one of them was left.

When we go into battle for our children, after fasting and seeking God, we get loud. We put on our game face, we put on our armor, we praise and worship thanking God for the victory He is about to hand us.

The battle is not ours, it's God's. That doesn't mean we sit idly by, no, we train, we prepare, we move out in praise and worship to the battle field then we stand on His word.

The Bible says it took them three days to haul back all the loot they gathered from the armies.

When we allow God to orchestrate the battle, not only are we assured the victory but He provides us with all the spoils. I believe the spoils will be all the things the enemy has stolen from us in the past, everything he owes us God will allow us to collect.

There's a lot of warfare to do, as we learn this battle plan we will get into position more quickly and the battle cry from the core of our very being will be a shout, a loud sound of praise. Then God will step in and set the ambushes.

Victory is ours, the battle is God's. What a sweet deal! Only a loving Father, a mighty protector would fight the battle for His Children. I don't know about you, but I'm so glad I'm one of His favorite Girls.

Blessings,

Princess, Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty