Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Fat Tuesday detour...of the heart.

I have SO many things I could write about today. SO many.  But, my heart is speaking to me right now.  It is SCREAMING to me to talk about God. To let the world know how much I love Him.  How much I trust in Him. How much I offer it all to Him.  I Surrender ALL!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Liturgical season of Lent. 40 days (not counting Sundays) that represent the time Jesus spent fasting in the desert being tempted by Satan.  The enemy tried SO hard to convince Jesus to fall to the norms of Earthly living, and each time he spoke, Jesus answered concisely, quoting His Father, and never gave in.
This Biblical battle between Good and Evil is similar to one that many of us fight every day.  Earthly temptations are representative of the evil the enemy consumes- and I use the word evil lightly.  Addictions (meaning ANYTHING your body craves and cannot live without. alcohol, drugs, food, sex, television etc), jealousy, power, vanity are all “evils”. And, the list could continue. I, myself, battle with every single thing on this list on a daily basis!!! It takes effort to let go of these temptations and let God take over. Goodness, sometimes as often as every MINUTE of every day, I am working on this. Man, I am working hard. I am addicted to food.  I love it, I want it, but I don’t always NEED it. I am praying to learn how to control this addiction. I feel jealousy sometimes. Sometimes a lot. I feel jealousy towards my friends who get to leave their house on a daily basis. Those that still have a disposable income.  Those that are still performing.  A jealous heart is not one to hold on to.  God tells us not to be jealous towards anyone. For in doing so, we are worshiping them and not Him, the ONLY one that we should be worshiping. I have a hard time with that. I sometimes have the NEED to be in charge, have the NEED to be the most beautiful…yet ALL of those things are not Godly things. But, I also know that I will NEVER achieve the perfection that turning the other cheek to all of these temptations would achieve.  I am not SUPPOSED to.  There was only one person who was without sin in God’s, eyes and that person already died for US, so that we may be forgiven for ALL of the MANY sins that we will commit during the course of our lives. What we must learn to do, however, is to ASK for forgiveness, welcome the Lord into our hearts and PRAY.

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 says:
“Rejoice Always, PRAY CONTINUALLY, give THANKS in ALL circumstances, for this is GOD’s WILL for you in Christ Jesus”

Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians are beautiful. If you have never taken the time to read them, as letters, do so. They make me smile. They are little windows into the various houses of love that god has built for us.

I am not one to preach, because most often than not, I am guilty of every single thing that I would preach about. I don’t want you to take this as a “holier than thou” persona, because it is not. I guess I just wanted to share with you my personal struggle to live well in God’s eyes on a daily basis. And then, to hopefully encourage you to try and live better as well. God doesn’t just heal the sick, and forlorn. He has the POWER to heal your soul, if you ask Him.  But you MUST ASK.  You NEED TO PRAY.

I have written before, that God is the best pen pal that I have ever had. HE IS. Tomorrow, I will begin my journaling “challenge” using the book Writing to God; 40 Days of Praying with my Pen. Let me tell you, I am EXCITED. I have had to use crazy amounts of will-power to not start early! I am so excited to embrace this Lenten season and to Let Go…and Let God…WITH super doses of PRAYER.
Before I return to the craziness that the 3 Musketeers are creating right now, I would like to leave you with a prayer request.
There is a little boy in Clarence, NY.  His name is Ben Sauer. He is very sick with a giant brain tumor that instead of shrinking with treatment, is growing- quickly.  He has been given mere weeks to live. He is 4 years old, with 2 young siblings. This family believes in our Lord.  They believe is power of prayer and they have asked for some REAL PRAYERS WARRIORS to help them.  We don’t know the reason that God has given this tribulation to this family. But we DO know that the Almighty has a plan for something. He heals. It would be a TRUE MIRACLE if this little boy was healed. PLEASE PRAY FOR BEN, and for his family. My heart hurts for them. It absolutely aches. But I am praying. I am lifting it ALL  up to God.


The Grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you all.

{beBlessed} and have a GREAT day!

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