Blogger Bugs

Some of us have Blogger bugs and I'm not happy about them.  They are eating up our comments.  To you bloggers that I come to read, I want you to know that I am there and am enjoying your posts.  They inspire me, make me ponder, encourage me, and even make me laugh   But to some of you, I cannot tell you.  Some places let me leave comments and other places will not.  I cannot even comment on my own blog, so to those of you who come and leave me wonderful messages, I treasure them but cannot tell you unless I can find your e-mail and let you know that way.  This has been going on for some time now, and I do not know what to do about it.  I am praying that Blogger will take care of it soon.

In the mean time, I hope you all will keep coming back to my place and I will keep coming to yours.  You can always e-mail me if you would like, as I love to hear from you all.

I think maybe the enemy is trying to use these little buggers to stop us from encouraging one another and sharing the Good News. This is a community that ministers to one another and this is ground he does not like.  I say, let's not let him win. Let's pray these buggers away and in the mean time, keep encouraging one another with your posts.

Next post will be on. . . . .you got it. . . . .love!  :)

Love you guys!
Kristin

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:12

Being Renewed

My husband took this picture of our former-homeless friend Greg.  If you are new here at my place, we met Greg last August when he was homeless.   He was the answer to my prayer of should I start a book on the homeless.  I did. We built a friendship with Greg over the weeks. Five weeks later I had the priveledge of praying the sinners prayer with Greg.

I pondered as I watched him at the river today. . .

Greg went from being an ex-con, ex drug dealer, homeless guy to a redeemed man with a home.  A physical home to call his own and an eternal home with the Savior that has begun.

Greg still struggles with issues.  But now the Holy Spirit inside of him convicts him where once before he was not.  Greg used to go to the bars and places where he got stuff that wasn't good for him.  Now he goes to church every Sunday and volunteers at Hope House twice a week.  He reads his devotionals and he prays and he ponders.

His life is much different now than it once was.  He has real friends who love him in spite of his issues.  Don't we all have some kind of issues.  Maybe not like his but then I think scales are not used to weigh one against the other.

Greg has treated me like a lady from day one.  When I need prayer, he always stops right then and there and bows his head, praying to the Father from deep in his heart.

Greg never lies to me.  He never pawns off bad decisions on others.  He is honest when it would be easy to not be. I appreciate this about him.

I have never seen a man try as hard as he does.  He went from one kind of world into a completely different kind of world.  He left a dark world and stepped into the light of Christ.  He has some remnants from the past but he ponders and he prays and in time, I believe it will all be gone from total surrender.

We have watched his mind being changed, renewed.  His way of thinking has changed tremendously over the months. Where once he was hunkered down in depression, he now throws back his head in laughter.  Where once he only thought only of himself,  he now is thinking of others. Where once he would have sold drugs to make money, he now gives of his time only to help others. 

I ponder the word surrender and ask myself tough questions. . .

Do I surrender my finances for others?

Do I surrender my dreams and wants for what His will is?

Do I surrender my comfort zones to go where He asks me to go?

Do I surrender my selfish desires to partake in His desires?

Am I willing to do what He asks even though it is not easy?

Do I trust to go down a road where I cannot see the end?

Before any of us may take on that desire to judge one, we should ask of ourselves the tough questions. We should step into that someone's shoes and feel where they have been.  Their decision to surrender may have come much tougher for them than it did, than it does for us. 

I have been transformed for many years and I think I have learned to test and discern.  New ones in this life need the time that we more seasoned ones have had.  They need to ponder and pray and learn and practice and live with the new heart and mind that comes when Jesus enters the heart.  As I think about it, even us seasoned ones are still pondering, praying, learning, practicing, and being renewed, aren't we?

My husband Keith and I think much of Greg and love him like a brother.

Please pray for Greg, our friend and brother in Christ, as he ponders, prays, and is being renewed and transformed.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

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Baby's Hug

I did not write this but I have seen this for myself with little ones at our downtown park with the homeless. . .


 *Baby's Hug ~ *
 We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a
 high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly,
 Erik squealed with glee and said, 'Hi.' He pounded his fat baby hands on
 the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was
 bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

 I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose
 pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of
 would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed.
 His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so
 varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled.. His hands
 waved and flapped on loose wrists. 'Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy.. I
 see ya, buster,' the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks,
 'What do we do?'

Erik continued to laugh and answer, 'Hi.'

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man.
 The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal
 came and the man began shouting from across the room, 'Do ya patty cake? Do
 you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek- a-boo.'

Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk.

My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik,
 who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who
 in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to
 pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat
 poised between me and the door. 'Lord, just let me out of here before he
 speaks to me or Erik,' I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my
 back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I
 did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's
 'pick-me-up' position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself
 from my arms to the man.
 Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love
 and kinship..

Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon
the man's ragged shoulder.

The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged
 hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's bottom and
 stroked his back.

No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time.

I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his
 eyes opened and set squarely on mine.

He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby".

Somehow I managed, "I will", from a throat that contained a stone..

He Pried Erik from his chest, Lovingly and Longingly, as though HE were in
 pain.

I received my baby, and the man said, 'God bless you, ma'am, you've given
 me my Christmas Gift.'

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for
 the car.

My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly,

and why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me".

I had just witnessed Christ's love, shown through the innocence of a tiny
 child who saw no sin,

who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit
 of clothes.

I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not.

I felt it was God asking, "Are you willing to share your son for a
 moment"? when He shared His for all eternity.

How did God feel when he put his baby in our arms 2000 years ago?

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me,

'To enter the Kingdom of God , we must become as little children.'
*(end of story)

Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.

Romans 13:10

May the Lord make (our) love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. . .

First Thessalonians 3:12

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

First John 4:7

(Some of the homeless neighbors at our downtown park that God has taught me to see with different eyes and 
has filled my heart with a love I had not had before. . .)
 

Sweet Confirmations

One of the categories for my One Word, discipline, is Bible reading.  That may surprise you.  I’ve been a Christian for 38 years.  My bible is precious to me. It is worn and torn with many highlights and notes written beside verses.  But the readings sometimes go in cycles. At times I devour it, at others, I nibble, sometimes just snacking.   I love to read books and sometimes I get so wrapped up in my devotionals in the morning, (I have 6 that I read faithfully), that by the time I finish those, I grab a snack of His Word and then I’m up moving for the rest of the day.  I am one of those women who has a constant dialogue going on with my Savior, but that's not always enough and I was reminded of this one day.

I picked up my Bible the other day and was just skimming through, reading all my highlights and notes from over the years and was reminded of all the times that God so sweetly spoke to me and confirmed things to me. I wanted to share some of those and encourage anyone out there who may not be picking up their Bible on a regular basis, or maybe just runs through it, how God speaks to us so clearly through His Word, but we have to read it to receive it.

Years ago, still having been a Christian for a long time and had never questioned it, I was sitting in a revival at my church where the evangelist was speaking a very good but hard sermon on the wheat and the tares.  At the end of that service, he gave the altar call and I watched all these people that I knew to be strong Christians walking forward.  I was shocked!  I thought if they think they are not saved now, am I?  I bowed my head and asked the Father, am I Yours? I so clearly heard him say to me, “You are my child, you are mine.” When I went home that evening, I opened my Bible and it was if God confirmed to me that I was his by Him leading me to Isaiah 43:1 “. . .Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Then I began to read in Second Corinthians and came upon  1: 22.  It says, “ He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  Again, He confirmed that I am sealed with His ownership, His Holy Spirit within me, guaranteeing that I am His.  I knew this all along, from that day at 12 years old when I asked Jesus Christ into my heart.  But He knew I needed that confirmation that night of the revival and He gave it to me.   I have never questioned my salvation since.

Another example:  My home was in Oklahoma. My husbands company that he worked for was going bankrupt and he was losing his job.  He could find nothing and time and money were running out. One day when my boys were 10 and 15, a head hunter found an opening in Keith’s field of programming in Kentucky.  My husband Keith came home on his lunch hour and asked how I felt about moving to Kentucky.  I cried.  It felt like it was at the other end of the world as I knew I would not see my family and friends hardly at all from there. I was used to seeing my family whenever I wanted.  In my sad, sarcastic mind, I thought to myself, ‘is God even in Kentucky?’  I went to my Bible and my eyes fell onto this verse, Joshua 1:9. . . “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  I smiled and wrote beside this verse, ‘even to Kentucky!’  I wasn’t questioning, I knew.  And He gave me strength to move away and begin a new home with my husband and boys.

Another example:  Back in 2007 after my oldest son had walked away, I was so depressed that I was not wanting to be around people and having to act cheery when I wasn’t feeling it.  I wanted to quit my small bible study group.  I opened up my Bible and my eyes fell to this verse, Hebrews 10:25, “ Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  I kept going.  And I became stronger by going, by being around like minded people, studying His Word with others and being encouraged and prayed for.  I am no longer in that place I was in 2007. 

Another example: Climbing out of the pit took some time but there came a day when I was just about there, but could not seem to swing over the top edge and plant both feet firmly yet.  I had stayed in my small group, my ABF class, going to church functions and volunteering but there was just something missing.  I went to the Lord in prayer and opened up my Bible again and my eyes fell to this verse, “Titus 2: “Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.  Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”  I thought, ‘God is telling me I need a mentor?’  Lo and behold, that year our church began a mentoring class, so I went and signed up to get myself a mentor.  Others on the team picked her out for me and she could not have been any more perfect.  She knew where I was coming from and understood.  She was a wonderful listener, full of wisdom, kindness and compassion and patience.  I fell in love with her and she has been a dear friend to me ever since.  I then went on to mentor a younger one myself.  And now, I have begun to mentor another.  Did I mention, my feet are planted firmly on the ground again?

God knows just what we need when we need it.  He speaks to us in many ways, but His Word is by far the best.  We just have to open it, read it, chew on it slowly, listen and be diligent to keep going back, soaking in the words, and finding those answers He has for us as well as the sweet confirmations that we seek. . .and sometimes not seek, but He guides us to them any way.  Why we would ever not open it, I don’t know.  The devil shoots many arrows to stop us, arrows like tiredness, fatigue, work, play, hobbies, busyness, maybe even too many devotionals to take the place of his Word.  I am following through with my One Word, discipline, and picking up the Word before any devotionals.  Devotionals are great but not meant to be a replacement. 

How about you?  Have you a need for a sweet confirmation?  Have you picked up God’s Holy Word?  I’m guessing you would find it in there.  (I’m not really guessing ;)

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.  Jeremiah 29:13



Discipline

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Hunger and Filling

Sometimes the hardest lessons are learned in the hunger.

   Sometimes the blind eye can only be opened through hunger.

      Sometimes the guidance needed and the requests bestowed come answered best

          Through hunger.

And the only filling of this hunger is the manna of words, the very presence of Himself, the Bread of Life.

I depend on food, and not so very good ones for me way too much.

   I depend on my mate too much, at times.     

      I depend on my feeling too much, at times.

         I depend on my own time table too much, at times.

I want to be totally dependent on my Heavenly Father,

   I want to be cleansed from the inside out.

      I want to lay down requests that are deep in my soul, and then let it go.

          And so I will let myself go into hunger to be filled up totally by Him.

Awhile back, Tuesdays were appointed times to be on the knees, empty plate, only tasting for the day what is good, the Word, Holy and Pure, sweet beyond measure.  An answer came.  I quit.  But there was so much to pour the heart out for.  I began again. I kept it up for a long time.  Then I quit again.  In keeping with my new word for the year, discipline, I now begin again continueing to beseech, petition, and praise on Tuesdays, on the knees, plate empty, spirit filling.  If something gets in the way on Tuesdays, then it will just happen another day that week.  May I come to His feet, His throne of grace for you too?  I would be honored to do so.  If you are not comfortable leaving a comment here, please send me a personal FB message or e-mail. (Krbrid@aol.com)  I assure you it will stay confidential! If you want to quietly leave, that is fine.

May God bless you abundantly with His filling.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Phillipians 4:6

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…this is good and pleases our Savior.”

First Timothy 2:1

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Matthew 5:6

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Psalm 34:8

Discipline

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