Off to the Land of Sand and Sun

Well bloggity friends, I leave again Monday for Mexico. According to my co-workers, this plant is in the prettiest location of all the plants. It's more of a coastal resort area. Too bad I have to be working! I'd appreciate prayers for safe flights (we have to fly through Mexico City, which I've heard is a bit of a headache.) And also prayers that we'd have a successful week next week would be appreciated!!
I'll leave you with this verse from Psalm 115:1 for the week, "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake."

I'm Baa-aaack! (Again!)

Well, I'm sitting back at my desk in Greensboro again this Monday morning. So I survived the Honduras trip. Lots of great stories there that I will HAVE to share on my other blog. I don't have much time today, but I wanted to share a passage from Psalm 116 that I'm going to be talking a little more about tomorrow! Hope you all had a great week last week. Look forward to getting caught up with the blogging world!

Psalm 116:1-2, " 1I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live."

Say a Little Prayer

Hey everybody! I just wanted to ask you all to pray for my grandpa, Lloyd Smith. He went to the hospital last night for chest pains. It doesn't look like he has had a heart attack, but he will be having a lot of tests throughout the day today. I know that I can depend on all of you to pray!

Now, you aren't going to believe this. Well, you probably will because you all serve the same totally awesome God that I do. But when I went to Bible Gateway to check out today's verse, I got just what I needed. And what was that you might ask? Well, this little reminder found in Romans 12:12:

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;"

This verse is a part of a list of things that Paul reminds us to do in Romans 12. But this verse is just what I needed to hear this morning. I needed to remember that I can rejoice. Because as I talked about last week we do have hope. Eternal hope that can't be taken away.
And I totally don't think it was a mistake that Paul mentioned hope BEFORE he mentioned tribulation. He wanted to remind Christians that we have hope even when tribulations arise. So we can be patient in tribulation because we know that WHATEVER the outcome, we can rest in that hope.
And the last part is so awesome. I mean think about it. We can go to God anytime. And not only that, He WANTS us to come to Him. Continually. So on this day when my family is facing a bit of a storm, God blessed me and gave me just what I needed. And I'm going to hold tight to it throughout the day.
I pray that someone else might be blessed by it as well! Thanks again for the prayers!

A Little Thought and a Prayer Request

I know, I know, I'm getting really slack about keeping my blog updated. Things around here have been a bit hectic! And they will continue on that way through the summer, but I haven't forgotten you blogging buddies! Have no fear of that!!
I have a conference call in exactly 29 minutes, so today I'm just going to share a little thought!

Hebrews 1:3, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:"

This verse is so awesome. I mean especially since we just celebrated Easter where we focused on Christ's death and ressurrection. After all that He did, He sat down at the right hand of His Father. Why could He sit down? Because His work was completed. As He said on the cross, it was finished. The price for our sins was paid. There will never need to be another sacrafice to cover our sins!
The rest is up to us. We must trust in the sacrafice He made. We must be willing to ask for His blood to cover our sins. He paid the price, but we must accept it!
Honestly, I don't know why anyone would reject it. It's a free gift offered to all. However so many reject Christ everyday. If not with their words, with their actions.
I know someone right now who is doing this very thing. He says he has a great relationship with God, that he reads his Bible everyday. Yet the world has such a strong hold on his life. And that stronghold is drugs. Pills of all kinds. His mom called me last night, and I felt such pain for her because she is literally at the end of herself. And she knows that the only ONE who can change him is God. Because he is unwilling to see that he has a problem.
So if all you blogging prayer warriors would be willing, I ask that you would lift this man up in your prayers. Pray for his parents as they seek wisdom. And pray most of all that he would realize that a relationship with God is so much more than reading a few verses everyday, that it is allowing the living Word of God to radically change your life!

Don't Worry, He's Got It

Jeremiah 17:7-8:
7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

I was reading these verses this morning, and I was really blessed. Especially by this line in verse 8, "and shall not see when the heat cometh." Think about that. I mean REALLY think about it.
It doesn't just say that the heat doesn't bother those who are grounded in the Lord. It says that we won't even see the heat. In other words, the problems of life won't ever seem like problems because we have our trust in the ONE who is bigger than all problems.
If we trust in Christ, the trials of this life don't weaken us. We keep on keeping on for Christ because we KNOW that He is in control. And because of our trust in Christ, we continue to bear fruit even in the hardest times. Others will want what we have because we have a God we CAN depend on no matter what.
So the question is, do you have that much trust in Him? Are you resting in the fact that He has everything under control?

For His Own Purposes

II Timothy 1:9:
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"

Have you ever thought about how totally awesome it is that a holy God chose to save us. I mean, we were just one of His many creations. And He could've created something else that would obey Him. But HE LOVED us. He didn't want to just let us go. So He sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins.
But He didn't stop there. He has given each of us a calling. A holy calling to do His work in this world. He didn't just save us from death, He gave us a purpose. A reason to live.
May I ever live my life to fulfill His purpose in my life. After all, I wouldn't have true life if it weren't for Him!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post much next week! I'll be in Kansas City to meet this lady ummm...I mean to work! Hopefully I'll get some blogging time in, but if not then I'll tell you all about my time in Kansas City when I return!!

It's Not What You Say, It's What You Do

Things are pretty hectic around here, but I wanted to give you a little thought for the day. This morning I read this verse from I John 3:18:

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Think about how much truth is in that little verse. Sure it's nice to say, "I love you" to someone. But we prove that love by our actions.
We prove our love for God by our actions as well. Jesus said it this way in John 14:15:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

So the question is, are you showing the truth of your words. Are you living a life that shows your love for Christ? Or does your love stop with the words that come out of your mouth?