War-n-Peace

"God-incidences" not Coincidences

2012-01-18T06:13:00.000-08:00

"(Chorus) I cannot count, the many blessings,
that from the LORD I have in store,
for even while I try to count them,
He comes and gives me blessings more;
Day by Day He walks beside me,
cheering me when trials are hard;
He keeps my soul whate'er betide me;
I cannot count my blessings from the Lord."

From "I Cannot Count My Blessings" by Rev. A.L. Clanton
Copyright 1956, by Stamps Quartet Music Co., Inc in "Gospel Truth"

For two weeks now I have been counting my blessings day by day, a little personal experiment to see if it elevates my daily attitude. Even on the slow days and in my low, "in between" places I'm still able to record blessings and I'm finding that it's hard to stay discouraged while actively focusing on the positive. With my eyes on God, I can see his handprint in even the smallest of instances. God is good!

This exercise in gratefulness has taught me to view all assumed coincidences as "God-incidences." My Heavenly Father, who "Declar[es] the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done..." (Isaiah 46:10) has faithfully orchestrated events and seemingly small, every day decisions, to provide for my future needs without any awareness on my part. It makes me wonder how many “God-incidences” I have missed throughout my lifetime. Why am I so hasty to assume mere happenstance in a world created by God's providential plan? When I concentrate on God, keeping my eyes on him and what he is doing in my life, my attitude is elevated and I get little, tantalizing glimpses of how he is preparing me for my expected end.

Here is a perfect example; on Friday, without warning, $400.00 was transferred out of my bank account to pay a debt. At first, in consideration of my budget, I panicked. After calling the bank and discovering that the transfer was irreversible I did the only thing I could, I turned to God in prayer. Help Lord! In time God reminded me of all the ways he has provided for me in the last few years and I made the active decision to praise him instead of letting my circumstances dwarf my faith in God.

From that moment, in a matter of hours, I could see how choices made one week and even up to three months ago, all lined up to provide the financial relief I needed for this week. The Thursday before, I had filled my gas tank, something I never do. Because of that spontaneous decision I have enough gas to last a week. I even remember wondering while I was waiting for my truck to guzzle all 120.00 worth of gas, why I had chose to fill up on that day of all days. The wind was cold, there was a freezing drizzle, I was already going to be late for work and my daughter had just called to tell me she had forgotten her glasses at home, so I still had to drive back to the house and the school. This is just one of the many "God-incidences" that I realized over the next day.

One or two incidences could maybe be tallied up as coincidences, but when you are living your life for God He uses all things for our good. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NKJ) A check mailed one day later than I had planned, dog food that I forgot to give away three months ago is perfect for a puppy just turned a year old; a full tank of gas in my truck; a wasted trip home searching for a pair of glasses that weren't there simply to give me cause to remember the oddness of the event three days later, changing my mind last minute on Friday morning just before I was about to give a $60.00 contribution check I didn't yet know I wouldn't be able to afford, and a split second decision not to pay my utility bill early like I had originally budgeted, and when calamity hit my bank account the flash back to the scripture I had read a few days before regarding one of the names of God, Jehovah-Jireh. ("The Lord will Provide", Genesis 22:14)

And the Lord did provide; all of my creditors were willing to give me extensions so I wasn't charged bank fees, the check mailed late never arrived at its destination, a support check will come on Friday, and a friend gave me an unexpected gift. Time and time again God proves to me his faithfulness and blesses me new each morning.

So, this is my case for daily recording my blessings. Since January 1st, there were only two days where I didn't faithfully follow through with this exercise. Those two days were notably the lowest days in my personal attitude toward life. I was depressed and struggled each day. It pays to count the blessings: The rain didn't freeze, the sun shone, the bed was soft, a peaceful house, a great job, an active mind, friends to share with, a full fridge....GOD IS GOOD!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Choosing a Higher Altitude

2012-01-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure about you but facing another year seems a little daunting this time around. Maybe it is because I'm a little older. Maybe life has left me a little frayed at the seams. A few days ago I felt a little pessimistic about setting New Year’s resolutions and walking in anticipation of what the year will bring. I looked back at 2011 and felt a little disgruntled.  I had started the year out so strong, even made little rebound lurches in the first quarter. The second quarter came along and I was buried up to my good intentions with a mountain of false starts, missed targets, battered fists and a bruised nose.  I breezed through the third quarter because I was busy with the hot air of summer and many life adjustments.  I rode the high of the fourth quarter with all of its turkey, traditions and jingle bells driven by the hope of a Christmas miracle. But on the first day of the New Year I fell flat on my face with the realization that I have ignored my goals with the practiced proficiency of pretending it doesn't matter. So, I have decided that I'm not going to join the yearly tradition of creating a new set of resolutions while practicing the false belief that it's "all up to me baby!"

I'm not saying that setting goals is wrong nor am I saying that I have no control over whether I obtain them or not. I'm asking myself how frequently I include God in my goals. And I'm wondering what would be different this year if I did. I'm not going to just set a goal to get healthy, lose more weight and read my Bible everyday; I'm going to ask God what he would like me to achieve this year. What does he see that needs to be changed in my life or added?  I'm saying I should make God my life coach and see how different the results will be at this time next year.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog with a quick phrase that has stuck in my mind. I had decided that I was going to, "wake up in the morning with a better attitude by choosing a higher altitude!" That is now my drive for this year. I disappoint myself on a frequent basis and as I see it I have only two ways that I can deal with this; determine that it doesn't matter and "love myself anyway," or determine that it does matter and give myself, with all my gifts and frailties, over to God who never disappoints.

Keeping this in mind these are my new year’s resolutions:  To daily ask and listen for the God given goals that He will share with me on my day to day journey. Talk to God last every night and greet him first every morning. Keep a daily journal that catalogs all the blessings that God will share with me each day. They're there, big and small. Often I ignore them because they are not great miracles or obvious to everyone else. But I have found that when I search for and record them, hope stirs in my heart and my outlook is elevated. Before long I see the positive spin in everything, a blessing around every corner and praise flows forth freely from my unburdened heart. But above all this, I am resolved to let go; lifting empty hands for God to fill.

Abraham had a great promise from God. His son, Isaac, was the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise. But one day God asked that he sacrifice that child; not because God desired human blood but to know that nothing stood between God and Abraham. God wanted to know that Abraham trusted him so completely that he would even give up his child while resting on the assurance that God could raise him back from the dead. Abraham had the promise; God said he would have a son and Isaac was that promised child. Abraham knew that God doesn't make a promise and then change his mind; “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29) He had such faith in God that he obeyed without question. It didn't matter that he didn't understand why. It didn't matter that the request seemed out of character for God. It didn't matter that the task would be hard and the fear great.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 55:8)

Abraham was willing to let go, empty everything from his hands, trusting that God would give back everything he had promised. That is my ultimate resolve for this year; to let go, because everything I hold too tightly separates me from God's love and prevents me from being truly free. In 2012 I will embrace the perfect love of my Heavenly Father which will cast off the bondage of fear that has repressed me my whole life.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

I will let go of everything and wait for God to provide all that he has promised. So let the storms roll on; I will find the higher elevation and dance in the rain!

God Bless

Amy Charissa Warren

"Pick Your Diamonds, Pick Your Pearls"

2011-12-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to the alarm ring tone on my cell phone; I have it programmed to play Macy Gray's, "There is Beauty in the World." I had to laugh as I listened to it because I went to bed last night thinking exactly the opposite. Sometimes tragedy surrounds us; loneliness, broken dreams, abandoned hopes, financial woes, death, rebellious children and yes, shoe chewing puppies. Everything was crowding in on me and I wasn't in the best of moods but I vowed to wake up in the morning with a better attitude by choosing a higher altitude! The only higher altitude I know of is to spend some quite time with God. The kids were all asleep, including the four legged one. The house was quite and so I had a little chat with God. It wasn't a formal prayer; just a heartfelt conversation with my father.

After praying I searched for a reply in his word, and then I spent a little time in a book I'm reading by Gary Chapman. The author highlighted a passage in Philippians to illustrate a point that he was making about reading our Bible as a way of talking with God. He used the scripture Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice" The author had asked God how someone is supposed to rejoice always! When my puppy chewed up my favorite pair of shoes, my first thought was not, "Praise you God for my blessed puppy!" When your bank account is overdrawn, your marriage falls apart or your loved one dies, it's a little hard to imagine how to find the breath, the solid ground, to rejoice in the Lord. But that is the key, "in the Lord;" life will always set you back on your heals. It will always throw the succor punches that steal away your ability to breath. It is ever changing, never reliable, a thief and a liar, rarely joyous and best described as the stomach plummeting, downward drop of the Tower of Terror (without all of the pleasurable anticipation and hoopla of the real ride at Disney World).

Spoken simply, life stinks, but none of that describes God. He is constant, unchanging, unsinkable, unwavering, all knowing. He is as dependable as the day is inevitable. So although life may not be worthy of rejoicing, in the midst of your storms, if you turn your thoughts toward the Lord and rejoice in his goodness and his love for you then there is nothing else; no storm clouds, no strong winds, no driving rain, just the peace in the eye of the storm. The problems don't go away but you are mentally lifted to a higher plane, where the Lord is your light, your refuge, your peace that will carry you through the hard places.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” (Psalm 23:4-5)

"my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent people you save me." (2 Samuel 22:3 NIV)

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)

Life does seem to have more bumps than there is road but "in the Lord" the bumps serve a purpose. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) In her song, Macy Gray, said to "pick your diamonds, pick your pearls." She was not saying that the beauty of the world outweighs the trouble, on the contrary, it is the trouble that creates the diamonds and the pearls. In the natural, it is the pressure in the deep of the earth that produces a diamond. A pearl is created when a grain of sand invades the shell of a clam. Without the pressure, without the discomfort we would never have such beautiful treasures.

That brings me to the final inspiration of the day; the amazing story behind an American treasure, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." The words were originally penned as a poem entitled "Christmas Bells" and it was written on December 25, 1864 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (another American treasure). The miracle of this song is in the transition that Longfellow went through to find the inspiration to write about hope. Civil war struck our country on April 12, 1861. On July 10th of that same year, Longfellow's wife burned to death in front of her small children and husband when a spark from a candle engulfed her dress in flames. That first Christmas after this tragedy Longfellow wrote, "How inexpressibly sad are all holidays." On Christmas of 1862 he said, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace." In 1863 his oldest son, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac was severely wounded. That Christmas, Longfellow had nothing to say, life had stolen away his breath. But Christmas of 1864 witnessed a change in his heart. The final marches of the war were in view and Abraham Lincoln was reelected. Maybe those events sparked his flagging flame of hope but more than likely he had attained that higher plane in the Lord, a plane transcending the sorrows of life.

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in god: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." (Psalm 42:5)

This is a resounding theme in the Psalms. Line after line is filled with the broken, depressed words of a hunted, haunted and bloody man. Yet, though David speaks of tears for bread, long sleepless nights and the relentless stream of violent men…he always closes with the goodness of God. “For I shall yet praise Him…”

"Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings." (Psalms 77:7-12)

So with the approach of Christmas and the twilight of another year, remember the words to this old Christmas Carol and, “pick your diamonds, pick your pearls.”

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Merry Christmas!

Amy Charissa Warren

Why Wait?

2011-12-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

Why wait? Waiting is not my favorite task in life. I confess that I have trouble with the concept of delayed gratification. I get an idea in my head and I want to see it fleshed out right this very minute. The idea is like a bone to a dog: I can't let it go; I obsess over it; I lose sleep over it. But I am not so very different from most of the people around me. We have never had to labor all day with lye soap and a wash board to have clean clothes. Throw them in the washer and dryer for 40 minutes and walla...clean clothes. We don't have to kill the chicken; pluck it, gut it and then slowly roast it. We can pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store on our way home from work, better yet we can drive through the fast food line and have nuggets with dipping sauce. Prepackaged lunches cooked in the microwave in less than five minutes. Dial up internet connections and smart phones bring the collective knowledge of the entire world into the palm of our hands in less time than it would take to ask the questions. We turn on our television and have access to hundreds of TV and radio stations with a few clicks of the remote control We can start up our cars from inside our warm homes, and mail is delivered instantly to our computer or phone. If we want that special something today, we charge it and pay the bill later. We wait for nothing. Most of us have everything we could possibly need or want but are still unsatisfied.

When we find something we don't have or an emptiness we can't fill; when a need arises that we can't buy a tool for or call a repair man, then we go to God. He is our ultimate fixer-upper guy, but for only those things that we feel we can't do for ourselves; the relationships gone awry, the illness threatening to steal a life, the financial boogie man that threatens to rattle our security. For everything else, we feel we are self sufficient. The philosophy of many of us being, "We break it, God makes it new again." The problem is that once we turn to God for help; God, like all good parents, uses the opportunity for a teaching moment. Yes, he can fix the problem but first he wants us to realize that he was there all along and it never needed to become broke for us to turn to him. He wants us to realize that maybe it became broke because we are broken. We were damaged as children through no fault of our own; we were led astray by our flesh into paths that have eroded our minds and values; we listened too closely to voices that should have never become our gods. Our broken condition must be repaired before God will mend all the little pieces we have placed in his hands.

But ultimately, the greatest lesson God desires that we learn, is that it’s not about us. God’s will is that our life, all of those broken pieces we put into his hands, will be reconstructed into a shining beacon that will inspire and turn others to the Glory of His Majesty. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

When I turn to God seeking the answer to my problems; one of the lessons God teaches me is that it's not about my problems. It doesn't matter how big my mountain is; it only matters how big my God is. And he doesn't want to show that just to me. We all have a circle of people that we influence; people that watch us, test us, even follow our examples. When God moves in our lives...he moves in theirs also. So when he takes on the needs we lay before him, he doesn't listen to our input about the problem. He doesn't care about our time table, our desired outcome, or our expectations. He only cares about the ultimate state of our soul and the souls of those that will be influenced by us. So, often God makes us wait.

Abraham and Sarah were promised a son; a son that would be the first of a stream of descendants greater than the stars in the heavens. They waited 25 years for that promise. Through Abraham, the Israelites were promised a land of their own; the promised land. They waited over 400 years to set their roots in that soil; much of that waiting time was spent in slavery. When the three Hebrew children defied a king and refused to bow down to his idol; they had to wait until the bonds were tied, the furnace made ready and they stood within the very halls of hell before they were rescued. When Daniel refused a decree and prayed openly to his God he walked among the lions before he knew deliverance. Why? Why not deliver a child instantly, why not move out the heathen the next day, why not quench the fire in the furnace before they were thrown in. Why wait?

Not all of the answers can be known for certain, only God knows his reasons, but some are given in the scripture. For the three Hebrew children and Daniel; two kings witnessed the power of the True God.

"Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire." (Daniel 3:26)

“Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” (Daniel 6:16-22)

In Egypt, Pharoah’s heart was hardened so that God’s power would be seen and known throughout the world. “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” (Romans 9:17-18)

Abraham’s people were not given the Promised Land for four hundred years because the inhabitants at that time were still living under a period of grace, they had not yet sinned their last. God, in his mercy, was giving them time to repent before he imposed judgment upon them by taking their land.

“And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Genesis 15:12-16)

As for the 25 years that Abraham and Sarah had to wait before their child was born, who can know for sure. There may have been conditions in their personal lives that God needed to clean up. Maybe God was testing their faithfulness. Maybe key individuals needed to be prepared and placed within the eventual environment of this unborn child. Whatever the reason, God had made a promise and it was their responsibility to wait. Waiting isn't harmful; it is what we do while we wait that can make the difference between fullness of life or an oppressed existence. Choose to wait in anticipation, choose to remember the prior faithfulness of God, and choose to renew your strength with the daily digestion of his word. I speak as one who doesn't wait well but is learning the joys to be had in this temporary holding pattern. Joys I wouldn't have known if I insisted on pushing ahead my will to pursue. I have learned the hard way that pushing ahead only produces the Ishmael's of my life, but waiting will bring a harvest of fruit ripe for the picking and void of shame or regret.

So I won't ask why, but will learn to wait in patient expectation.

God Bless

Amy Charissa Warren

"Changed in the Twinkling of an Eye"

2011-12-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Butterflies and little girls; is there anything more cliché; yet for my daughter there has always been a fascination and love for these beautiful insects. She will be eighteen soon yet butterflies are still her favorite adornment and the central theme of her bedroom décor; but not because they are beautiful, graceful ornaments in the summer day scape. If you asked her why she is so fascinated with this insect she would very succinctly convey the powerful lesson a butterfly teaches us about our Christian transformation. She would tell you that a worm can metamorphous into a new creature. And what is man, but a worm?

“Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” (Job 25:1-6)

A butterfly may not be mentioned specifically in scripture, but a few other insects made it into the word, and all bear the mark of the creator; they are all little lessons waiting to be read.

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." (Proverbs 6:6)

"There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." (Proverbs 30:24-25)

As for the lesson of the butterfly, I remember learning about how the caterpillar wraps it self up into a cocoon and emerges a butterfly. But I read an article recently that delved much deeper into the lesson than my elementary school science teachers ever did. The title of the article is "Consider the Butterfly" written by Jerry Helan. He reminded me that all creation bears witness to God. There isn't anything in the natural world that doesn't illustrate some spiritual truth and point us back to our creator.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." (Psalms 19:1)

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:18-20)

So, consider the butterfly. Its life begins as a lowly caterpillar, a worm with a ferocious appetite. This little creature, no longer than an inch, can decimate entire gardens. Its appetite knows no bounds and it is a pest by all estimations. Infact, as a caterpillar, it has no redeeming qualities of any kind, yet it is a miracle of creation. Within the body of this worm is a substance called "anlagen" which hold the DNA for an entirely different creature, the butterfly. During the entire life span of this little foliage eating monster a new creature is waiting to emerge with the death of the old. During the cocoon stage of this creatures life, the one dies and a new one emerges. It's not as we were once taught, a long sleep while the body changes. Infact, the caterpillar dies and is reborn a butterfly. Yes its body is transformed, but only with the death of the old.

This new creature is completely alien to its beginning form on the earth in appearance, life style and purpose. It is no longer earth bound but can fly. It is no longer an ugly, slow moving, creeping worm but a gorgeous kaleidoscope of winged majesty. It is no longer destructive, engorging itself to the fullest. But it feeds off the nectar of flowers and is a key component in the pollination of many plants and flowers crucial to our balanced eco-system. The destructive, selfish old creature is now a vibrant, critical addition to nature.

The spiritual application: we are the worm that can be transformed into the butterfly.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-2)

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

For man, the lowly worm that we are, our anlagen is God's Holy Spirit. It is what gave us first life; God's very breath that made a lump of clay rise up a man. If it were to be withdrawn all of life would perish.

"If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." (Job 34:14-15)

"The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." (Isaiah 40:6-8)

The anlagen are already in each of us, it's in the entire world, and it’s what gives us life. One day, if we are called, if God opens our ears and extends an invitation and we accept and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; those anlagen are now activated in our flesh. It kills the old man until one day a new creature is born. Not bound by earthly chains, no longer a slave to gluttonous flesh, not destructive and self serving. A new creature, heavenly minded, assigned a specific task to pollinate and propagate new life. A beauty to behold, reflecting the very image of Christ; from glory to glory.

So consider the butterfly and know that a life can be made new by the power of the Holy Spirit. A lowly worm can metamorphous into a creature of great worth and beauty.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Effectual, Fervent Prayer

2011-11-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16)

There are many patterns given in the Bible about how to pray, the clearest and most precise being the Lord's Prayer taught by Jesus.
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6:9-13 NIV)

In Daniel 9:4-19 we have a beautiful prayer made by Daniel in intercession for Jerusalem. Psalms 51 is a perfect example of a prayer of repentance, written by David, asking God to forgive him for adultery and murder. Jacob prayed to God on the banks of the Jordan River beseeching God to deliver him from the wrath of his brother, Esau. Psalms 90 is a prayer Moses prayed asking God to turn from the wrath he felt towards his chosen people. In 2 Kings 19:14-19, King Hezekiah prays for deliverance from the king of Assyria. In 2 Chronicles 20 we see the prayer of Jehoshophat when faced with the armies of Moab and Ammon that had come to war against Judah. All of these prayers, and many more besides, follow a very clear pattern.

They are not just a litany of wants and needs presented before an authoritative God with the power to save. They are rich with praise, copiously supplied with memorials of past promises and accounts of salvation, full of contrition for the unworthiness of the supplicant and precise in the acknowledgment that the answered prayer will be for the glory of God. They are submissive in their presentation and humble in their requests.  The opening verse from James said that it is the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much. All of these examples of prayers were given by men that God himself described as righteous. Yet, when I read the accounts of their lives, they would not fit my understanding of righteous. They were not without sin.  My righteousness is the righteousness of God and it is in that state that my prayers are heard and answered by God. This righteousness is”rightness" with God as explained in Romans 3: 21-26 NLT.

"But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus."

In this "right state" with God I can confidently approach the throne and trust that my prayers will be heard and answered if I follow the pattern laid out by the great men of the Bible. Using Daniel's prayer in chapter 9 of Daniel, I should first and last give praise to God and solidly anchor my supplication in the promises he has made to me.

“O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments," (Daniel 9:4)

"Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever? And they dwelled therein, and have built you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying, If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help." (2Chron. 20:7-9)

Next, I must put away pride, and admit that I face a righteous God as a fallen and sinful woman (man). Throw out the "Serenity Prayer".  It is not about dealing with what I can handle and giving God the rest; God demands that he is first; mind, body and soul. If I were capable of saving myself and being successful on my own I would not have required a savior. Yes, I can be "the man" society accepts and accredits as successful. But will this save my soul when it comes to the final reckoning? No, I must acknowledge where I stand before God.

"We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets." (Daniel 9:5-10) [Continues on to verse 15]

"Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that you might be just when you speak, and be clear when you judge." (Psalms 51:4)

"You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance." (Psalms 90:8)

Now that I have submitted to the righteousness of God, admitted my inadequacies before him, and committed my ways to his leading; it is time to make my request.

"O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because for our sins, and “for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all that are about us." (Daniel 9:16)

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit." (Psalms 51:7-12)

And here I arrive at the key; the primary reason why many of my prayers are not answered: God does not grant my requests because I am worthy. He will not give it to me because I really want it…or even desperately need it. He answers if it is according to his will and in order to gain the glory that he deserves.

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us:" (1 John 5:14)

"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name." (Daniel 9:19)

"Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto you."   (Psalms 51:13)

"Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech you, save you us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD GOD, even you only." (2 Kings 19:19)

This is not to say that he does not desire to give good gifts to his children. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11) God is over all, and in all. He knows the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10) He knows whether answering our requests will be for our good or lead us to destruction. Bottom line, He desires our soul to be saved and sometimes that means telling us no. But don’t be dismayed, no is still an answer, just not the answer we wanted.

When we seek to live our lives for God, in his favor, according to his will; our prayers will reach past the brass ceiling. God will hear, and he will answer. Remind him of his promises, confess your failings and your weakness, present your request, and give the glory of answered prayer to him. God always hears the prayers of his children and he always answers. I have two years of answered prayers to prove it. Sometimes I don't like the answer, but it was an answer all the same. Our kids are not always happy for the replies we give them to their requests, but we know that our answer was for their best; how much more our Father in Heaven who can not fail, and does not lie.

Don't think you must walk through this life all on your own. Trust your Heavenly Father. "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him." (Psalms 34:8)

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

What Am I Willing to Die For?

2011-11-19T07:16:00.000-08:00

If you can answer the question; "What am I willing to die for" than you will be able to determine what to live for. The answer can't be Jesus Christ, your spouse or your kids...those are a given. To turn a phrase from the Bible, even an evil man would give [his life] for his family. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7:11) The question is, forgetting those causes that we would all naturally die for, what cause do you burn for? What cause would you defend in the face of a firing squad?

Let's be honest, we may love our jobs, our hobbies and our extracurricular activities; but do we love them enough to die for them? It's the things that we are willing to die for that gives us our reasons to live; our reasons to wake up in the morning and the satisfied confidence of a job well done when we lie down at night. That purpose will chase away the darkness of depression and the fear of a life unfulfilled.

Will it be easy? No. The best causes are those that require sacrifice, dedication, commitment and courage. There will be failures, there will be opposition and there will be a cost. It may require spitting in the face of social norms, you may be considered a fanatic, you will need the courage to speak up when everyone else remains silent and you will be required to rock the boat of complacency.

I have been blessed to know my calling. My husband and I had that "epiphany" moment years ago at a General Church gathering in Louisville, KY. Over a span of three days each of us seemed to be "sent" to one hurting marriage and family after another. The needs were legion. At the time, in addition to facing all of these individuals seeking council and guidance, we were teaching a family life class at our Church.

It is amazing how once you are made aware of a calling in your life; you can't seem to escape it. It's like the crazy road game my kid’s play called Banana. Every time they see a yellow car they yell out banana and slug someone in the arm. I never knew there were so many yellow cars on the road. In the past year I have had five struggling, almost dead marriages, brought to my attention. Some have been total strangers that have just spilled their agonizing stories out to me, the sympathetic bystander. It has sometimes brought me to tears; why now in the midst of my own marriage struggle am I faced with so many other needs. The answer was clear, so that I will pray; so that I will help in any way I can, so that I will offer an encouraging word and direct those couples to resources that will give them the tools to a happy, restored marriage and family. For a year now the call pounding through my head has been; if God leads, I will follow. Regardless of the state of my marriage, the need all around me is real and can't be ignored. God has put a burning desire in my heart to help in any way that I can. It is the call that I am willing to die for, to fight for every day. Regardless of the condition in my own life, if I can help another marriage avoid the pitfalls of my own, then I have succeeded. Every restored marriage testimony I hear about spurs me on, encourages me that there is always hope when two people are willing to fight. Every child that gets to see hope restored in their home is a victory. Every spouse that moves back home is a banner of hope. That is my cause; a passion that is worth living for, and ultimately dying for.

The battle will be ferocious for a strong family unit is the solid basis of a strong nation. When a man has something to live for and die for, he will move heaven and earth to defend, challenge and labor toward a moral, strong nation that will preserve the health, wealth and liberty of his family. When the family doesn't matter, nothing matters, and a nation crumbles. No values are worth defending because they will vary with each individual and each new choice in life. Make no mistake; the devil is targeting families in this nation and all around the world. He knows that if you take out the husband it's an easy feat to pick off the remaining members of that family one by one. And it doesn't just affect that family unit; nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, neighbors and future generations can also become casualties. The fathers are the head of the body; remove the head and the body dies. That is why this is a call I will accept and I vow to remain committed to the very end. I may fight alone, I may not ever see personal victory in my own life, but I will know victories and that gives me the enthusiasm to keep up the fight.

Will you join me? Find your purpose, the passion that gives you a reason to live.

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." Winston Churchill

God Bless,
Amy Charissa Warren

Choose You This Day

2011-11-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

For years I attended a church that authored strict standards by which to judge my Christian walk; Standards that decreed what I should wear, where I was allowed to go on my free time, and how much free time I was allowed to have. Needless to say my clothing choices were limited, allowable activities were few and free time was nonexistent. To say I was good at following orders would be fairly accurate; to say I was a good Christian would be a lie. I served a church and its doctrines; I didn't have a clue what God required of me. "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:9)

I have since learned what God requires of me. "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8) God desires a personal relationship with each of us and in the bonds of that relationship the Holy Spirit will direct us on how to live and interact in the world as becomes a Christian.

Think of life as a long winding path, cluttered with intersections that require choices. “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14) There are no mile markers, no clearly defined sign posts, there isn’t even a handy map provided to you by a friendly gate keeper. Choices must be made continually: Which direction do I take? What job should I accept? Who do I listen to? Where should I live? I used to believe that none of it mattered. I was in control of the questions and the answers. As long as I remembered that I was a Christian; the what, where and how didn’t matter. But I can no longer justify that lack of accountability against the scriptures I read in my Bible.

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV)

“For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.” (James 4:15)

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)

“And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” (Luke 10:27)

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galatians 6:7-8)

When God gave me his Holy Spirit he clearly demanded the right to be LORD OVER EVERY AREA OF MY LIFE. Not just my Sunday’s, not just my private belief system, not just when I face sickness, death or sorrow. He demands every minute of my life; to be my counselor in every choice I make. Why? So that all the praise and all the glory goes to him. That is the inspiration I received after listening to a message the other day from Dr. Charles Stanley with In Touch Ministries.

If God demands preeminence in my life, how do I get direction for the multitude of decisions I must make every day? Yes, praying always helps, but I can’t just sit in my prayer closet and wait for God to tell me what to do before every step I take. I have the Holy Spirit for a reason: to counsel me and comfort me in my daily Christian walk.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:15-17)

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

This is the premise of Dr. Stanley's sermon. With the aid of the Holy Spirit we can confidently meet every intersection of our life by honestly answering these questions and acting according to the spirit led response.

1. Will this activity bring Glory to God: Will it honor, magnify and cause me to reflect the image of Christ?

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31)

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18)

"For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:21-25 NKJV)

2. Will it be profitable to my Christian life; will it aid me in my Christian walk?

"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." (1 Corinthians 10:23)

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." (Galatians 5:13)

3. Will it edify me as a believer; will it build me up?

"And whatsoevere ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men: Knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23)

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16)

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9)

4. Will my participation in this activity have the potential of enslaving me?

“Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:34-36 NKJV)

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Romans 6:6)

"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:15-16)

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:5-10 NIV)

5. Will my participation in this activity strengthen me against temptation or lead me deeper? (Remember the quote “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”)

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:13-17)

"Do not be conformed to this world.... Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." (Romans 12:2, 9 NKJV)

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness....Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:20-21 NKJV)

6. Does this activity reflect the character of God or the character of the world?

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV)

"Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

There are many scriptures to expound upon and guide the believer in answering each one of these questions. God was not lax in ensuring that we had a thorough guide book for all of the quandaries of this life. The Bible may not speak about what movie to go see at the theatre, what college to attend, what career choice to pursue or where to live, but foundational principles are given regarding the level of our involvement in the world, what to do with our finances and the “works” that should become evident in our life. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecc 1:9 NIV) He tells us all we need to know in order to live a fully sacrificed, Spirit led life.

So if you still embrace the “I’m accountable to no one but myself” philosophy, then you probably need to answer one more question regarding what is ultimately important in your life; If it is to simply embrace what life has to offer and take your chances with the judgment day, then make it a successful life by the world’s standards for surely you will have your reward. If you have the far look of eternity and desire to see God, and take hold of all the promises laid out for an overcomer (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26, 3:5, 12, 17), than you will need to “Choose this day whom you will serve.”

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

God Bless,

Amy Charissa Warren

Is it Hard to Kick Against the Pricks?

2011-11-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

I was out walking my six month old puppy last night, her name is Narnia. She is a Blue Tick Coon Hound and Black Retriever mix. All in all she is proving to be a good dog but very stubborn. The stars were out, the air was a little cool, I was a little tired and she was just a little too interested in all the smells along the path. My primary goals for the outdoor excursion were for her to do her business and get some exercise before bed time; her primary goals were to explore her world and play. Yes, there was a very clear cut crash of wills, but I had to prevail because I am her master and she must obey me. So our entire foray sounded like this, "Narnia, walk, Narnia, walk, Narnia, no, walk, no, walk. Narnia, come. Narnia, come. No...I said come. Narnia, COME! Narnia, COME! GOOD GIRL, no, walk, Narnia, walk. NARNIA...WALK! Narnia, I...SAID....WALK. Good girl, that's right, good… no, WALK! Come, Narnia come, Narnia COME. NARNIA COME;" This entire monolog grew in tones of frustration and was punctuated repeatedly by tugs on her collar. Before the walk was over we were both a little weary of the excursion.

In my mind, every time I tugged her leash, every time she grew distracted and meandered off on her own path, every time something stopped her in her tracks, every time some elusive scent led her astray of my planned route; I could see myself in my walk with God. How similar I am to that puppy; in fact the Bible calls us sheep. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;..." (Isaiah 53:6) Christians are compared to dumb animals that require the Shepherds guiding and protection for their very survival. Now admittedly, my pup is probably smarter than the average sheep, but the image still holds true.

Regularly Narnia gets tangled up in her leash and requires my assistance to set her free. Every looming obstacle frightens her and requires my intervention. Sometimes she becomes so frightened that I must stand between her line of site and the offending, fearsome obstacle; once her eyes are back on me, she becomes brave and can move forward. Sometimes that doesn't work and I must resort to picking her up and carrying her past the fearsome mountain. Regularly I have to remind her of the task at hand and keep her on the straight path that I have set for her. I have to pull her off all the garbage she tries to digest along the way because I know that many things may taste good to her now but could make her sick later.   I have to force her to walk and run when she would rather play because I know that she needs the exercise. I see the path ahead and as her loving master I know what is best for her.  I also recognize that in order for her to be a profitable addition to my family she must learn obedience.

Is that any different than the care and superintendence God gives to us that are covered by the blood and filled with the Holy Spirit; called according to his purpose? (Romans 8:28)  I lose my patience with Narnia but God has infinite patience and mercy with my waywardness.  He calls to me daily correcting my wandering steps and redirecting me when I grow distracted or follow a "false scent." He starts out with a still, small voice...urging me to listen through all the noise. When I ignore him, he speaks a little louder. If I continue to ignore him the correction can become quite clear and rather uncomfortable. He knows what is best for me, what things I should not digest, what obstacles will require his help to navigate around, how important it is to keep me moving forward and how essential it is to keep my eyes focused on him.

This reminds me of what Christ said to Saul when he struck him blind on the road to Damascus. "And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." (Acts 26:14)

I always used to wonder what that statement meant, "kick against the pricks," now I understand. Saul was a zealous persecutor of the Christians in the early church. He had heard the witness of Stephen before the High Priest, and stood witness as Stephen was stoned. "... and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." (Acts 7:58) Out of zeal for his Jewish faith he set out to destroy the church. "Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison" (Acts 8:3).

"I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished" (Acts 22:4-5).

But God had a different plan for Saul's life; God sought him for his own purpose. Many times God had spoken to Saul to turn him; many times he had jerked his collar trying to get his attention. But Saul continued to resist so God had to speak louder. That was what was meant by the pricks. In the time of the first century church, soil was tilled by the brute force of oxen. Oxen are stubborn and powerful beasts so a goad was necessary to "encourage" the ox to do what the farmer needed him to do. The goad was usually a pointed spike (prick) fastened to the end of a long wooden shaft If the ox was having trouble staying on task the farmer would prick the Ox with the goad. Sometimes the Ox would rebel against the command and kick back at the goad; this would drive the prick deeper into its flesh. The more the Ox rebelled, the more it kicked, the harder the prick. With the use of these words and the image they provoke it is clear that God had been speaking to Saul for a long time. We know that Saul was a young man when he witnessed the stoning of Stephen, who knows how many lives he had cost and how many years had passed before he finally submitted to God's calling. How long has God been calling you?

If I am consistent with my pup as God is consistent with me, one day Narnia will come instantly when I call. The sound of my voice will be the first call she heeds. She will discover that obedience to me means life and liberty for her. Pleasing me will become her greatest joy because she will learn to trust my leading and to value my control in her life. I desire to respond the same way to God.  My way leads to confusion, oppression, entanglement, weariness and ultimate dissatisfaction. Jesus gives new life; newness of purpose and a promise of a future hope. Teach me Lord to recognize the pricks of the goad and turn quickly to the sound of your voice.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)

God Bless,
Amy Charissa Warren

Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World

2011-10-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

"nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:15-16 NASB)

If you have been blessed by God; If you have received when you were in need; If you have been inspired when you needed it the most; If you are healthy; If you are free; Than you must give forward to those who are in need! If you hoard the light the world doesn't get brighter; it grows darker for everyone including yourself.

I Will Hear A Voice Behind Me

2011-10-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. ("Invictus" by William Earnest Henley)

This poem is provocative to me because of the contradiction of thoughts within the stanzas. In one case the author of "Invictus" acknowledges nothing past this life but the "horror of the shade" and adheres to the notion that he is the master of his fate but then he also admits to the presence of an eternal judge when he says "How charged with punishments the scroll." This is reminiscent of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, who acknowledges the presence of God, as portrayed by the great whale, but resents his preeminence in the final destiny of Ahab's life. In actuality, neither William Henley or Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, are arguing against the existence of an omnipresent, omniscient God; they are disputing his final claime on their ultimate destiny! They resent the imposing of his will on their lives; they view him as the greatest enemy of man.

Much of creation shares a similar abhorrence with the providence of God. Providence was defined by Noah Webster (1828 edition) as, "the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures. He that acknowledges a creation and denies a providence, involves himself in a palpable contradiction; for the same power which caused a thing to exist is necessary to continue its existence. Some persons admit a general providence, but deny a particular providence, not considering that a general providence consists of particulars. A belief in divine providence, is a source of great consolation to good men. By divine providence is often understood God himself." It is this superintendence that man resents; the overall "care and oversight" that God imposes to direct mankind along paths that mesh with his will. Man wants to believe that the ebb and flow of kingdoms are by their might of will and force of conquest. They want to believe that the rise of financial empires is due to the unmitigated drive of their own wills. They refuse to bow the head in submission to the ruler of it all. (Genesis 14:22, Deut. 10:14, Haggai 2:8)

They refuse to believe that God's will is accomplished despite their feeble efforts to alter the span of man on the face of Earth. Promotion comes, kingdoms rise, empires are established, finances are amassed...but all in accordance with the will of God.

"And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:" (Daniel 2:21 KJV)

"He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." (Luke 1:52 KJV)

"This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will, and sets up over it the basest of men." (Daniel 4:17 KJV)

"Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another." (Psalms 75:5-7 KJV)

Great men all through history have desired to "control their destinies". Admittedly they have achieved much, but it was only because it was according to the will of God. "Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal; The Lord knows them that are his. And, let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." (2 Timothy 2:19-21 God has a plan; within that evolution some men are used as tools of righteousness and others are used as tools of judgment and destruction; filthy vessels that will be discarded after their purpose is accomplished.

Pharaoh chose to retain the Israelites in Egypt despite the plagues and the urging of Moses. He believed they remained in bondage because of the force of his will; never realizing it remained so because it was God's will, in order to serve a specific purpose. "And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shall speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them." (Exodus 7:1-5 KJV)

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon believed that he was a great conqueror and a builder of nations. To put words into his mouth, he believed he was a master of his fate, "At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:29-30 KJV) In this instant God's response was swift, no time was allowed to pass before God judged (Daniel 4:31-37).

Here, in these instances, God’s response was swift, but there are other occasions in the Bible where God allowed his “cup of wrath” to fill slowly over several hundreds of years. For example, Abraham wasn’t allowed into the promised land for over four hundred years because God said that the iniquity of the current inhabitants was not yet complete (Genesis 15:16). He was waiting, giving them time to change and repent so that he would be just when he finally took away their land and destroyed them. I believe these examples illustrate one of the reasons man challenges and even questions the ultimate will of God and his absolute standard of righteousness; God doesn't always respond quickly with fire and brimstone or flashes of lightening. Sometimes he responds instantly, other times he appears to just wink at the activities of man. Men like Captain Ahab believe this is because God is vindictive, petty, cruel or unjust; a big bully that delights in pushing men around. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that God was "able to abase" yet for whatever reason, God often allows man to play on under the false belief that His will is no match for their own. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) We do whatever we want, go wherever we desire, lay our hands on anything we wish; no lightening flashes; no voice thunders from heaven and we conclude that, “our will is supreme." But what a "palpable contradiction" we exercise ourselves in when we believe this. We are forgetting the infinite patience of a God who does not fear our inventions for he can stop anything he wishes, anytime he wants. "Thou hide thy face, they are troubled: thou take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." (Psalm 104:29 KJV)

The lightening strike may not come when we expect it; our plans may go forward as we decree; but the results are in the hands of the Lord. Yes we can choose the life we choose, but the judging is still in God's hand. We can choose the actions but never the consequences. Those are set in place by God. In truth, all mankind is under the control of God, we have the right to choose if we will serve him or if we won't. If we don't, it is ours to face the consequences that will come; the slippery places that lead to destruction and desolation (Psalm 73:2-19). If we choose to serve him and accept the covering of the Blood of Christ and receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit than we have become the captivity led captive (Ephesians 4:8). "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

God will be the voice behind us that tells us which way we are to go. (Isaiah 30:2) We will no longer walk wherever we want. (John 21:18) And we will be cautious to seek out God's will first, before we pursue the momentous plans of our life. "Go to now, ye that say, To day or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil." (James 4:13-16 KJV)

This may be the bend of today’s society, to seize the day; even to seize it from the very clutches of God. I choose a different path, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” That means I may not always be able to see the path ahead of me, but I believe that the God I serve is faithful to bring me and my own, safely to our expected end.

God Bless

Amy Charissa Warren

Clinging Leaves

2011-10-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

I was taking a walk the other day, the only decent day we've had in awhile, and I was doing something that is very novel for me; I was walking in silence! Anyone who knows me will understand why I consider that to be a novel experience. Ever since I can remember I have required my world to be flooded with sound. I have avoided the silence. Whether it's a TV turned on, but unwatched, or the background thrum of music...I have shunned the stillness. Now I have theories as to why I am that way, but that's for another blog. My point is that in the “music-less” void I listened to the furious bustle of the wind, the restless rustling of the fallen leaves, the frenzied barking of the dogs I passed and the occasional intrusion of a car.

As I walked through the field leading up to my office; in the midst of nature's symphony, void of man-made commotion, I started to pay closer attention to the vista surrounding me. The field had been harvested of its crop. The woods surrounding me were layered with the variegated colors of fall. Blowing leaves were everywhere and the sky was thick with the harbingers of winter. I started paying closer attention to the trees. The peak of the season has crested and we are now on the downward spiral towards winter.  Many of the trees have already dropped their clothing and embraced the short death of winter. But what my eyes were drawn to were the few trees with shreds of clinging leaves. Sometimes they were clustered at the top, sometimes tenaciously grasping to one branch, and I recalled that I have sometimes seen leaves that are still clinging in the midst of winter.

Why?  What did these leaves have that gave them the strength to hold on while all the others had long since blown away?   God, in his infinite creativity, used his creation to demonstrate many spiritual truths. I was curious to know if there was an applicable explanation for this phenomenon.

"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" (Romans 1:19-20)

The primary idea crossing my mind was that the closer you are to God...the harder it is to be shaken.   I let the idea rest in the back of my brain, and a few days have passed. This evening I was out running with my puppy. As I stole a moment of rest and gasped for some air, I started looking at all the trees. I'm always sad to see the first entirely bare trees; not because I'm sorry that summer is gone, I'm sad to see the first signs that the splendors of fall are soon to pass. I noted a few bare trees and again I noted the handful of clinging leaves.

That decided me on the purpose for this blog; God has a harvest. (See the parable of the tares among the Wheat; Matthew 13:24-30) In the end all will be judged, we will either be a weed to be thrown into the fire and consumed or we will be gathered up as the "fruit of the harvest". A harvest must happen at an assigned time once the fruit has ripened. If a farmer waits too long to gather in his crop he will lose some of his harvest. If something was to happen and the crop wasn't harvested...even the plumpest fruit, the firmest corn or the ripest grape would spoil and rot in the field. The harvest must be gathered or all will be lost and the labor spent in vain.

For the tree, every leaf will be shaken. Some will hold out the longest, usually those that are closest to their life source, but in the end even they will fall during the winds of adversity and the rain of falls darkest hours. It is the same in Christ; we are the precious fruit that God desires to harvest. If he waits too long to gather us home, even those closest could be lost.

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:21-24)

"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be you also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh." (James 5:7-8)

The seasons come every year to give man a way to tell time, to know and understand where we are in life. Fall comes every year and the death of winter follows. But soon the joy of rebirth comes on the wings of spring and life begins to bud anew. As winter follows fall and spring follows winter, there will also come the harvest time of God's kingdom. It will not wait for man to pursue his dreams and schemes. It will come when we least expect it, while we sleep, while we play, while we close our eyes in a complacent blink. It will come and it will pass. I want to be vigilant and always aware of the times and seasons. I want to be one of those clinging leaves, close to the husbandman, bountiful fruit safely plucked in the fullness of time.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

70 times 7

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:21-22)

I was listening to Dr. Michael Youssef this morning with Leading the Way. His chosen subject was forgiveness; more specifically he was speaking of forgiveness within a marriage, but this is a topic that covers all relationships in our life. Unforgiveness is a great contributor to both broken relationships and broken lives. We often think that by not forgiving someone we are somehow inflicting them with retribution and pain, unfortunately the person that is affected the most is the individual that has such a hardened heart that they can't even say the words, "I forgive you," let alone practice forgiveness. I know this personally since it took me almost twenty years to forgive my mother. At first I didn't want to forgive her, I felt that by forgiving her I was somehow validating or condoning her actions against me. Once I overcame that notion, I struggled with the "how" of forgiveness.

Today as I listened to Dr Michael Youssef I received some helpful points. I coupled these with some keys I have learned from my counselor over the last few weeks. Dr. Youssef listed three steps in the process of forgiveness. The first is to "attack the insignificant". We have all heard the often used adage, "don't major in the minors." There are times when this is good advice. But when it comes to forgiveness, especially in close relationships such as a marriage, it’s the small issues that will add up over time. We need to address them and let them go as they come along. This is to provide practice for the bigger offences. If we can't forgive the daily irritations like a raised toilet seat, scattered dirty clothes, busy body neighbors, or imagined slights, then forget the big stuff. Every day we are conditioning our mind towards or against an individual. When things start to add up, frustration grows until finally the whole field is set on fire. "Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." (Song of Solomon 2:15)

The second step in the process is to "arrest the incompatible". Unforgiveness is incompatible for a Christian believer. We are not to allow any root of bitterness in the soil of our hearts. "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;" (Hebrews 12:15) I attest to the difficulty of this task. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul reminds us that, "...though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." If our warfare is not against the flesh than it stands to reason that we can't use the weapons of the flesh. We simply do not have the power in our self to overcome unforgiveness. It took me twenty years to forgive my mother. It required God leading me through personal experiences that softened my heart in such a way as to allow the seed of forgiveness to sprout. I couldn't achieve it on my own. Even when I wanted to; even when I understood the necessity for my own salvation; I didn't know where to begin. I needed God's help, through the leading of his Holy Spirit. Even today, if I allow myself the space "to go fishing in that sea of forgetfulness", I can bring old feelings of anger and bitterness back to the surface. These are incompatible thoughts that must be arrested.

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:31-32)

My counselor introduced a concept to me recently that has been very helpful in understanding this and many other adverse feelings that rise up in my mind. He said that the biggest problem Christians have in the battle of their minds is "over appraisal". In considering this, I have found that most of the emotional problems I experience, most of the causes for my fears and worries, and often the primary reasons I can't forgive can be summed up with three statements: I believe that my thoughts (or those of others) are a source of truth. I believe that my feelings are indicators of reality, and I believe that my memories are forecasters of the future. In reality, there is only one source of absolute truth and that is God. His word is truth and is frequently contrary to my thoughts. Feelings should never be judged as a solid foothold for reality; they are undependable and subjective. While the past, though providing incite for the future, does not provide a trustworthy forecast. God is the beginning and the end...the future is held in his hands.

So how do we forgive? We must first cry out to God for help, true forgiveness will require the assistance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Grant it free, unencumbered control of our life and mind. Then we must objectively analyze our thoughts and feelings. Do I have a right to be angry; maybe, but I never have the right to retribution, and unforgiveness is an incompatibility as a believer. Let’s face it; I do not have the capacity to rightly perceive the scales of justice when it comes to the motives of a man's heart. I can only judge based on what I see or experience for only God can see the heart of man. God sees what we hide in our hearts and he knows what can be achieved in a man when forgiveness is given and the Holy Spirit is allowed to function in that life. Remember, God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ. (1Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). Do I feel hurt? Yes, God created humans with feelings so that we could experience and relate to the world around us, but I should never allow those feelings to control me.

Do I know what the future will bring? No, so neither can I judge a person based upon what I think they might do in the future. I'm sure the Christians of Damascus thought they knew what Saul would do once he reached their town; they based their assumptions on his past behavior. But they could never have imagined what would happen once God got Saul's attention, forgave him for his past sins and converted his heart, changing him from a Saul to a Paul.

The last crucial step is to genuinely pray for my offender. I have found when I can find a reason to empathize; I can find the heart to pray. The final key that helped me forgive my mother was recognizing that she had grownup as abused as I was. Sadly, unlike me, she was never given a hand up. No one ever made the effort to save her, to comfort her, to help her understand that the abuse wasn't her fault. Once I realized that, I was able to feel genuine sorrow for her loss and so, although it did not excuse her actions towards me, I could find it in myself to forgive her; even eventually to pray heartfelt prayers for her.

The last step given by Dr. Michael Youseff was the need to "attain your identity". I am a new creation in Christ. I have been given new life and forgiveness from sins because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So if I have been forgiven, I cannot in return refuse to forgive someone else. (Matthew 18:23-35) Besides, the real offense is not against me but against God as David realized in Psalm 51:4 “Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that you might be justified when you speak, and clear when you judge."

So how many times do I need to forgive, 70 times 7; not 490 times. I need to forgive so many times that I lose count and must start all over again. I must never stop forgiving, lest God no longer hear my prayers and refrains from forgiving my trespasses. Forgive, forgive, forgive…70 times 7 times!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

"DeathCrawl" from Facing the Giants

2011-10-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

NEVER GIVE UP!

I can't even begin to describe the soul deep encouragement this gave me this morning. I have seen this movie before, but this morning I was listening to a sermon and the minister played this as a sound bite at the end of his message. I felt chills as I heard the driving tempo of the coaches words, "Don't give up! Don't you dare stop! You promised me you’re all! You can do it! I'm counting on you! Don't give up! Just twenty more steps! Just ten more steps! You can do it! I know it hurts! I know he's heavy! Just one more step!" I felt those words deep in my soul.

So many times I have said the words; this is too much; I'm tired. I know you have too. But God is asking us to not give up. He is asking for our all and he is right there cheering us on. Just wait, at the end, when we are at the edge of despair we will hear the words, "look up...you are at the end zone!" When we can't go another step God will wipe away our tears and show us that we have reached the finish line. Then we will be able to say as Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

I will not give up! I will not back down! I will keep the faith!

God Bless

Amy Charissa Warren

The Gaither Vocal Band - Through lyrics [Music World]

2011-10-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Gaither Vocal Band - Through lyrics [Music World]

Excellent thoughts for the day;

"Without fire there's no refining
Without pain no relief
Without flood there's no rescue
Without testing no belief."

God didn't say we wouldn't have to go through the valley of the shadow of death, but he did promise that we need not fear evil because he will be with us! (Psalms 23)

Don't Hold Your Brother Down!

2011-10-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2)

My husband and I had a situation to deal with this week which illustrated a great travesty in the lives of many Christians today; saved in Christ but still burdened with shame, guilt and unforgiveness. I have always been a firm believer that the sins of our past do not define us. "Once a __________, always a ____________," is not only untrue but a very destructive thought process. It is a natural response to feel guilt and shame for our sins but once we have repented and turned from those transgressions our shame and guilt is erased, liberating us so that we can move forward as a new man or woman.

God said, "Come now, and let us reason together...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) and he promises to separate us from our sins as far as the East is from the West; "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12)

Why then are we so condemning, so demeaning, so cold hearted and unforgiving to each other? We are so aware of the offenses against ourselves, so demanding of restitution to be paid for our hearts wounds that we miss the same heart breaking wounds in our fellow brother or sister. The truth is, when the common person sins they already feel the burden of shame and guilt in their life, it doesn't take the accusation of someone else to make it any more of a reality. The good news; God does not treat us with such callousness, he takes infinite care in culling out the briers in our life.  God uses a supreme level of patience to lead us to repentance, he "convicts cleanly, without crushing words of shame." (Page 12, 40 Days with Jesus) His goal is to transform us into the image of his son, not crush us down into the rubble of defeat. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Cor 7:10)

"For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approves not." Lamentations 3:31-36

All of us gather baggage throughout our journey in life; some is due to our own sin; some has been imposed on us by others. We stumble along, barely holding up under the strain of all of that baggage. We feel it; others see it; we pay the price day by day.  Until the day we turn to God and he gently lifts away all of that baggage from our shoulders. We are forgiven; we are set free. Yet, like a dog returning to vomit, we pick the packs back up and carry on. Or, our angry, wounded victims run after us strapping the shame back on to our stooped shoulders.  I have done this; I have had it done to me. Sometimes I'm the one that can't forgive; myself or my brother, not even recognizing that is what I'm doing. My feelings bleed down my sleeve and I flinch at every "expected" slight, believing that the "redeemed sinner" will be a "repeat offender." How unfair. How can they carry on when they catch my every flinch? How that realization breaks my heart, especially when I can empathize...I have felt the same response in return. I was the child that let my mother down (so she believed); she reminded me of my shame every day in a hundred different ways; ways that maybe she didn't even recognize, but I did. It has followed me most of my life.

I heard a quote recently, I can't recall it in its entirety but the relevant part is that the past is not a source of truth, it does not predict the future. The only time it will predict the future is when we expect it to and react according to those expectations.  We expect to be wounded; we expect to be hurt so we react to shield ourselves. Unfortunately, this makes it very hard for others to move past the shame of their past.  I want to live a liberated life, free from debilitating failures; but I also desire to see that same liberating experience for my spouse, children, brothers and sisters in the Lord. I supremely desire to practice what I have always believed in my heart. I do not want to tread on anyone else in order to liberate myself. The only way I know how to accomplish this difficult task is to die out to myself. My husband has always taught one simple truth to our children: God first, then the church, then your family, then others and finally...yourself. If I practice that daily, pausing before I respond to people or situations, and taking caution to not give too much value to my feelings or emotions; I will be able to overcome the flinches. Then I will walk in the green pastures of God's country, hand in hand with my beloved, marveling at the flower covered mounds of the castoff baggage of yesterday. What a beautiful sight that will be!

"What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see.
And I look upon his face,
the One who saved me by His grace;
When he takes me by the hand
And leads me through the promised land,
What a day, glorious day that will be!"
(Chorus of "What A Day That Will Be" by Jim Hill)

God Bless
Amy Warren

Asiago

2011-10-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

Asiago

Goodbye our faithful friend.
Though hearts are heavy
the time has come to say goodbye.
...
Goodbye to our "Warren" door greeter;
With your prancing paws, wagging butt,
and the gravelly canine "hello you's."

Goodbye to your quircky character:
You asked your water to be refilled
by standing by the toilet.

You could hear a food wrapper three houses away,
and food drop across the house.
You ate tacos...around the lettuce,
and if you could lay on a wash cloth you thought you were spoiled.

You were.

You learned the hard way to never kiss me awake.
You taught us upfront...no cuddling at night.
And, can we ever forget the sight of you, prancing in the yard,
with a bone as big as yourself.

You shied away from sewer draines,
and hid with every storm,
and for some reason you growled at men in hats.
To my dying day I will swear you could spell the word walk.

Goodbye my midnight soldier.
You slept by my side in the lonely nights,
and calmed my sleepless fears.

Goodbye our handsome boy;
with your loving eyes, silky fur,
and the Fritto Chip scent uniquely yours.

I liked it.

Goodbye to your intelligent mind
that could pray for a treat
and ham up a dead dog's fall.

Goodbye to your gentle spirit,
your clock work bedtime hour,
and we'll never forget your morning hugs.

Goodbye our unrepentant kitchen thief,
that ate a smoked roast in less than two gulps
and carefully plucked ginger men from off our tree.

Like a son you shared the kids scoldings,
and hung your head in empathetic shame.
And I'm sorry to say...you were blamed for a lot.

Back in the day.

You ate shingles off the house,
begged like a homeless vagabond and
believed the Pizza man was dogs best friend.

You were a shameless bed hog,
pouted with the best,
and never learned that you weren't a lap dog.

You held bedside vigile when CB had the pox,
and threw your bowl at the boy when you didn't get fed.
You were Michael's faithful friend when the Bakery he lost;
sharing snacks, the couch and afternoon naps.

You have licked away many of my tears,
and waited by my side,
when I stayed up late.

I'll miss that.

You sat by the door with mournful eyes
through all the years we left you alone;
Faithfully waiting for our return.

When you knew you had been bad,
when you were afraid,
behind my legs you would always hide.

So now I must, the hard choice make.
For I feel your pain;
see the tiredness in your eyes.

It's OK, you're a "good boy".
Lay down your head,
close your eyes, it's time to go sleep.

We'll miss you.

You will always be in our hearts.
Asiago "Cheesy" Warren (January 2003-October 2011)

Who are you going to believe?

2011-09-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Are you struggling with faith today? Are you surrounded by foes on every hand; Mountains of circumstances too monumental for you to overcome? Are you walking through a valley so deep and so wide that you fear for your very sanity? Take heart, you aren't alone. I'm in that same place today facing financial fears, marital fears and the despair of having to put a beloved pet to sleep; But I have learned that God does speak. God understands all of our fears; he loves us and he will lift us up and give us the victory over every circumstance!

Today I was listening to In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley. He inspired me to have hope and to keep holding on. He confided that he was once walking through a valley surrounded by mountains too enormous to conceive. God told him what the victorious outcome would be but the circumstances seemed too overwhelming. One day as Dr. Stanley kneeled and prayed in a lonely hotel room, God spoke, "Are you going to believe what you see, what you hear, what you feel, or are you going to believe what I have told you!"

"He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastises the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know? The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. Blessed is the man whom thou chastens, O LORD, and teaches him out of thy law; That thou may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. (Psalms 94:9-15)

We are tactile human beings that have trouble believing what we can't see, hear or touch; That is why Faith is so important to God. We must believe in what is not visible, audible or physical because God requires us to trust him even though we are blind. Why does that make us afraid? God created all that we see, hear and feel. He is the only dependable being in our existence and yet we repeatedly choose to trust in fallible flesh and the destructible tools of life.

"The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine." (Psalm 33:16-19)

Don't be afraid of the apparent permanence of the mountains surrounding you; God can melt them away like wax. "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth." (Psalms 97:5) Don't despair at the numerous enemies that challenge you with every step. God's army is greater and it stands between you and the enemy that you see. "When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Alas, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." 2 Kings 6:14-17 God can even make your enemies be at peace with you. "When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." (Proverbs 16:7) If you are exhausted from the climb and can't take one more step; God will send you strength. "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 The enemy may be fearsome and the obstacles insurmountable when faced with our own strength, but God gives supernatural strength to overcome anything in our path. "For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him." (2 Samuel 22:30-31)

So take courage; Hide in the shadow of God. He will carry you through the valley and over the mountains and place you safely on the other side! "He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." (Psalms 91:1-10)

God Bless
Amy Warren

God will restore what the Locust Has Eaten

2011-09-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a very good week so far. Being sick for most of last week didn't help. Sickness always seems to be a major downer at even the best of times. Monday evening I had a counseling session in Grand Rapids and I used the hour drive to vent all of my frustration to God. Thankfully I have discovered that God is a safe person to vent to. He doesn't get offended, he doesn't gossip to other people and he actually provides wise council if I stop and listen. Sometimes this council will be in the shape of correction but that is always better than empty words and the patronizing I often get from others.

There were a multitude of questions troubling me that night and anger was threatening to sabotage the fragile peace I have learned over the last few months.  My prayer didn't really follow a cohesive line of thought. Infact, I probably would have lost the average person with my undulating rants and staggering complaints. It was really just an unending barrage of "why" and a litany of "issues" that I had with God; my absent husband, my abusive parents, my own parenting fears, and a steeple full of "let downs."

The most pressing "why" of the evening was in regards to how old I am; Thirty-seven and finally, after a miserable childhood and a failed marriage, God is now deciding to repair all of my broken parts. Why now? Why not before I ever left my mother's home? Why hadn't God brought some one along to rescue me before my marriage and children? During the first tumultuous years of our marriage where were the words of wisdom, the guiding hands and the education that could have lead us on to success? Why were we led to, and then brainwashed by a church so deficient in Biblical practicality and Christian love? Where was the help that I prayed for on cramped and bleeding knees? Why does it come now, twenty years later, when all seems dead and broken? Thirty-seven years of my life stolen by the locust. How could I regain all that was lost, all the potential never realized. Who could repay?

"That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker worm eaten; and that which the canker worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten." (Joel 1:4)

With all that hanging in the air between God and I; all that frustration and anger; I wrung out a final plea, "Why won't you just speak out loud to me God? For once speak out, loud enough for me to hear over my rattling mass of rusted metal on wheels." (Which only served as an unwelcome reminder of how much I hate the loud and obnoxious piece of junk I drive. Just another complaint to throw back at God.) I regret to say that I wasn't being a very thankful or obedient child that night. I realize that now. I was acting no better than the grumbling and complaining Israelites who were miraculously led out of Egypt for what should have been an eleven day trip to the promised land; Eleven days that turned into forty years because of their ungratefulness. God has spoken to me countless times in the last two years. He has used dreams, visions, music, ministry, strangers, answered prayers and His Holy Spirit breathed scripture. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" (2 Tim. 3:16) I have filled almost two notebooks with all of these occasions and yet still I forget. But God in his mercy and compassion was patient with me.

At that moment in time I wanted something different, a better perspective than what I glimpsed through gloomy eyes.  I spent the next hour and a half voicing many of those same "issues" with my counselor, ending with the same question, "Why now when I am almost halfway through my life."  At this point God began to speak through the mouth of this wise counselor he has placed in my path, "Indeed, why now? Why doesn't God wait another twenty years from now? Why doesn't he let you go through possibly a second failed marriage and spend a few more years muddling up not only your children but also your grand children's lives as well? Why is he choosing to help you now instead of waiting?"

Well, I wasn't expecting that answer. I guess I was hoping for some compassion, a little coddling and maybe even some commiserating about the unfairness of God.  Suddenly I found myself rendered "issue less." Why indeed? Yes time has robbed me of many blessings. Time has slipped by seemingly without any measurable results. But my perspective is limited. I am bound to a constricted space of time. This forces me to measure everything by how much time is allotted and how much I perceive remains. I measure my "success" by the fickle yard stick of culture. I recon my worth against someone else's warped sense of value.  In my reflection I remembered that Jesus lived an ignominious life as a poor carpenter's son for thirty years. He had no possessions, no wife, no children and no home of his own. All that he accomplished, all of his"success," occurred in a ministry that lasted only three years. Here I am worried about all that I think I have lost and fearful of all I may never attain, yet I know who I belong to and I know who holds the future.  Who am I to question God's will or his methods for achieving that will?

"Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’? (Isaiah 45:9)

I left the counselor's office greatly humbled. I had been scolded just the same as if God had thundered down from heaven. In his mercy God remembered my frame and he lovingly whispered my correction through the kindly interrogatives of my counselor rather than in the thunder of his displeasure.

Correction accepted I went to work Tuesday morning resigned to be obedient to God's plan. It was a very foggy trip that morning and often I was unable to see further than a car length in any direction. I whispered a prayer that I would trust God even through the blinding fog. I would trust that he can see when I can not and that he would faithfully lead me to his land of promise.

That afternoon, in his mercy, God reminded me of what that promise land looks like. Every message I heard on the radio had the same resounding theme, God will repay. He will give double for all that was lost. In Christ I will realize the full potential of all the promises I have been given. God will restore the years that the locust has eaten. "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." (Joel 2:25)

I remembered Job; for a season the hedge of protection was removed from his life and the Devil was allowed to steal and destroy all that he had. But when the season was passed, when Job had grown in wisdom and stature, when God had allowed the Devil to burn out the dross in his life; Then God restored double all that had been taken.

"Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. ¹³ He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers." (Job 42:12-15)

Not only did Job receive double, but the beauty of his daughters exceeded that of all the woman in the land. God gave him double in number and greater in worth and value. Yes, thirty-seven years of my life have passed, but God promised that the latter end of my life will far out shine any glory that may have been in the former. "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:8) On that promise I will rest, thanking God for his correction and his blessings. I will remember that "God's in his Heaven-All's right with the world." (Pippa Passes by Robert Browning)

God Bless
Amy Warren

Without Faith it is impossible to please God

2011-09-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

"But without faith it is impossible to please him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Have you ever been walking along thinking you are doing OK and then life, or the Devil throws you a knock out punch? You lay on the ground for a few moments reeling from the blow. No, you are not seeing stars circling your head, but you are battling with all the red letter emotions of the Bible; Rage, hurt, bitterness and maybe even thoughts of retaliation. The one landing the blow doesn't even have to be an enemy, just some unsuspecting person that pushes your buttons, accidently punches a hole in your bubble or just generally disrupts your peace.

Well I have many times, infact, the most recent blow was this morning. I was just browsing through the Internet and wham...I got hit full in the face. For a space of time I lost my breath. For a space of time I felt the floor beneath my back. For a space of time I was looking up at the referee hearing the dreaded count down to my melt-down. For a space of time I knew the Devil was waiting with devious anticipation for my defeat. But there was a coach standing by my side, one who has known me from my birth.  Someone who has loved me with a love that transcends all love.  Someone who has been patiently guiding me; Patiently preparing me for these battles that must come, for these tests that I must pass, for these wounds that are so essential to the destruction of my will. He is a coach superior to all others for he knows the end from the beginning. "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" (Isaiah 46:10)

I have had many knock downs through the years; knock downs but never knock outs. Through these experiences, as painful as they are, I have learned a valuable lesson that I could never learn from the safety of a pew. I have learned the reason for faith. Following every knock down was a faith building experience: a glimpse of God, a touch of his hand, a promise to carry me on. Those personal "hand - ups" that God (my coach) has given me, are only real to me. They can't be shared with anyone else. Certainly I can give my testimony, I can share what God has done for me to another person, but if they don't have faith they can't even really hear what I'm saying.  A person with no faith will laugh and call me foolish or weak, if they care about me maybe they will try to convince me that it was just circumstantial.  A person with faith will celebrate in my joy and possibly glean some personal encouragement, but the actual experiences are still mine alone. No one can truly understand the significance they hold for my life and my particular package of circumstances. These faith building experiences were perfectly tailored to speak to my heart, meet my needs, raise me up above the mire of this life.  They speak to me in a way that no one and nothing could ever do. It is a special secret between me and my God.

This is faith, personal experiences that build a truly intimate relationship with God.   No one else can understand and no one else can glean that spark of life that they give to me. It is my ultimate connection with God, made possible by the shed blood of his precious Son. Without it, without faith, there is absolutely no way I can have a relationship with God. It would be impossible to please him because it is those experiences that tie me to him tighter than any other bond forged in life. It is inseparable. Losing my faith would be idolatry against God.  By doubting God, by letting go of my faith, by questioning his love for me and turning my back on him I have let something else come between us. I have considered something or someone more valid than all that God has done for me. He will never be guilty of letting me go so I must never let go of his hand.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

This morning I was knocked down, sent reeling for a space of time, but my loving father was right there to pick me up. He dusted me off. He dried my tears. He reminded me of his love for me. He reminded me of all the promises he has given me. He set me down facing in the right direction and gave me a little nudge to keep pressing toward the mark! "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 Yes, I have faith, it is the ring I where, proudly declaring to all the world that I belong to him!

God Bless
Amy Warren

I have settled the Question, I'm grounded in my Faith!

2011-08-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

Years ago, as a wounded child of twelve, I had an experience that can never be forgotten. I have told the experience to people over the years and I have received varying responses. Some have believed, gaining encouragement from my experience; others have been sceptical, diminishing the memory as nothing more that the mental conjuring of an overwrought child. I, myself, remained relatively unshaken in the memory but never completely grounded in the glorious truth of that experience.

I lived in a violent, tumultuous home and my memories of those days lack the warmth of sun shine. There is no laughter, no joy, no peace; only fear, shame, pain and an overwhelming sense of evil. Most of my memories are fragmented as if the adult still shies away from the cloaked shadow of those images. In my recollections, the home I lived in seems dark and shadowed like the set of a horror movie. I even recall them in shades of black and white with no relieving shades of color. My step father, a man broken and aged, still has the ability to bring fear to me when I occasionally get a glimpse of him in a store or on a street corner. The mother that should have been my protector and shelter is just a useless woman with her face buried in a novel, trying to shut out the pain that was all around her.

In the midst of this dark hole, in a place void of all hope, God met me. I remember laying in my sweltering attic bedroom listening to the relentless arguments of my mother and step father. As always they were arguing about me. I seemed to be the cause of all their problems, all their discord and all their anger. According to them I was a worthless, trouble making child. They never disagreed with that conclusion, only in how I was to be managed; how they were to deal with me. One preferred a heavy hand, the other preferred abandonment; to ignore me as if I had no value, no needs for solace and love. My step father had a love hate relationship with me. He hated me because he lusted after me. My mother hated me because she believed that somehow that was my fault. Now I can look back and analyze all the conflicting feelings in that home, but then, as a lonely and broken twelve year old, I believed that without a doubt I was garbage. I cried that night for what seemed like hours. I cried and I prayed. I don't remember what I was praying for; I can't recall the words. I just remember the overwhelming feelings of despair and rejection that I felt. I needed solace but I thought there was no one to give it. Who would love me? Who would want me? What was my worth? What was the use? Could anyone save me?

Suddenly I felt the comfort I had longed for. In that lonely attic room on my tiny twin bed, I felt my head cushioned on a lap and arms wrapped around me as they rocked me back and forth. The feelings were as solid as if my mother had walked in right then to hold me, but no one was there. The arguing was still going on strong below me. No one had walked up those long attic stairs. The bed hadn't dipped with the weight of another person. I knew in my heart who was holding me. I didn't open my eyes, afraid the moment would pass. But my tears stopped, and deep in my heart hope blossomed. I didn't hear a word spoken, but in my mind I felt the distinct impression of words spoken just the same, "I will take you out." I fell asleep with the hope behind those words taking root within my heart. Someone did love me...and someone would rescue me.

Years have passed and I have sometimes wondered what I have been taken into. Life has never been rosy, and I have not always felt loved. I didn't escape from the life of Cinderella and find myself in a Fairy Tale dream come true, with an ending of happy ever after. But I have known that God is here with me just the same. I have felt the love of Jesus as he walks beside me and holds my hand. Yet, I have held the experience deep inside, always struggling with the doubts of whether or not God really does love me. Does he really know who I am? Does he really love Amy Warren specifically? Was that just a special memory for a wounded child? Have I lost that love somehow because of sin? Has God left me or have I strayed too far from him? The worse fear that I have entertained is that maybe it was all a dream, just the creative wondering of a child full of feverish longing.

Last night a wise counselor helped me settle that doubt once and for all. You see, truth can not come from a "what" but a "who", and there are only three sources of "who" that it can come from. The first being the Divine who which is God, the second is Satan who is the "prince of the power of the air" and "the god of this World." (2 Cor 4:4, Eph 2:2, John 1231). The third "who" is man, either ourselves or others around us.

We know that God's word is the ultimate truth.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17)

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come , he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear , that shall he speak : and he will shew you things to come." John 16:13

"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Thy law is truth." (Psalms 119:142)

"For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth." (Psalms 33:4)

We also know that the devil is the father of lies. "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44) And we know that nothing good can come from the heart of man, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders," (Mark 7:21)

More specifically the counselor had me analyze that experience using spiritual discernment. At the moment of my experience I was incapable of imagining anything with even the faintest glimmer of hope. I was consumed by the belief that I was of no value or worth. I didn't believe anyone could love me or help me. I was enveloped in the dark cloak of despair and unable to save myself, especially at the dependant age of twelve. Where could I go? I couldn't leave my home and I had no one to take me in. That was why I was praying and crying, I had no imagination or energy that could lift me out of that place. As for the 2nd "who", the devil, he had me exactly where he wants all humans; broken and despairing. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1 Peter 5:8) Thanks to the devil I was lying within the very jaws of death and destruction, neatly trussed up like a hog about to be roasted for dinner. He wouldn't have dried my tears and provided a hope of salvation, he would have buried the knife and finished me off. That leaves God, the only "who" that could have provided hope, solace, peace, love and acceptance. The only one that could answer all of my heart wrenching questions.

Yes I am loved. God loves me so much that last night he had a counselor clarify to my oft confused mind that God had sought me, loved me enough to comfort me and gave me a promise that he is yet to complete in my life. His words, "I will take you out," was a commitment to remove me from that place of darkness and set my feet on a journey that will lead to the eternal promise. There will be dark places along the way but its end is eternal and victorious. God loved me then and loves me still today. I am loved and I have a promise given just to me. A promise of the providential hand of God leading me throughout my life even unto the very end. I hope that today, where ever you find yourself, you also will come to the realization that you are loved with an everlasting love. You are held by the hands of one that can't be broken and will never be defeated.

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Phil 1:6)

"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass." (1 Thess 5:24)

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

"Let us Exalt His Name Together"

2011-08-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Spiritual warfare: It is not some hype preached by Bible thumping ministers intent on instilling the fear of God into you with a "fire and brim stone" pulpit message. There is a prince of the air: "And you has he [God] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: Among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others”. (Ephesians 2:1-3) And he is not just relegated to attacking God or his ministers. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1 Peter 5:8) Paul called attention to the battle and our weapons in 2 Corinthians, "...though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Cor 10:3-5)

The hard fact is that if I am serving God, filled with the Holy Spirit and washed in the blood of Christ, I am the "anyone" the Devil is seeking to devour. So what are my weapons? There are a few; the armor of God for one, but the greatest of all weapons is to praise and worship God. I know this because I have experienced it first hand in recent months. When I am being oppressed by fear, doubt and confusion the very last thing I feel like doing is praising God. It is so contrary to the moment. But when I have made those first tentative steps to lift my hands and revere God for the awesome Lord that he is, changes occur. At first it's a feeble feeling, then it's a little stronger, light begins to shine into my weary perspective, the clouds begin to thin, my strength begins to be restored, until finally...Praise God...I have the victory. Sometimes it comes instantly, sometimes it takes a few hours, sometimes I wake up the next morning with a song of praise in my heart! But it comes.  At those times I have found praise to be an infallible defense.

Why? Because God is a jealous God who demands and desires our praise: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deut 6:5) "You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. (Deut 6:14) Jesus said that if we do not praise him the very rocks will cry out. (Luke 19:37-40)  But we are not asked to praise a tyrant or someone unworthy of praise, God requires us to praise him because he is the only one worthy. "For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods." (1 Chron 16:25) In Revelations it says, "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Revelation 4:7) David wrote in the Psalms, "...great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. (Psalms 96:4) and again, "Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable."
(Psalms 145:3)

Not only is God worthy of our praise but praising God is the very purpose of our existence. We are not on this earth to erect great monuments to our glory. Man's purpose was not to establish massive cities that show our ingenuity and skill. Nor are we here to just live successful lives that reap fame and financial success for ourselves and our posterity  We were created to give God glory.  Isaiah spoke of God's people scattered throughout the world, "I [God] will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.” (Isaiah 43:6-7) Jesus answered the chief priests and scribes in the temple when they complained “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?” (Matthew 21:16) And again in the Psalms we read, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger." (Psalms 8:2)

God demands praise because he is worthy, we owe it because we were created by him for that purpose and the greatest truth of all: THERE IS AWESOME POWER IN PRAISE! In the New Testament we see the account of prison doors being opened by the praises of Paul and Silas who had been beaten and placed in prison; in chains and under strong guard. "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." (Acts 16:26)  In Joshua 6:1-21 the walls of the city fell when the Israelites shouted praise to God for the victory he was about to give them. In 2 Chronicles 20; the children of Moab, the children of Ammon and the Ammonites came up against Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah to destroy him. In the face of this great host of enemies, Jehoshaphat and all his people went before God in prayer. This was God's answer to their earnest pleas, "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. To morrow go down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you." (2 Chronicles 20:15-17) Jehoshaphat and his people believed and had complete faith in God. There was an army of immense proportions standing outside their city and they hadn't yet seen the victory, but they trusted in their God. In one accord the entire nation, "...fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high." The next morning they set out, marching as if to battle but they didn't send their cavalry out front, they didn't send the strongest men first, they didn't go with their sharpest swords at the front of the line; they sent out their chief musicians: "And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise [God], the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another." (2 Chron 20:20-23)  The battle was over with out the soldiers of Judah ever having to lift a finger because God sent confusion and dissension among the enemy troops and they slaughtered themselves.  The war cry of Judah was "Praise God who reigns on high!" And God met their expectations.

Yes, we may be frail, weak and easily defeated but God is not. When we praise him he draws near to us. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded." (James 4:8) When we submit to God rather than the fear that would consume us, the Devil flees. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) In the heat of battle, if we will do what comes contrary to instinct and just worship God, it's as if God picks us up out of the forest and sets us on a high mountain peak overlooking the trees. Now we are not quaking with fear, surrounded by giants at every hand. We are able to look down, in faith, and see the victory just over the horizon.

"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears."  "For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall."  (1 Samuel 22:7, 30) When the battle presses you sore on every side and you feel you can not go another step; do not run, do not fight, do not surrender. Lift up your face, lift up your hands, look to the heavens where your help will come and praise the LORD!!! PRAISE GOD IN THE
HIGHEST! GLORY TO HIS NAME!

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keeps thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." (Psalms 121:1-4)

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

"Say you love Me"

2011-08-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

I had to take a bike ride this morning; I needed to be alone with God. People might look at me strangely when I am praying on my bike...but I pass them by in a blur. I needed the speed, the fresh air, the solitude, and the open space. I was feeling angry and hurt, but thank God I am learning that the only safe place to vent is with God. So I vented; I poured out all my fears, all of my anger, all the hurt and confusion. I made demands, I pleaded, I cried out to feel his presence. I rode hard, screaming prayers to silent trees, blinded by tears, aching with pain. Finally I stopped, no more ranting, no more demands. I whispered that God is God, I trust him, I give him my life, my hopes and dreams, I want the best he has for me. All I ask is that he hold me when I cry, hear me when I pray and let me know that he is there.

When I was finally silent my heavenly father spoke to me. Directly in my ear, through the words of a song that had just started on my MP3 player. You say you don't believe it?

"Behold, in this you are not just: I will answer you, that God is greater than man. Why do you strive against him? for he gives not account of any of his matters. For God speaks once, yes twice, yet man perceives it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in lumbering's upon the bed; Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: So that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yes, his soul draws near to the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth: He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. Lo, all these things works God oftentimes with man, To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living. Job 33:12-30

In the silence, in my ears, from the words of the song that started at that moment; this is what I heard:

No more talk of darkness,
Forget these wide-eyed fears.
I'm here, nothing can harm you -
my words will warm and calm you.

Let me be your freedom,
let daylight dry your tears.
I'm here with you, beside you,
to guard you and to guide you... ("All I Ask of You" by Andrew Loyd Webber)

It brought peace, it calmed my mind...I felt such a confidence in God's unfailing love for me that I was able to stop my striving and rest in the comfort of his unshakable care. There are 400 songs on my MP3 player and I have it set on random. God shuffled the songs and brought this one up at the very moment my prayers ceased. How can I fear, how can I give up when I am loved that much.

For you cynics; those who don't believe in God's care and superintendence for his people. For those who have no faith, and doubt the very eternal presence of God. I'm sorry, for you are missing the greatest love affair you will ever have in your life.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

"I am He that Comforts You"

2011-08-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Last Thanksgiving I was in a bad way; feeling lonely, abandoned and unloved. I struggled through much of the day. Finally, in desperation I picked up by Bible and asked God to speak to me. I let the Bible fall open on my lap and it opened to Isaiah 51:11-12. "Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I am he that comforts you: who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass." This was exactly what I needed for the moment. I know the words were originally spoken to the Jews but Paul said that, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" (2 Tim 3:16) At that moment God was speaking to me. It was especially meaningful because God has always spoken to me through songs. One song that has followed me through all of my Christian walk is the song, "Only The Redeemed" Seeing the words "the redeemed of the LORD" as the very first phrase opened my heart to what God was speaking that lonely afternoon to my heart.

A lot of time has passed since then and I have had a few lonely hours...but God always reminds me of that passage. Today I gained an understanding at a much deeper level. Last year I just needed the comfort provided by the words, but I wasn't yet ready to live by the foundational principle. God wants to be our source of everything. When we have emotional needs we must take them to him. If we are angry, share the thoughts with God. When we are joyful, give the first piece to God. Why? Of course we know it's the greatest commandment, but is there another purpose? The next commandment is to love our neighbors greater than ourself. The only way we can accomplish that is if we love God first.

When God is the one we hold responsible for meeting all of our physical, spiritual and emotional needs, we are free to allow the shortcomings in others because we don't need them to be our source of strength, comfort and solace. If my emotional needs are not being met by God then I am looking at a temporal spouse, child or friend to meet them for me. They are inherently inadequate for this task. Man will fail every time. We are not made to be endless, limitless. Only God is without end. He can fill us up and never be emptied. When we allow God to fill up our emotional and spiritual cups, the overflow will cover those around us. But we won't be left empty because God is continually filling us up. "Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete with it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:38)

That overflowing cup allows us to produce the fruits of the spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23). "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." We are able to pour out love on those around us because we are loved with the perfect love that God shows us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) We have joy because we have been in the presence of God, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalms 16:11) We have peace because when we are in Christ, God fills us with peace unimaginable; regardless of our circumstances. "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7) We will find that we can be infinitely long suffering because God has been patient and longsuffering with us, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) We will be gentle because God is gentle towards those that love him, "You have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your gentleness has made me great." (II Samuel 22:36) No one surpasses God in goodness which he shares toward those he has called, "Or despise you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4) If we have pursued God, we do so with faith; a faith we must have to please God, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) As we grow in our knowledge of God and Jesus we will take on the traits of meekness and temperance which are learned from the example Christ gave. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This new creature that we become in Christ, (2 Corinthians 5:17) will be mature, fortified by the spirit, and full of the Knowledge of God.  Out of the overflow, the abundance,  a light will shine to the world. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16) Because we have made God the source of everything we need we will be able to fully enjoy relationships with our spouses, children and friends without the debilitating handicap of neediness!

Let God be your Comfort!
Amy Charissa Warren

God does not call the justified, he justifies the called

2011-08-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks I have been reading the book of Romans. I have read it several times before but the amazing thing about the Bible is that the more times I read it; the more understanding I gain. Much of the book is coming alive to me like it has never come alive before. My current revelation is that I have spent too much of my Christian experience working to be a good Christian, instead of resting in the fullness of life that God has given me. I have never really had a personal relationship with God until this last year. I was still eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that man was told not to eat from.

Churches take lost souls to the door step of salvation, these souls are then saved by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior and then they are set lose in the Garden of Eden. Instead of remaining beside the Tree of Life pursuing a personal relationship with God, we head right over to the "no, no" tree and start a life of choices no different from the life we were set free from. What is the right or wrong thing to do? What should I be doing? What do I think you should be doing? Should Christians go there or do that? Where should we work? What should we talk about? Yes, fruit must be produced in our life, but it will come naturally if we are tapped into the true vine. A branch that is attached to a strong, living vine has no natural recourse but to produce good, healthy fruit. If the vine does not produce healthy fruit, neither will the branch. Fortunately, we have been grafted in to living vine which bears healthy fruit.

"I [Jesus Christ] am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

This healthy fruit will not be a result of hard labor for no labor is required on the part of a branch to draw nutrients from the vine; it flows by natural course. For a believer, it comes from a personal relationship with God; walking daily by faith. Unfortunately we bear stunted fruit, if any at all, because we have fallen into the same patterns as the old man. How are "Christians" any different than the Jews in the Old Testament?

"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering." Psalms 51:16

"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required." Psalms 40:6

"And Samuel said, Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 15:22

I'm sure we would all agree that the Christian walk, as practiced in many churches, is all about sacrifices; not the messy, blood gushing ones of the old testament, but the gut wrenching personal ones. We sacrifice our time by spending a prescribed amount each day in Bible study and prayer. We even watch the clock to make sure we don't go over the time we think is a reasonable level of sacrifice. Bible study and prayer is necessary to the believer but doing something out of duty will merit no lasting benefit, and will not please God. "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Cor. 9:7 We should instead seek out God's word because we want to know him better, and commune with him daily as he is the most important person in our life. We sacrifice time with family and personal leisure time. I speak from personal experience, we attended church on Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday nights and twice on Sunday. There was nothing we could do outside of church that didn't carry with it the fear of condemnation from other church members if they caught us. Service was simply the joy stealing labor of duty and self denial. In retrospect, I can honestly say that my Christian walk has been a manual full of Christian do's and do not's that could run in close competition with the Jewish laws. It has stolen my joy, seriously wounded my marriage, hidden my light and nearly cost me my faith. It's really hard trying to follow all of the rules. Impossible to thrive in a marriage when no time is spent working for it. And who sees my light when I am only permitted to associate with a select group of Christians. Isn't that like hiding your light under a bushel (Matthew 5:15)? Isn't the world the ones that need to see the light? It's not the saved that need to be saved but the lost who happen to live in the very world the Church tells us to avoid.

"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mark 2:17

The law couldn't save me to begin with and now that I'm in the kingdom it can't accomplish the process of sanctification. All I gain by trying to follow a list of rules is the regrettable title that Jesus gave the Pharisees.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." (Matthew 23:27) The only other result of abiding by laws is that I spend all my spare time deciding how my neighbors measure up to the very laws that are causing me to stumble. A very agreeable past time for many of the self righteous Christians that I have associated with over the years, who sound very pharasitical with their false intonations of piety; "Thank God I'm not like those filthy sinners outside of the Church."

"Either how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in your eye, when you yourself behold not the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of your own eye, and then shall you see clearly to pull out the mote that is in your brother's eye." Luke 6:42

Instead, the more I read God's word and the more I commune with him, I am finding that we are justified by a process. "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Romans 8:30) Nothing can win us salvation, we can't earn it. The law condemned us so that we could be called and then justified. The process occurs through all of the things we despise and seek to avoid. We think that if we follow all the rules and are a "good Christian", we will not have to suffer pain, loss or deprivation. Not so: "Although He [Jesus] was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Hebrews 5:8. Once God has called us; once we have accepted his son and have been saved; we then must undergo the process of learning obedience. This is not obedience to the laws but obedience to God's will for our life. This won't be the same for each of us for not all of us have the same gifts or the same function in the Body of Christ.

"For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." Romans 12:4-8

What may be a weakness or a sin for one may not be for another. Jesus himself ate with publicans, sinners and prostitutes. The Jews found this to very sinful indeed. But it wasn't a sin to Jesus because he wasn't tempted by it. Only God knows what we should avoid, what will harm us, what we may be particularly sensitive to. He reveals this to us as we walk with him in the spirit. "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16) But more importantly this can't be legislated as a set of rules that apply to all. There is no one shoe that fits everyone, unless you are referring to the initial salvation which comes by acceptance of Christ as our personal savior. Just as our children are different from one child to the next, so are we. Just as certain discipline techniques work on one child and not the other, so it is with us. "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." (1 Cor 10:23)

The key in the end is summed up in the two greatest commandments. "And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." (Luke 10:27) If I love God above everything else and love others greater than myself, I won't live my life following a bunch of restrictive rules in a desperate attempt to save myself, but will choose to live my life desiring to please God and in so doing my overflowing peace and joy will be a lighthouse to other souls in need of a savior.

"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved." 1 Cor 10:31-33

"Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall." (1 Cor 8:9-13)

In summary, sanctification is not about the right "steps" toward the goal, it is the heart condition that leads us to that goal. The right tools, the right behaviors, the right doctrine will mean nothing when I have obtained the promise.

"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:8-13 I can not act my way to righteousness for God knows the condition of my heart. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23 If the heart is right...the issues will be pleasing to God. And that is the true desire of all men that seek obedience and seek to have a closer walk. Man can judge what I do but only God knows who I am; A work in progress.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Waiting, Trusting and Hoping!

2011-08-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last night I almost threw in the towel and gave it all up. After everything God has been revealing to me, all the wisdom he has been enlightening my mind to, all the positive confirmation I have received from my children...I had a momentary lapse of judgement. I looked God in the face and said, "Step aside God I'm ready to take it from here." And that is exactly what I did. With one phone call I lost the victory I had gained on Friday, forgot to zip my lips and took a ride in the devil's hand basket in a side trip to hell. Afterwards, I felt so defeated by my failure that I was ready to give it all up. The Devils right, I can not learn, there will be no victory, everything is dead...I'm just waiting for the shovel full of dirt to hit the coffins lid.

But suddenly, for no other definable reason than God reached down in his mercy, jerked me up by my collar and whispered a reminder of all his promises; I gained the victory. My despair turned to joy. Yes I'm a failure...isn't that just what God is trying to get me to see? On my own I will be defeated, but I'm not supposed to do it on my own. How many times does God have to hammer that nail home before I grasp it's truth.

"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility" Proverbs 18:12

It's not my voice that people need to hear, it's not my face that people need to see...it is Christ in me. As the old hymnal says, I need to hide behind the cross, so that people only see Jesus. I finally fell asleep reminded of God's promises and assured of his control. I decided to pick a comfortable spot on the grass at Jesus' feet, as he stands under a shady tree in the middle of an open meadow. I have decided to rest in him as I patiently wait for the blessings he has promised. I slept well, and woke up with a song in my heart.

This morning I read a small devotion in the book given to me by my mother-in-law months ago. I was just curious to see what the message was for the day. Imagine my surprise when this is what I read:

"Waiting, Trusting, and Hoping are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain. Trusting is the central strand, because it is the response from My children that I desire the most. Waiting and hoping embellish the central strand and strenghten the chain that connects you to Me. Waiting for Me to work, with your eyes on Me, is evidence that you really do trust Me...Hoping is future-directed, connecting you to your inheritance in heaven. However, the benefits of hope fall fully on you in the present. (40 Days with Jesus by Sarah Young, p.16)

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." John 14:1

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalms 27:14

"For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Hebrews 6:13-20

I am happy to say resting at Jesus' feet is a whole lot more comfortable than a hand basket speeding full speed to hell.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

God is moving!

2011-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

During this season of my life I have asked God to be my spouse and be a father to my children. To provide me with the comfort and solace I need as I step out alone through life. To be my friend and my defender. But also to help me guide my children on their spiritual walk as they face the pitfalls of life all around them.

Over a month ago,when I first began to pray this prayer in earnest, I felt God leading me to resume sit down dinners in our home and a committed prayer and devotion time each night. I also felt God asking me to come to him each morning before facing the day and each evening before ending the day. Almost immediately I felt opposition from the enemy. Just two days after implementing our evening devotions Trenton went to stay a week with his cousin, the following week Charissa was gone. One stumbling block after another has been placed in our way including long weekends where the kids are not even at home with me anymore. Still we have persevered together as a family, knowing in our hearts that we are setting out on good paths.

Not wishing to usurp the position of my husband as a spiritual head, I decided not to teach doctrine, but instead I chose a book as the subject of our devotions, In His Steps. A little book written by Charles Monroe Sheldon in 1897, which takes the reader through the individual journeys of several prominent people of a local church who decided to spend one year of their life taking no action and making no decisions until they first asked themselves, "What would Jesus do?" It has brought great blessings to my little home, but sometimes I find that I despair in believing that anything is happening. Am I making a positive difference? Is something good being accomplished in the hearts of my children despite the condition of our home right now?

A week ago I counseled my daughter on some fears she had, she was talking to friends and taking everyone's opinion on what she should do and how she should feel. She even turned to facebook to get the consensus of other people. A consensus that would have included people that hardly knew her and know nothing of what she believes in and who she is in Christ. I asked her if she had taken those concerns to God first? Why is it that we take all of our problems to everyone but the one person who has all the answers? We take our concerns to friends, family and associates hoping they can help us fix life's woes when the only one with the power to affect real change in our lives is God. I told her that God desires to have a personal relationship with her. He knows that we have friends and that we need to talk to people and share our lives with them, but he wants to be the first person we share everything with. He wants to be our closest friend.

I didn't think the message had gotten through and I am ashamed to say I told her that she was at risk of falling because she wasn't allowing God to lead her and talk to her. Today she instructed me! Friday she said she had a personal heart to heart with God. She said she felt very disheartened over her many sins and failings.  God helped her to see that many of the things hindering her are some of the people she has chosen to involve in her life.  Friends that God would not have chosen for her, friends that were hampering her walk with God. She then went through her facebook contacts and deleted everyone that was not a close friend or anyone God would not approve of. She went from over 100 contacts to 40...and many of those remaining are family members. She did the same with her phone contact list. She also made a personal commitment to God to spend time with him every day and read her Bible daily. Infact, she downloaded the Bible application on to her phone so that she could read her Psalms and Proverbs every day on the bus to school. She had felt so confident and full of faith in the steps she had taken and God had met her and spoken with her throughout her day and weekend. But then I had become her stumbling block. Through my selfishness and hurting I had allowed Satan to use me to divert her from the path God had led her down. By my unfair judgment of certain circumstances I had almost caused her to doubt the good God had shown her. I has almost caused her to second guess herself, until she cried out to God and he had reassured her that she was on the right path.

I wish you could feel the sorrow I feel. I am so ashamed, and yet so glad in my heart to know that God is moving in my home. I just have to let go and let him have his way. I have prayed that God would protect us during this time of division. I have understood that the Devil has a singular intention of causing each of us to fall and lose out in attaining the best that God has in store for us.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Unfortunately I have been focused to closely on that and couldn't see that God has an equal and opposite goal from Satan's; to heal, reconcile, restore, and draw closer to him each and every member of my family.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6

I was so focused on the enemy that I couldn't see my rock and defender. Praise God. Of who should I be afraid?

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4

Yes, Satan seeks to sift each of us in order to destroy us and make us ineffective in the Kingdom of God,  “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32. But God is greater and his plan will prevail in each of us that are called according to his purpose.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Who am I?

2011-08-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have a counseling session tomorrow and my counselor will be asking me what new revelation I have had about myself. For the last two weeks I was to observe my thought patterns as if I am an objective observer standing outside of myself. The purpose was to trace the patterns of the old man and determine the new wiring of the new man.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

Discovering the old man and getting a glimpse of the shadowy impressions of the new man (Christ in me). Humbly subjecting myself to the tedious brain surgery being performed by my master surgeon is hard. Almost minute by minute I find myself struggling to take back control and remove myself from the master's process. Taking back control...control I never really had in the first place only illustrates this truth Paul spoke of; I do that which I don't want to do and don't do what I do want to do. I have never had control. That is the shameful fact of the old man. That is why I must look into the mirror of God's word and allow God to lead me through the changes necessary to become that new man.

My answer to the counselor tomorrow is that in this season of being alone, I am discovering who I am. I have spent years of my life looking for answers to all of life's questions in people and things. I have allowed everyone to take part in defining me. I have allowed every one's image of me, false perceptions of me, and skewed prejudices of me to become the definition of who I am. I have been torn, squashed, crushed, humiliated, confused, bewildered, angered, abused, bullied and altered as I have attempted to fit the definition that everyone has given me. It has exhausted me and left with the realization that I have never known who I am. I am learning that the old man defines himself on the "what" or the "who". The new man goes to the source of all and finds definition there. I am not defined by my marriage, my spouse, my friends, my children, the hundreds of people that touch my life every year, the possessions I own, the achievements I accomplish, the car I drive, the clothes I wear, or my job title. I am defined by my relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" Colossians 2:10

"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." Colossians 3:9-11

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1 Peter 1:23

"and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." Romans 8:17

"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 3-4

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Cor 6:19

"and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:6-10

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Galatians 2:20-21All of these scriptures and more are the definitions of who I am. By taking everything away from me, God is showing me the true mirror I should look at. He is taking away all of the identities I have assumed through the years, many of them flawed, many of them assumed for the sake of someone else, most not a real reflection of who I am. He is defining me...and opening up my mind to the new man I am observing in the mirror. Sometimes the image is painful but instructive. As time is passing I am observing the image transform. The underlying pattern is still just a faint blur...but as time passes I am catching glimpses of the image of Christ. I pray to see those blurred lines grow crisp and sure. For that day I will wait in patient expectations and let the master surgeon continue with his spiritual surgery!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

The Just shall Live By Faith

2011-08-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

I have had the ideas of righteousness playing around at the edges of my mind for weeks now. I had some vague concepts trying to take shape but I couldn't quite thread them all together. As Christians we have all heard the complaints made against us. "What makes you think you are better than me?" "What makes you think you know what is right?" "Who do you think you are?" I have always felt the need to cow down under that criticism because I had a shadow of an idea but never a solid argument. One passage in the BIBLE has always haunted me: "What then? are we [Gentiles] better than they [Jews]? No, in no wise [not at all]: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, "There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seek after God. they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one." Romans 3:9-12

There it was in black and white...the crux of the argument, no one is righteous. But if no one is righteous than who are all of these other scriptures referring to?

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16

"The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness." Proverbs 11:5

"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covers the mouth of the wicked." Proverbs 10:11

"And Abraham drew near, and said,Will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Genesis 18:23

"But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, will you slay also a righteous nation?" Genesis 20:4

This is just a handful of the many scriptures I found in the BIBLE (Old and New) that discusses righteous men. But I thought there were none? These conflicting ideas have been plaguing my mind for a long time. What makes a man righteous in God's eyes? And how do I know if I am or not?

Well first I decided to look back at the original source of the Romans 3 passage. Paul was quoting from Psalms 14. I am going to take a look at the entire passage here because this became one of the final keys to my understanding, and my final resolution of this mystery.

"The Fool has said in his heart, There is no God." This is the person in question...the fools without faith in God. "They are corrupt [the fool who denies God], they have done abominable works, there is none that does good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men [these fools that deny him], to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. they are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that does good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord." Now the passage changes to reflect on a different type of person. "There were they [those people that believe that God exists] in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.  [these believers were righteous] You [the fools that deny God] have shamed the counsel of the poor [the righteous believers see Mat 5:3], because the Lord is his refuge." [the righteous believer is ridiculed for his faith in a God the fool does not believe exists.] Psalms 14:1-6

So very clearly when Paul speaks of there being no one righteous, no, not one...he is referring to a specific class of humanity, not to the entire race. He is specifically speaking of those men who have no faith in the existence of a sovereign God. They are the unrighteous. Faith is the key.

My next step is to pursue the avenue of faith and gain a deeper understanding of what righteousness is in contrast to unrighteousness. We already know that unrighteousness is simply those who do not believe in God. It's probably not quite as simple of a definition, but in the interest of this subject it helps to define it so. I looked up the definition of righteousness in the 1828 Noah Webster dictionary. Righteousness (adj) [roots of origin: Saxon word rihtwise; meaning right and wise manner, as in otherwise, lengthwise It's origin seems to have been a form of measure.] 1. Just; accordant to the divine law [God's law]. When applied to a person - denotes one who is Holy in heart; and observant of the divine commands in practice. Holy (adj) [roots of origin: Saxon; German; Dutch; Swedish; Danish; Sense is to heal, hold, whole; entire, complete, sound, unimpaired.] 1. Whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful affections. A man is called holy when his heart is conformed in some degree to the image of God, and his life is regulated by the divine precepts. 2. Set apart.

Next I begin to look up scriptures referring to righteousness. I noticed a very distinct divergence of paths or distinctions regarding the term. There is the righteousness of God and the righteousness of the Law. I always thought righteousness of God referred specifically to who God is; his character. It does...but I also found passages that related that to a righteousness that man can attain to.  This lead me to another realization. The righteousness of God refers to righteousness outside the constraints of the Law. The righteousness of the law was righteousness only attainable by strict adherence to the laws outlined in Deuteronomy as given to Moses by God.  Basically, one is attainable and one is not.

Let me explain by using the words of Paul from the book of Romans.  The first mention of a righteous man in the BIBLE was Abraham. Noah was considered a perfect man: "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Genesis 6:9 But Abraham was righteous. "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know you therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Galatians 3:6-9 "And he [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and he [God] counted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:6

The important thing to remember here is that Abraham was counted as righteous over 400 years before the law was ever given to Moses. This righteousness that Abraham attained to is the righteousness of God spoken of by Paul starting in Romans 3:22 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference [between a Jew under the law or a Gentile outside the law]: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation [appeasement against wrath] through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he [God] might be just, and the justifier [God] of him which believes in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? no: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

Romans 4 goes on to clarify: "For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Romans 4:3-7 If we are considered righteous because of what we do...than righteousness was something we earned on our own merit. If we could accomplish that on our own than there was no reason for Christ to die; we could have saved ourselves. We can't. Very simply, it is our faith that counts as righteousness. The passage in Romans goes on to read, "Comes this blessedness then upon the circumcision only [the Jews who observed the law], or upon the uncircumcision also? [The Gentiles that do not observe the law.] For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? [How was he considered righteous?] When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumsicion? [After the Law was given or before?] Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. [Over 400 years before the law was given] And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:" Romans 4:9-11 Here is a lot of difficult to understand words that can be summarized by simply saying; before the law ever came into existence Abraham believed and served God. He had faith. God considered this righteous and as a sign that Abraham was righteous, he required Abraham to be circumcised. It was merely the stamp of approval so to speak. It was his faith that made him righteous not the stamp of approval. You don't get the stamp...and then you're righteous. It's like giving someone that never went to college a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting. This highly inflated individual waves around these credentials that say he has a degree and lands himself a position as controller of a company. Big surprise, he in unable to perform the job because he didn't have the real education to back up the diploma. It is the successful completion of the education that made him certified...not the scrap of paper. Scrap of paper, scrap of skin...same difference.

The last passage I give as evidence is Romans 9:30-32 "What shall we say then? that the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness [they were not under the law], have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone [Christ];" Spoken plainly in today's language; the Gentiles were not under the law, we were outside of God and without hope. (Ephesians 2:12). But we believed that Christ was the savior, sent from God. We accepted him, and by that faith we were saved and called righteous. Jews were under the law, they believed that because they strove to observe all the massive commands of the law, they were righteous. But they rejected Christ as the savior, they did not have faith. They had plenty of works...they were a very busy religious people...but they did not have faith.

This is why Churches today confuse Christians. "To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approves not." Lamentations 3:35-36 The churches insist that a Christian demonstrate his faith by performing certain acts of the law (or our modern day version of the law); this is no different than the Christian Jews in the church that insisted that converted Gentiles be circumcised and follow the Jewish law. This dispute was settled...and shouldn't have been allowed to rise again in today's churches...by the council of apostles in Jerusalem sometime between 30 and 60 AD. "And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knows the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? [It is impossible to obey all of the law and be saved.] but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Acts 15:7-11 The final decision of this council (the remainder of Acts 15) was that Christians were no longer under the law. Why is this important? Because we judge each other by what we can see. I think I'm better than you if I go to Church every weekend and you don't. If I dress a particular way and you don't. If I attend a specific church that you don't go to. If I respond properly under every circumstance. If I never grow angry or respond unkindly. And on, and on...this is no different than what occurred in the Church in Acts. The Jews felt they were better because they were circumcised and followed the law. But the law never got them anywhere. They ignorantly wanted to bind new christian converts to the very thing that prevented them from attaining righteousness; from attaining the liberty promised us as believers. Why? Why was law of righteousness so ineffective?

Moses spoke these words regarding the law that was given in Deuteronomy, "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us." Deut 6:25. I am probably wrong on the exact number, but I once heard that the total number of laws laid out by God to Moses was somewhere over 600. These are listed in the Hebrew Torah. No...dear Gentile...it's not just the simple 10 commandments we learned in Sunday school. It is a lot more comprehensive. What is the possibility of never breaking one of those 600+ laws in your lifetime? James said in James 2:10 "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." I don't know about you, but I know my failings. I am not the worst sinner, but I have failed in more than one point and would be subject to death under this standard. It was impossible to attain righteousness under the law.  We can not work our way into eternal life. It is impossible. The law was given for the express purpose of making this clear to us. We are like children; kids will not believe the stove is hot and will hurt them if they touch it until they are burned. They touch, and are burned and suddenly the lesson becomes very clear. Try living a life time trying to strictly adhere to all the laws contained in the Torah..if you are not proud it will become clear the futility. I have to confess that I can't even claim to have never broken one of the ten commandments since I have become a Christian. That isn't even 10% of the law. The law could not save us because that was not it's purpose.

"Because the law works wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression." Romans 4:15 If there is no transgression (no rules that can be broken) than there is no need to be saved. "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Romans 5:20 The law was given so that we would understand our inability, comprehend the need for a savior and justify God in judging all those who refuse to acknowledge Christ as this savior.

So, ten hours later, my conclusion is simple; I am righteous when I have faith in God, accept Christ as my savior and live my life in obedience to God's will for my life by walking every day in faith. In Faith, in Faith, in Faith....it is the key. So, to the fools that do not believe in God or the necessity of his son, yes I am better than you. Not because I act better than you but because I have faith. Now...for clarification, there will be an obvious sign that I believe because I will display certain fruit in my life. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22  I can't just say I believe and than live my life any way I please.  "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may about? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Romans 6:1-2 Remember there is still the stamp of approval; for a new testament Christian that stamp will be the fruits of the spirit. Works can not save us but there will be obvious evidence that we have faith and are righteous.  We will be completly submitted to God and walk hourly by faith.

I am righteous. Not perfect..."Not as though I [Paul] had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended to Christ." Phil 3:12. My faith counts as righteousness, but the process of perfection is just that...a process; a race to be run. It is Christ in me that will transform me into that final, victorious creation. A transformation driven by faith.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Are you heavy laden? Christ will give you rest.

2011-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

"Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

There has been a steady but gentle word to me from God over the last month. A seed planted that has taken a little time to grow; "Peace be still and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10) Seems a simple enough thought but I often find myself thinking that it's all me, I have to do it all. I can almost feel God's gentle smile as he says, "not so my child." I have read my Bible many times, the Psalms and Proverbs more than that. I have read over words like these so many times in my life but I'm just now beginning to understand the depth of meaning as it relates to the circumstances of my daily life.

I'm facing a second weekend without my children. I am glad they get to spend time with their father, but heart broken that our home is divided. I didn't handle last weekend so well but I feel like I'm understanding God a little better this week.

Every morning I pray on the drive to work, and most every morning when I am paying attention I ask God to speak to me throughout the day. Open my ears so that I can hear what he wants me to hear. Open my heart so that I will do what he wants me to do. Open my understanding so that I will learn what he needs me to learn. Throughout the day I am connected to several Internet sites with songs of worship and teaching, I flip between the stations on every program change asking God to show me what he wants me to listen to at that moment. I am not always obedient to this...but I have learned the hard way that life doesn't turn out well when I neglect God.   Today, I heard a timely message on parenting and who I should put first in my life. For the last twenty years I have put a church and my husband before God. I thought I was Ok because I believed that the church counted as God and wives are to be in subjection to their husbands (Eph 5:22, Col 3:18, 1 Peter 3:1). I thought all my bases were covered. God opened my eyes the hard way when in 2010 he took away the church and my husband. I adjusted over time to this upheaval and thought I had the order right for once. Never realizing that the gap left by my husband, I filled in with my children. God was still involved, but my kids became my best friends, my primary project, my primary labour. I have now realized that I depended on them to be my friend and even my support system. I also spent much of my waking time worrying about how I could be a single parent, meeting all physical, educational and spiritual needs.

The message I heard today was regarding the myth that raising children is a parent's greatest calling.  Although it is important, it is not our greatest calling as a Christian. In both the old testament and the new...one great commandment is given; to love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind. (Mat 22:36-38, Deut. 10:12). Furthermore, in Matthew 10:37, Jesus said, "He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." I lost my husband, but quickly filled in the gap with my children. Make no mistake, God is a jealous God, nothing can come before him.

Thankfully God is also a loving God...he permitted me a year to adjust. Which reminds me of the story of Jonah; he was told to warn Nineveh that if they didn't repent God would destroy them. Jonah didn't like this assignment so he tried to run away. To bring him to obedience God sent a very big storm and prepared a very big fish to swallow him up. After three days in less than stellar accommodations, a chastised Jonah was spit out on dry land. Rather reluctantly he continued on to Nineveh and preached the warning message. Praise God, Nineveh repented and destruction was averted. This was not the response Jonah desired so he left the city, climbed up a mountain and pouted. Our gracious God allowed him a small space of time, even had a friendly, shady vine grow up in order to shade his head during the day. But when it was time to move on; time to grow up...God killed the vine and instructed Jonah on how he should behave. Last year; time at the lake where my grand parents live; time with my kids camping at my dads, was all the time God allotted me to pout. Now God requires me to grow up. Listening to the message today I realized that it wasn't enough that God moved my husband out of our home...I still hadn't learned the lesson, now I must experience a season without my children as well.

With the lesson of Jonah fresh on my mind...I can respond one of two ways; I can pout, cry and shake my fist at the unfairness of life; but I already did that last weekend. I'm sure the vine has already withered, dried up and blown away.  That leaves the only remaining option; facing this solitary weekend with faith, obedience and trust that all the lessons God brings my way are for my good. When God is truly first in my life...everything else will fall into place. "Delight yourself in the LORD; and he shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalms 37:4) So God, I humbly bow before you. You are my delight. The kids left at 7:00 with my beloved husband, I could have sunk into despair. But I took a bike ride. It was a beautiful night, beautiful country side surrounded me. I found myself realizing how safe it feels to rest in God. I took this same trail a month ago and felt God's still small voice whispering, "Peace, PLEASE be still...I AM GOD!!!!" I cried that whole trip. I couldn't see him. I didn't fully grasp his plan. This time I felt the joy, the assurance, the overwhelming realization that GOD is GOD. What is there to be afraid of?

"I, even I, am he that comforts you: who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;" (Isaiah 51:12)

I grow weary when I labour on my own. When I think it's all me. When I believe that I am all my children have, and they are all I have. I am heavy laden when I struggle to be good, strong, sufficient all on my own. I don't have to. God is God...nothing is too hard for him. For me...everything is a giant whale and I am trapped in it's putrid guts. Not so with God. In him I find rest. He gives me sweet peace and rest from all my fears.

(Now I just need to make sure I don't find another idol to fill in the gap of my missing husband and children! I would hate to lose my house!)

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

I am a new man in Christ

2011-08-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have found, during this long walk through the valley, that sometimes it is best to work for God rather than wallow in misery. I don't have a church home right now to labor in but maybe through my inspiration someone else can receive a blessing.  That is my only wise option; focus on how fully capable God is in the midst of this valley while standing in front of an unmoving mountain.  I am a new woman and I don't have to live life as the helpless, hopeless person I once was. The only choice left to make is to go all the way with God.

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

Two choices: To serve God and live, to serve self and die. Everything started and collapsed in the Garden of Eden. In that place of beauty and purity, Adam and Eve shared a perfect relationship with God the Father. He was their all in all. He had created everything for their use and enjoyment. They walked and talked with him everyday. There was nothing that they needed that God did not supply. But there was just one little rule...don't eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The day that they ate of that tree they would surely die.

Now we all know the story...they did eat, and just as the Devil told Eve, "...[their] eyes [were] opened, and [they became] as God's..." And although their bodies lived on for hundreds of years, they became spiritually dead to God. Before eating of the tree they knew only good, nothing was lacking; God was truly their "I am". After eating the fruit there was an immediate change; suddenly they sensed and inadequacy in their world and believed that they should fix it. They were naked...they had always been before but suddenly it was a problem they felt needed to be fixed.  New ideas were introduced into their minds; they were not perfect; they were inadequate; they needed something that God had not supplied.

This is where the insidious idea of being a god in ourselves started. Today the thought runs rampant in our world. Anything we want we can get. We must be strong. We must be conquerors. If something is wrong with us we must fix it. Even the "Serenity Prayer" is a lie. Whatever we can't fix we will leave for God...we can handle everything else. And what a marvelous job we have done. Our country is nearly bankrupt, we have children killing children, war at every hand, the threat of nuclear bombs in the back of every one's minds, no values, poor ethics, broken marriages, broken homes, broken lives, depressed children committing suicide, and prisons that are overflowing.  I heard a statement a few months ago that struck a chord in my heart. A minister said that after 911 he was repeatedly asked the same questions regarding God. Where was he? Why hadn't he prevented the awful death toll of that day? Why was he silent? The minister's reply was this, "God is exactly where we asked him to be." We call out for him when we are in trouble but the rest of the time we respectfully ask him to keep his distance while we "handle" things.

Sadly, many of us that hold God at arm length are born again Christians. We were completely incapable of saving ourselves yet now that we are born again we seem to think we can finish the race all on our own.

"remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:12-13

^"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:12

I think that the best illustration I have ever heard regarding this was by my counselor this week. He said that the old man is like boarding a plane in Grand Rapids to go to New York.  You board and discover that you have one of the best seats on the plane.  You are sharing a row with a wonderful man; he is pleasant, witty, nice. He doesn't take up too much space. He smells nice. He doesn't talk too much or too little. The conversation is excellent. The stewardess comes by with her cart. She is beautiful and accomplished. She makes you feel welcome and comfortable. The food on this flight is the best. You have plenty of space to spread out and relax. You even love the in flight movie...it's a great one that you have been wanting to see. There are no screaming children and no one is meddlesome. Eveything is perfect until the pilot's voice comes over the intercom. "Good afternoon everyone...blah, blah, blah. Enjoy your flight...blah, blah, blah...we will...be landing in Houston at..." You freeze...HOUSTON...you need to be going to New York City!! You are heading in the opposite direction from where you need to be and the plane has already taken off! What can you do? Absolutely nothing. If you misbehave and made a nuisance of yourself you will still land in Houston but you will be in handcuffs. If you sit back and enjoy the flight...you will still end up in the wrong place. You can plead with the pilot, you can rage at him, but he will not turn the plane around. There is absolutely nothing that you can do; Even if you died on the flight they would still take your body to Houston.

That is the plight of all that are born into the family of Adam. In Adam we all die.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor 15:22

But Praise God there is a solution. We have been given a way off that damned flight. God, through the Blood of Christ, has provided a way to supernaturally lift us out of that one way flight and set us in the proper plane headed toward eternal life, (or New York City, for the sake of this illustration). The problem with many Christians though, is that once we are in the right plane we immediately unbuckle our seat belts, march up to the cock-pit and kick the pilot out of the driver's seat. We even go so far as to throw him out of room altogether. We couldn't manage to get on to the right plane by ourselves, and we couldn't turn the wrong plane around but we seem to think that we can steer the right plane home. What a devastating deceit the devil foisted on the gullible Eve.  The entire human race has accepted the lie that we are god's ourselves, like unto God. "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." (Invictus by William Ernest Henley)

Today I accept that isn't so. I have seen the damage wrought by my hands. I have been born again, I have accepted Christ as my Savior and I received the gift of the Holy Spirit, so I must no longer walk the old paths of sin. Yet...I am not capable of abandoning them myself.

"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. " Romans 7:12-25

It requires my daily walking in the Spirit, putting every step I take before God. Listening to the nudge of the Holy Spirit directing my paths. Yes, that is possible. The more obedient I am the more clearly I feel it leading me. But when I follow disobedience with more disobedience the nudging grows faint for I'm starving that new man and feeding the old. It requires daily application of the word for only by hiding it in my heart can I ever hope to see the complete death of the old man. And, beyond that, I have to flee from conformity to this world.

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

The world offers nothing good. If all are lost except that they accept Christ and take up their cross daily, than the knowledge, customs and forms of "good" that the world offers can only be poison to the new man inside of me. There is no middle ground. I can't serve God and yet flirt with the world. The world offered no solution; it is a one way ticket to Houston. I need to go to New York City. The trip to New York may not be as pleasant as the plane ride to Houston. The company may be unpleasant, the food lousy and there are screaming kids all around me; but it's OK...I'm headed home. My pilot is the best. He knows how to take this plane through any storm and land me safely home! I may have to suffer a little. I may find the flight a little too bumpy for my taste but the destination is assured. And only God knows, but maybe peace is just an obedient moment away!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Perfect Love Casts out Fear

2011-07-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

"Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also." 1 John 4:15-21

I have discovered that the Devil is a crafty adversary. Often he does not plague us with obvious, "that's the Devil" barbs. He uses our emotions and feelings to cause us to stumble and lose faith in God. Just look around at today's society. We live in an age where feelings are paramount. If it feels good than it must be right. If something makes me happy; makes me feel pleasure and satisfaction, than who is to say that I shouldn't have it. We no longer exercise delayed gratification or self discipline; We see, we want, we take. We have thrown out the knowledge of absolute truth and cleaved whole heartedly to the concept that truth is ambiguous; shifting and changing with the currents of time and culture.

Even Christians have fallen prey to this shifting quagmire of deceit. When we allow our feelings and emotions to rule us we are easy prey for Satan, because there is no reason or steadfastness in feelings. They are fleeting, shifting, subject to mood swings and susceptible to outside influences. Christians, and mature adults, should always demand that their feelings be in subjection to reason and will, but not according to our reasoning and our will but truth according to the absolute measure laid out in scripture.

For me, fear has been the choice weapon of the devil. For months now fear has dogged my every step. Occasionally I break away for a few restorative breaths of faith filled fresh air and a glimpse of the blue sky of promise, but I always find myself sucked back down in a matter of hours or days. The thought has teased the edges of my conscious that as a child of God, I do not have to be subject to fear, and yet I continue to spy out its paths and follow after its siren call. Yesterday I searched out an old book I had read along time ago by Dr. James Dobson, Emotions: Can you Trust Them? The author said that fear has a remarkable way of gathering evidence to support it. (Paraphrased) How true, when I look through fear shaded eyes....everything, even the most trivial of events, seems to multiply and grow in uneven proportion to my circumstances.

The author gave a humorous example of a couple who imagined they had heard movement in their kitchen during the night. They both snuck out of their beds and over to their closed bedroom door. The wife sought to keep the imagined intruder out of the room so she wedged herself stubbornly against the closed door. Her husband sought to open the door and investigate the source of the sound, he was struggling to open the closed door. Neither realized that they were working against each other; the wife assumed that the force she felt trying to open the door was someone trying to get into the bedroom, the husband thought that someone in the hallway was trying to keep them in the room. Their fears had materialized an enemy that wasn't there, and then interpreted all the activities surrounding the event to reinforce the presence of this unseen villain. What a powerful force we fight against just within our own mind, never mind the added enemy of Satan.

As I mulled over the depression and loneliness I was feeling in relation to the thoughts I read in the book, I realized that fear was shaping my reality. "[But] God has not given [me] the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Romans 8:12-17

Armed with this understanding that fear is not from God and that I have been set free from the bondage of fear, I then gained an understanding on how to apply the armor of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17) I rebuked the thoughts of fear with the promises God had given me and his word layed out in scripture. When God gives a dream or a promise to you...nothing can make that void; for God's word is infallible and he does not change his mind. "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Numbers 23:19

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

I realized that I may falter, but I do not have to be subject to fear when I have been called of God and filled with his Holy Spirit. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. and those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Romans 8:26-30

I can deny fear control in my life by fighting it with the word of God hidden in my heart, and I can throw back into the devils face all the promises God has given me. I do not have to allow it to rule my life for I am safe in the arms of God!

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

Yesterday I lived out the day in fear, I went to bed a conqueror and rose this morning alive in the hope of the victory God has promised me!! Praise God!!!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

God Restores My Soul in The Valley

2011-07-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

I vowed I wasn't going to use my blog as a personal testimony page but what God has done for me in the last 24 hours overwhelmed me so much that I feel I must share. My marriage has fallen apart over the last year and a half and now my husband has his own apartment forty minutes away from us. By the world's standards I should be living foot loose and fancy free as a single woman. But God has different plans, two years of signs, dreams and scriptures have convinced me that God is requiring me to remain faithful to my vows, pray for my husband and the restoration of our marriage and wait no matter how long it takes. Not an easy task.

In this cause, I have been praying non stop and standing for my marriage for almost a year now. I'm ashamed to say that for the first few months my stand was rather imperfect. It has taken many months for God to make the changes necessary to my own spirit and get me to the pliable, receptive place he needs me to be so that he can accomplish his plan for our marriage and our individual lives.  Two weeks ago I finally reached a break through in my prayers and received a definitive answer from God. It took the breaking of my will and the humbling of my spirit to bring me to the place where I finally relinquished everything into God's hands...and left it there. I gave him my life, my husband's life, my children's lives, my marriage and all my hopes and dreams. I gave him all the broken pieces, confessed my inability to fix it and trusted completely in God's saving grace. I know that I had honestly reached that place because it was there that God answered me.

It was July 8 when I posted, "Peace that Passes all Understanding." I had to rewrite the post because I had hit the wrong key and lost half of the entry. I went to lunch, came back and re-wrote the last half. This time I searched for a new scripture that spoke of rejoicing in God. The first scripture my browser returned was Revelation 19:7, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." I was dumbfounded when I read the words "...and his wife has made herself ready." I had just handed everything over to God. Could this be from him? I asked God if this meant that he had heard my prayer and was going to bring my husband back home and restore our marriage. In that instant I received a text message. It was from my husband; an answer to a question I had asked him six hours earlier. All it said was "Yes I will". The timing was impeccable. If I hadn't texted my husband that morning making a completely unnecessary request, if I hadn't accidentally deleted half of my blog right before lunch, if I had stayed in during lunch to rewrite it, if I hadn't decided to use a different ending scripture, if my husband had answered my text earlier in the day..I wouldn't have finished two seconds before my husband sent his text, after just reading those crucial words. Too many coincidences for me to not see that it was from God.

As if that wasn't enough
I submitted my testimony on the Rejoice Marriage Ministries website. The following Monday the daily devotions from RMM was entitled..."When the Lord Speaks, Listen". This devotion goes all over the world, hundreds of testimonies and prayer requests are submitted weekly; what are the odds that my testimony, submitted the Friday before, would appear in this devotion? There were three testimonies offered as reinforcement to the message and mine was the last one! I knew without a doubt that God had answered my prayer.

Now...I have given this very long winded prelude to set the stage for July 20th. You would think that after such an affirming experience of answered prayer, I would wait patiently in perfect peace. You would be wrong. Like all impatient children, I want my blessings now. When each new day passed with no word from my husband I grew more and more despondent.  By the morning of July 20th I had almost lost all hope. I had become like the Israelites after God had performed 12 miraculous plagues against Egypt to free them from bondage and parted the red sea. It was now two weeks later and I was grumbling and complaining. I tried listening to RMM but it was all about Charlyene's anniversary after God had restored their marriage. I tried listening to BOTT Online Christian Radio but the message of the hour was on maintaining intimacy in marriage...really! That was not what I wanted to hear at that moment.

I went to the bathroom and said a prayer, I felt the Lord speaking in a soft voice..."just worship me." OK   I went back to my desk and logged into K-love and listened to worship songs. That turned me into a sopping rag, I was crying non stop by lunch time. I braved the heat and sat outside on the loading dock...better to be alone in my misery. I started singing an old church song, "Till the Storm Passes Over". That didn't make me feel any better. I cried some more and than I started entertaining all of my doubts and fears. I asked God how could I really be certain that everything I had wrote down in my journals was really from him. What if I had just made everything up because I wanted it so badly? At that moment another song came into my head; a rather irritating, vaguely familiar tune with a partially remembered chorus. That's no help God...I can't even remember the title, let alone the words.

Not feeling any better I went back to work. Now I happen to be a person prone to evading uncomfortable feelings of sadness, loneliness or fear. I prefer to adapt myself to everyone else's needs, self medicate myself, drown my sorrows in a bottle or...spend money. I am sitting at a computer and I have been dying to by a Kindle. I've just about convinced myself that it is just what I need to make myself feel better, when I remember my counseling session on the 18th. The counselor said I need to stop trying to avoid pain by "self medicating", and instead go through it with God's help. Feel the pain, walk through the valley with no detours.

Reluctantly I exited out of the Amazon web site and went back to work...and you now what...I started feeling better. I was obedient, and God began to pour out the blessings. As I worked away I listened to the radio announcer mention a devotion book she has been reading, that reminded me of a little devotion book my mother-in-law had given me on Easter entitled, "40 Days with Jesus." I hadn't read very much of it, infact I had almost forgotten about it.  I dug around in my file drawer before finally finding it,  and turned to the 20th devotion (I thought) and started reading. It was about remaining hopeful no matter what is going on in your life. Jesus is our hope, he is our strength. He holds us through the storm, and He can change even the most "hopeless" of situations into victory. He is seeking to transform us by the renewing of our minds. (This mirrored the message of my Counselor the Monday before.) The last line of the devotion said, "Those who hope in me will not be disappointed." I couldn't believe how fitting this message was. It paralleled what I had learned in counseling and it fit with the first song I had been singing at lunch time, "Till the Storm Passes Over."

With these words tucked into my mind I made it through the rest of my afternoon with relative peace. But I still had the nagging tune of the second song rattling around in my head. That night I flipped through 300 pages of songs trying to find the right one, no luck.  More tears. In the past I had always been able to take these nagging tunes to my husband and he was always able to help me find the song. How I missed him, I whispered a prayer for God to help me remember the title...at that instant it came to me, "Restore my Soul." Praise God, I remembered the song and knew the page number by heart. I flipped open the book and read the first verse remembering that this song came to me after I had questioned whether all I had received from God was really from him and not just merely my over active imagination.

"Lord, you know that I've been foolish, I've been blind; I've let my doubts and my confusion cloud my mind. I have walked in my own wisdom; I've been wrong; take my hand and lead me back where I belong."

(Chorus) "Restore my soul in the valley; that I might be worthy at last to stand with thee on the top of the mountain. In the valley restore my soul."

In God's gentle way he answered my question...I had let my doubts and confusion cloud my mind. Because God's timing seems so long I had let fear steal my blessings.  I was greatly encouraged by the song...but God was still not done. It was time for bed but I wanted to get all of this down in my journal so I started writing. I pulled out the devotion book I had read that day to write down some of the key points...but when I looked at the 20th devotion I discovered that I had read 21 by accident. It was the right devotion for that time, but the wrong one for the day. I started reading the 20th entry. I couldn't believe my eyes. My prayer over the last two weeks was how should I pray now that God has given me his answer; Should I stop? Should I keep petitioning? How do I pray while I wait? It turned out that devotion 20 was a mini instruction manual on how to pray once you receive your answer. When you take your prayers to God, trust him and relinquish all control into his hands. He is God; this is his world; he made it and he controls it.  I went on to read that when I bring my petitions to him, I must speak truthfully and pour out my heart. Once I have received my answer I should thank him for the answers he has already set in motion long before I will ever see the results. In the days that follow, I don't need to keep repeating and agonizing over the same requests. When I do it keeps me in a constant state of anxiety and tension. It's as if I don't believe God heard me the first time, or maybe I don't trust his answer or I think God needs my help accomplishing the task. It admonished me to keep thanking God for the work he is doing behind the mountain of circumstance in my life. As I thank him and praise him it will transform my mind to be positive, uplifted and joyful. That is how one prays after the answer has already come.  This matches what I read in scripture:   Colossians 4:2 reads, "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;" and Philippians 4:6 says to, "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

How awesome is God. These two devotions showed me the awesome care and superintendence of God. Almost two months earlier I was given that book only to tuck it away in my desk, out of sight and out of mind. But God! But God! He knew that on the 20th of July I would have need of that specific devotion to encourage me and answer my prayer. He knew my prayer two months before I had ever asked it and had the answer all prepared!

"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Matthew 6:7-8

I fell asleep praising and worshipping the awesome God we serve. There is nothing too great for God. No tangle he can't unravel, no mystery he can't solve, no quandary to big. Take everything to God...he is faithful and true and will surely restore your soul in the valley!

God Bless
Amy Warren

Life More Abundant

2011-07-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't felt the inspiration lately to write for I have been battling with a short period of depression. But yesterday I began my uphill climb out of the shadow of darkness and this morning I was encouraged by the knowledge that depression and discouragement are not new when it comes to the plight of man. Job spends all of chapter three bemoaning the fact that he was even born. in Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah curses the day of his birth: "Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed." Elijah even pleaded that God would take his life in 1 Kings 19:4: "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." And can we ever forget the up and down roller coaster ride of emotions that David takes us on throughout the Psalms. He seemed to often be in the depths of despair yet he recognized where to turn when the way was dark. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." Psalms 42:5, 11 43:5

I have often grown irate with the people that blithely remind me that, "God never promised a rose garden," or use the trite statement that, "...every rose has its thorns." But I am growing in the understanding that it is how we walk through these dark places that determines the "who" that we will become. Surely Paul was no stranger to adversity: "Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?" 2 Corinthians 11:25-29. Yet, while in prison, he was able to say that he had learned, "...in whatever state I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:11

Paul had learned that the secret is not to focus on the circumstances (the what) but on Jesus (the who). "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 12:13. Paul understood that everything that came his way had been sifted through God's hands and they were to serve a purpose. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. " 2 Corinthians 4"16-18.

If we set our eyes on an eternal goal than we can ride the waves of our light and momentary troubles throughout our days. It's a lot like driving a car; if you focus your eyes on a center spot far in front of your vehicle you will drive in an unswerving path along the freeway. We only began to swerve off the path when we instead focus on the lane markers on either side of us and on a point only a foot out from our front bumper. When I focus on my circumstances; who passes in and out of my life, trials at work, struggles with finances, people's actions...I lose my way and become mired in the mud of Earth. When I focus on eternity and the God of all creation I gain a far reaching perspective that lifts me up above the shadows, and places my feet on solid ground.

But let's not believe that by reaching for eternity we avoid living fully in the moment, just trudging from one trial to the next. That's not the way at all. Jesus said that he came so that we "...might have life and ...have it more abundantly." John 10:10 We are to live life joyfully letting our light shine before all men. Not with down turned faces and broken hearts but with shining faces and hands uplifted. Our Heavenly Father is over all and in all and we are joint heirs with his son; we have nothing to be ashamed of and no reason to be dejected. So I choose to embrace life and all it's seasons for every season brings new lessons to learn, new heights to climb, and new blessings to discover. This morning I choose to PRAISE GOD for he is good!!

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Peace That Passes all Understanding

2011-07-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

How do you have peace in the midst of a storm? How do you stand unwavering when the waves threaten to take you under? How do you ride the roller coaster of life and not jump off in the middle of the ride? How can you smile through tear drenched eyes? How do you rejoice in the middle of despair? How do you stand when you feel all alone? How do you find love when you feel so unloved? Have you ever asked any of these questions? Sometimes life throws more curve balls then we can manage for life does not play fair.

So where do you turn? Jumping off the ride is not an option, and if you are like me, all the solutions I come up with only seem to make my circumstances worse. Thankfully the sollution is simple...place it all in the arms of Jesus.

This morning I was reminded of a dream my husband once had; Jesus was holding a box containing 40 million dollars. All my husband had to do was approach him and receive the box, but in fear he ran back towards all the dark circumstances of his life. In Matthew Jesus said "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30) So the simple conclusion is that we make our lives more difficult when we refuse to take the free offering of "life more abundant" which Jesus holds out to us every day. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

When we choose to trust in God and the way laid out for us through his son, we will have peace that makes no sense to the rest of the world. No, life will not be easy but we will have comfort, guidance and even blessings in the middle of our storms.

For my devotion today I read Psalms 37, a passage my husband has marked in his Bible as "The seven keys to peace." "Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Psalms 37:1-11

According to this passage the seven keys are:

1) Don't worry about or be envious of evil doers. "But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked....Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end." Psalms 73:2-3, 17

2) Trust in the LORD and do Good. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8

3) Delight yourself in the LORD. "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment." Mark 12:30

4) Commit your way to the LORD. "Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established." Proverbs 16:3

5) Rest in the LORD. "Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." Psalms 127:1-2

6) Wait patiently for him. "But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

7) Cease from anger and forsake wrath. "For the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God." James 1:20

Now, from my own personal experience I can say that this does not happen overnight. In my own present storm the process has lasted close to a year and I am still not completely there yet. But I keep trying because I believe in the promises that follow these principles: I shall someday look for the wicked but they won't be found. I will dwell in the land and be fed. I will have the desires of my heart. God shall answer my prayers. I will inherit the Earth and have abundant peace!

Paul also had to learn this in the trials and tribulations he endured while an apostle to the Gentile Church. "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:10-13 Through these trials Paul discovered he could endure all things, even death, when Christ became his strength. He learned to respond to life's circumstances according to truth and not according to his emotions for God is greater than any circumstance we will ever endure; there is nothing impossible to him. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4

So this morning, in the midst of my storm, I choose to submit my will to God's will. That doesn't mean I give up on my circumstance instead I choose to give in to God. I am resting on the promise that God will control all of my circumstances according to his divine purpose. Resting on that promise, I await with great expectations the fulfillment of his plan and the blessings he has in store for me, my marriage and my family!

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." Revelations 19:7

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

We Call on Him and He will Answer

2011-06-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

We Call On Him

(Words & music by Karger - Weisman - Wayne)
We call on Him
Whenever storm clouds gather
We call on Him to light our darkest day
Why must it be that only when we're lonely
And hopes are dim, we call on Him

Why don't we call on Him before we lose our way
To count our blessings and thank Him while we may

We call on Him when no-one else will answer
We ask of Him a reason to go on
When our cup of joy becomes a cup of sorrow
Filled to the brim, we call on Him

Why don't we call on Him before we lose our way
To count our blessings and thank Him while we may

This morning I was reminded of one of my favorite Elvis Presley, Gospel songs, "We Call On Him." Monday of this week I was searching for a way to hold my home together during a very trying period in our lives. Seeking direction from God, I spent the day listening to various pastors on BOT Christian Radio. One very quite suggestion stood out in my mind; One pastor mentioned that when his children were young they would always eat together at the dinner table and he would have each child pick out a proverb from that day's proverb, and read it aloud, discussing what it meant to them. A light bulb clicked on and I recognized that God had provided me with my answer. We had stopped sitting down at the dinner table and eating together several years ago. My husband worked odd shifts and we never knew when he would be home so we stopped planning regular meals. We ate when we were hungry, often in front of the television and usually not together. I went home Monday with a new conviction to revive the old practice in our home.

That night, armed with my new conviction, and faith that God would meet us; I made dinner (pork chops and applesauce) and I informed the children that the TV needed to be shut off, friends needed to go home and the table needed to be set. I then set out the new pattern for dinner time and retrieved my Bible. Following dinner we read our passage for the day and discussed our hopes and fears in the future of our family, never blind to the conspicuously empty seat at the head of our table.

Before bowing our heads to pray I reminded the children of how grave a mistake we make when we try to solve our problems alone. When God is the only one with all the answers, the only one who can fix anything in our life; why is he always the last one we turn to? We try everything else first before we finally turn to God. When we do approach him we have a long list of demands on how we want to see the circumstance resolved and a timetable in which we expect to see results. When the prayer is not answered according to our time frame and by our specifications we blame God for not caring and for failing us. As I told my children, God never fails, even when he does not answer according to our demands or according to our time table.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Matthew 7:7-11

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts." James 4:3

When we recognize that his way is best and that we are safe in his hands. When we understand his will and his leading for our lives. We will see the movement of the Holy Spirit and we will feel a peace beyond comprehension.

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:26-27

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:3-4

When I was done speaking my daughter started to pray. I wanted to start weeping when I heard her confess to God that she had neglected praying to him because she was discouraged. I knew that God had answered my prayer that morning and gave me the right direction for leading my children. If I had called on him first, maybe I could have saved my children some struggle and pain. But in my failure, they have learned a very important lesson about always turning to God first and then waiting patiently for his timely reply!

Tuesday was our second night of our sit down dinner, prayer and devotion. When each child said their prayer; they acknowledged the overwhelming sense of peace and joy they felt again in their home. I myself can't seem to wipe the smile off of my face. I not only feel peace but an overwhelming sense of anticipation as I eagerly wait to see my creative Heavenly Father roll out his heavenly plan for my marriage, family and home!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

Love and Marriage

2011-06-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

There is an alarming trend in today's society, here in America and all over the world; it's called divorce. We protest the political redefining of marriage, because we believe it will destroy the sanctity of that covenant. But the truth is that we have destroyed the sanctity of marriage by ourselves. Every time a new divorce case is opened, every time another home is divided, we make a statement to the world that commitment is not obligatory; covenants and promises lose their value, lessons taught to children are nullified. We have fallen into the trap of the world, repeated the mistakes of our parents and if we can't break the trends in our own marriage...what hope is there for our children.

It's especially egregious when it occurs in Christian homes because we are to hold forth an image of God to the world. Don't fool yourselves into thinking that no one notices or cares what we do. When you make a statement that you are a Christian, the world watches. They know better than we sometimes do what a Christian should exemplify, and they keep a record when we fall short. In Genesis marriage is the first institution created by God. The union of a man and a woman into one flesh. Woman was created from the rib bone of man making her quite literally "flesh of his flesh."

So, understandably marriage holds a very important role in God's kingdom, not just because he is the creator of the institution, but because all the earth testifies to the things unseen.   In Romans 1: 18-20 it says that "... the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."   In Psalms David says that "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard." Psalms 19:1-3.

Marriage is a very essential theme in the Bible, because it reveals very important attributes of God's character and his covenant with his chosen people and later the church.   In the Old Testament God uses marriage to describe his relationship with the Israelites:

"I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery." Jeremiah 3:8

“Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion." Jeremiah 3:14

"not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,^[a] says the LORD." Jeremiah 31:32

At other places all through the prophets God describes himself figuratively as the grieved husband of an adulterous wife, and yet we see him waiting for a remnant which he will espouse to himself once again. “I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.” Malachi 3:6-7

Carrying this theme into the new testament, the church is described as the bride of Christ.

"For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Ephesians 5:29-32

"Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Cor 11:1-3

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." Ephesians 5:22-23

The first letter to the churches in Revelation expresses that the problem with the church in Ephesus was that it had left their first love, "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love, remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent." Revelations 2:4-5

In the book of Malachi which is the last book of the prophets; the last word from God before the heavens went silent; 400 years before the coming of the Messiah, God outlines the reasons that he has withdrawn from his people and why he does not acknowledge their sacrifices and prayers.  He is angry that the priests, the spiritual leaders and shepherds of his people, have forsaken their marriages; their covenant unions with the wives of their youth.

And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?”  Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously;  Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. “ For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “ Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” Malachi 2:13-16

In this passage God answers the question as to why these covenant marriages are so important...he desires Godly seed. The same thing is said again of Jesus and the Church in Romans 7:4 "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

God ordained marriage for a specific purpose; to reflect the image of his relationship with his people, to bear up Godly seed and to show the world the complete vision of who God is. We were created in God's image, male and female he created us. In our unity, we reveal to the world who God is.

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." Genesis 1:26-28.

God was not satisfied that Adam was alone, so he took a part of his body; his rib, to form a woman. The two together, united as one flesh through the covenant of marriage, bears up to the world the complete image of God. When we separate that, tear apart that one flesh we make a mockery of God and cloud the vision of his perfect plan of salvation. Doubt it? Question the validity? Look around us, as our homes crumble our nations fall and the godly influence of the church becomes weak. David said that "... in death there is no remembrance of you [God]: in the grave who shall give you thanks?" Broken marriages are death to a body for you can not make two out of one, in doing so you must rip apart the very fabric of two lives. This must be what God meant when he said in Mal. 2:16 it "...covers one's garment with violence."

Take a stand for God.  Are you having marriage troubles? Are you facing separation or divorce?  The best thing you can do is to turn your marriage over to God. Give him the broken pieces of your life and trust that the God who ordained marriages has the power to heal marriages. It doesn't matter the despairing circumstances you are facing, God is able to raise it from the ashes of death and make it a lighthouse to a weary world. Trust in God! Have Faith! If you are looking for some Godly help, let me suggest a web site that was a great blessing to me one year ago when I was searching: rejoiceministries.org. Let God talk to you and show you the way. Let him begin a work in your marriage and let it start with you! If you are willing God can change you into a new person, a new person that can be a light in your home to draw back your wandering, heart broken, disillusioned spouse. Don't give the devil victory, change your heart and call out to God for the victory for the battle is his!

God Bless,
Amy Charissa Warren

Turning Our Crisis Into An Opportunity

2011-06-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Turning Our Crisis Into An Opportunity

Obedience

2011-06-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

"And Samuel said, Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 15:22

Between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon of this week I learned a great personal lesson in the merit's of obedience to God. The experience was so profound...probably because it's the first time I actually paid attention to the lesson; the first time I drew a direct correlation between how I felt before obeying and after obeying. On Wednesday I woke up feeling wonderful despite some very troubling "home-life" set backs. I started the day off right, instead of selfishly pleading for my own answered prayers...I prayed for the needs of others. I had received a 7 page list of prayer requests from Rejoice Marriage Ministries the day before and decided to devote my morning drive and lunch time walk to those needs.

I felt really good...except for one very nagging issue that was going on at work. Our sales person had received a very large list of leads; people possibly interested in the products that we sell. The day before he had sent out a blanket request to me and one other person that he really needed help making those calls. Well...let me first say that I am an accountant. I chose accounting for the simple pleasure of working with silent and obedient numbers. I do not do sales because the emotional person that I am has a very hard time dealing with offended individuals who do not want to be sold anything they probably didn't ask for. I don't care how you want to put it, a hard sale or a soft sale, it still requires pushing what I have off on someone else and I'm just not very comfortable with this. I had relayed all of this to my boss hoping that I would be given any other assignment than the dreaded phone calls. No such luck. I happen to have plenty of spare time at work so no excuse in the world was going to get me out of the task. My boss was very nice about it, he recognized my fear and aversion to sales calls, did all he could to allay my fears, but ended the talk with, "just give it a try." The gentlest most subtle command I have probably ever received on the job.

Now considering that I am aware of Paul's admonishment in Collosians 3:22 advising, "Servants, [to] obey in all things [your] masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:" (Col 3:22), you would think that I would have been quick to obey, with phone to ear and script in hand. But alas...not so. Lunch time came and went and I still had not picked up the phone. I searched for anything I could do first. Yes, I could feel the eyes of my boss occasionally glance my way wondering, I'm sure, what could be more important than making those calls; yet still I disobeyed. Finally, 2:00 rolled around and I started to feel the reprimand of God. It was a nagging thought, in God's still, small voice whispering, "stop delaying and obey." "Not now God...I'm busy." 2:15 came, the voice was a little louder, "make some calls." "Not now, someone just put something in my in box, and I really don't want to make any calls!" Then it was 2:30 and the still, small voice was a quite rumble, yet still I disobeyed. I waited all the way until 3:30 before I finally picked up the phone. By then it was already time to start invoicing for the day's shipments so I was only able to make 4 phone calls. I thought that it would be enough to appease God, at the very least my boss. It probably did satisfy my boss, but it did not please God. I had disobeyed for the entire day. I thought it was OK because I had read the Bible, I had spent my lunch hour in selfless prayer time and I had listened to wholesome Bible teachings all day. I had been a good girl...but I had disobeyed. I did what I wanted God to accept instead of what he was asking.

My day went down hill from there. My joy was gone, my heart grew heavy, my fears overwhelmed me, I couldn't touch the peace I had felt that morning. I barely made it home through my tears, the evening chores seemed pointless, I couldn't find the words to pray, I couldn't find the heart to do anything. I couldn't understand where God had went, and wasn't yet ready to recognize that it was I that had slipped off the trail. My night was restless. In the morning I didn't feel much better; I felt like I was walking waist deep in thick mud and could barely get myself out the door in time for work. But I decided to pray, so I picked up my list of prayer requests and began heartfelt prayers for these strangers I have never met. When I arrived at work I decided to pick up the phone lists and start making phone calls first thing. I spent two hours on the phone, possibly a little grudgingly a first, but I stuck with it anyway. With each phone call I tackled my bad attitude and wrestled it into submission. At lunch I walked and prayed...and finally found God. It was after lunch that I realized that the day before had taken a nose dive only after I had refused to obey. God had given me many chances and I had ignored him. His distance was the consequence for my disobedience.

I'm not saying that I won't have moment's of despair or fear. I don't believe the circumstances of my life would have just miraculously disappeared if I had obeyed, but it is very clear that my grasp of those circumstances was seriously hampered by my refusal to simply obey. Surviving the valley's in life takes the strength that only God gives, all he asks from us in return is that we trust him, wait on him and obey.

"Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God.” Jeremiah 42:6

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Hebrews 5:8

"He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their forefathers—a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law. They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them." Psalms 78:5-11

God Bless

Amy Warren

Marriage: God's mobile intensive care unit

2011-06-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

I just had an awesome inspiration today that would answer a question once asked me by my spouse. "Why do we sometimes do our most growing/maturing when we are separated? Our fear is that it's because we hold each other back or hinder one another. The world determines that it must mean we are not meant to be with each other; we would be better off alone or with someone else. I believe that a period of separation allows God the opportunity to do the intricate surgery he must do in each of our hearts.

When I am with my husband, I may put God first but I still have a God given responsibility to my husband. Paul counseled that "...It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion." I Corinthians 7:1-9. I serve God as a married woman, that means my time, my mind, my body is not my own...it is my husbands; He is my head. ("For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." Ephesians 5:23) During a period of separation I can devote my time to God in prayer and fasting and he can complete the work he needs to accomplish in me.

Now Paul said this time of fasting and prayer should be by mutual consent, implying that this time is necessary for individual and marital growth. Unfortunately, as we may have experienced, times of separation are not always mutually consented to, yet still very necessary. When separation comes and one partner has become obedient to the spirit and committed themselves to spending this time fasting and praying, God can begin to work. In the spiritual sense, as well as the physical, patients aren't always strong enough to drive themselves to a church or a hospital, that is when God uses his best resource for families: the Marriage "mobile intensive care unit."

God has a work to accomplish with both souls, but often one at a time. The first one to obey is "it", and they become the nurse standing beside God who is the master surgeon. But before the surgery can begin God has to take sometime to train the "nurse". They have to undergo some heart changes, clean off some dirt and grime, and take their hands off the scalpel and oxygen so that the true surgeon can do his perfect work. Once the unit is sterile and the nurse is waiting expectantly and patiently on the surgeon, than God is confident that his next patient will be well taken care of during the long recovery period that may follow.

In real life, surgery is handled by the surgeon, and then the recovery is handed over to the nurse with the doctor checking in from time to time to insure proper healing. God, as the surgeon, requires his nurse/spouse to be gentle, tender, and wise when dealing with his patient; Otherwise infection can set in and the healing process will be stunted or even suffer severe set backs.

I believe this is true because I have witnessed this experience several times in my marriage, and recognize the process taking place still today. With the eyes of my understanding opened, this became my "aha" conclusion, we don't grow despite each other, we grow for each other so that we can be strong when the other is weak and can carry the load when the other is too tired; Just another one of the amazing benefits that God has built into his institution of marriage! Praise God!!!

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

"Standing"

2011-06-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in life we are too weak to ask for help. Sometimes we are too discouraged to look up. Sometimes we are so lost we don't know how to find our way home except that someone search for us and guide us. Sometimes we have fallen so many times that we just can't find the strength to get back up. Sometimes we hate ourselves so much that we doubt that anyone could love us and want to hold us up. In my marriage I have found that sometimes that person is me and sometimes it is my beloved spouse. The blessings of marriage is that when there is real love and true commitment there will always be one person that is strong enough to bear up the other.

When we exchanged our wedding vows the classic words stated that we would love each other "in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer in good times an in bad." If you are like me you defined those situations: sickness meant a treatable disease or illness, better or worse referred to life's circumstances, richer or poorer referred to finances. But as I have matured I have learned that those definitions are too shallow, they touch only the surface of the real meaning. Sickness is not always measurable with a thermometer or a blood test, sometimes it's sickness in our mind; something that can't be cured with common prescriptions and really can't be clearly defined. Better or worse sometimes refers to the pulse of our marriage relationship. Sometimes we question why we ever loved this person that we have tied our life to. Sometimes we believe that there has to be someone better for us. We reason that if this was true love it would be easier. Richer or poorer sometimes is a quantifiable measure of our satisfaction with our family or marriage, a measurement that has nothing to do with finances because we know that even in the most destitute and deplorable of conditions love can abound.

These were the circumstances that we vowed to remain steadfast through, even if we didn't quite understand it at the time that we took those vows. Love is not meant to be easy. Sometimes patience wears thin. Sometimes our own "love meter" is running dangerously low. Sometimes we feel that it's all giving on our part with no receiving. Sometimes we give up just at the moment that our sorrow could have turned to joy.

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Galatians 6:9

Love is a duty; a glorious responsibility that can reap blessings untold. Love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Cor 13:7) Jesus loved us so much that he died for us; suffered a painful, ignominious death for a filthy, sinful human race. Everyone of us deserves nothing more than the terrible death he took upon himself. If Christ could do that for us, shouldn't we do that for each other. Yes God and Christ love us with a perfect love, but they also defined love for us because we too can love that perfectly "...through Christ which strengtheneth me [us]." (Phil 4:13) Lord help me to have an intimate understanding of your definition of love and help me to put it into practice in my life.

I have said all of this today, to help you understand my stand. My husband suffers an intense personal struggle; he is frustrated, weary, disillusioned, disheartened. Because of where he is at and how he feels, I would define our marriage as sicker, more sorrowful, worse, poorer and definitely in need of good times. But in marriage we are one flesh, and when one part of that body is strong and trusts in God, life can be renewed and love can abound. So I have made my stand and posted my motto, knowing that God loves my husband more than I do. If God loves him and finds him to be of great worth, how can I feel any other way. I have confidence that God and I are in complete agreement and great things will be accomplished for my husband and our marriage. Not for my pleasure or for my husbands, but for God's glory. All praise and honor go to him for in his hands there is victory!!

A Standers Affirmation

I AM STANDING FOR THE HEALING OF MY MARRIAGE!...I will not give up, give in, give out or give over 'til that healing takes place. I made a vow, I said the words, I gave the pledge, I took a ring. I gave myself, I trusted GOD, and said the words, and meant the words... in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in good times and in bad...so I am standing NOW, and will not sit down, slow down, calm down, fall down, look down or be down 'til the breakdown is torn down!

I refuse to put my eyes on outward circumstances, or listen to prophets of doom, or buy into what is trendy, worldly, popular, convenient, easy, quick, thrifty, or advantageous...nor will I settle for a cheap imitation of God's real thing, nor will I seek to lower God's standard, twist God's will, rewrite God's word, violate God's covenant, or accept what God hates, namely divorce!

In a world of filth, I will stay pure; surrounded by lies I will speak the truth; where hopelessness abounds, I will hope in God: where revenge is easier, I will bless instead of curse; and where the odds are stacked against me, I will trust in God's faithfulness.

I am a STANDER, and I will not acquiesce, compromise, quarrel or quit...I have made the choice, set my face, entered the race, believed the Word, and trusted God for all the outcome.

I will allow neither the reaction of my spouse, nor the urging of my friends, nor the advice of my loved ones, nor economic hardship, nor the prompting of the devil to make me let up, slow up, blow up, or give up 'til my marriage is healed. (Author Unknown) (Courtesy of Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc. Post Office Box 10548; Pompano Beach, FL 33061 http://rejoiceministries.org/

God Bless

Amy Charissa Warren

The Mysterious Impact of Prayer

2011-06-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

The Mysterious Impact of Prayer

Today, faced with a new heart break. Faced with another long stand for my marriage and another season of loneliness I am reminded by God of the most powerful tool I have in my arsenal, prayer. How powerful is the quote by Saint John Chrysostom more than 400 years ago. Prayer calls down the very power of God to work in our behalf in the daily battle for the souls of ourselves and our loved ones. In the last couple months I laid down my weapon and relied on my own might. How feeble it proved to be. God is the creator of all. He alone controls the foundations of the Earth and keeps the stars in their place. He directs the hearts of men and knows no limits to his power. How ashamed I am that I have forgotten. I'm sorry God. "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain that build it;" Psalms 127:1 Let me never forget in who's hand rests the victory. Forgive me God.

God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren

"I cried out with no reply"

2011-06-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

"For God may speak in one way, or in another,  Yet man does not perceive it.  ¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, ¹⁶ Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction. ¹⁷ In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man,  ¹⁸ He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.  ¹⁹ “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with strong pain in many of his bones," Job 33:14-19

Have you been there...crying, praying, pleading even screaming at the Lord, pounding your fists, demanding that he hear you, that he help you, that he say something...anything? I have been there many times. Sometimes that feeling of deafening silence has lasted years. Other times it only lasted an hour or a few short days before I heard the Lord's reply. Rarely was the reply his voice, but always the spirit whispered to my conscience that this is God speaking to you; be still and listen.

Scripture is the voice of God...often he has used that means. Sometimes it is an impression of a thought, a thought that overrides my subconscious. When I have pursued the thought...other events have lined up to confirm the thought was from God. Maybe someone calls me on the phone and says the exact same thing, or I tune in to a song on the radio at just the right moment when the artist sings those same thoughts. Maybe it's a devotion I open up to and the theme is the same as that still small voice inside my head. I have even had God speak in dreams. Anyway it happens God's Holy Spirit witnesses to me that God is speaking, and over time I have learned to listen.

But what about those times when God doesn't speak? For me that has been a learning experience, infact, I have learned to recognize when God speaks by all the times he didn't. The absence of his voice makes its presence so much more profound and so very comforting. But why? Why sometimes the silence? Someone once said to me, in utter frustration, that he couldn't understand why God does not always answer. When our children cry out for help don't we run to them...aren't we quick to answer? Yes, sometimes we are. But as a parent I have learned that sometimes it is not good to respond too quickly to my children's cries. When my children were babies I had to learn to let them cry at times. You can recognize the babies that have their every cry answered in a rush; they are demanding, spoiled we would even say. When they want something, no matter how trivial, they expect it immediately. They don't try to resolve the issue or meet the need themselves, they expect you to meet it for them.  When they are helpless babies this doesn't seem to be too great of a problem. But I can bear witness to what happens when this practice continues over the long run.

My son is the baby of the family. He has always been sensitive, emotional and needy. His sister is two years older, very stubborn and highly independent. She has always been very capable, very nurturing and very impatient. As his mother, I was susceptible to his chocolate drop eyes and over long eyelashes heavy with tear drops. His pout wrapped me around his finger. And I am also very impatient and very capable. Between us, his every need was met. If Trenton couldn't reach it we did, if he couldn't accomplish something we did it for him, we finished his thoughts, met his every request and answered every question he couldn't answer for himself. If his room was a mess his sister cleaned it. She was very organized and liked everything to be neat and in its place, her way was best so she did it for him. He never remembered his chores and it was always easier to finish them for him rather than see him get into trouble.  Now Trenton is 14. He is flustered much of his day because now he is required to remember everything he tends to forget, he is required to handle his own chores, he is expected to do his own school work and know the answers for himself.  Yet, he finds that he is handicapped because he never had to do it before, so he never developed the confidence that he could manage on his on. Because his every cry was answered he never practiced what he already knew and never grew in the confidence of standing on his own two feet. He is weak.

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

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How much weaker would we be if God answered every request never allowing us to try to stand on our own? Never giving us the chance to grow strong in our faith, to test our faith, to be patient? The first storm that came we would fall. The first trial we had to endure we would break, turn back, give up. But when we have had to weather a few storms on our own, knowing that God is watching, we have grown stronger and can withstand more. Our faith grows, our confidence grows and we mature.

"But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:4

But that is not all I learn from this illustration. How often do our children not do the things that they already know to do? They have been told over an over again what to do in given situations. What tasks need to be accomplished each day. What dangers they should avoid. And yet, I am always amazed at the claimed ignorance when the situations arise and they are called to task. They want the easy out, they want me to give them the answers or do the task for them. This also can weaken our children and ourselves when it comes down to our Christian walk. Don't we already know what God requires of us? Don't we already know some of the answers ourselves without having to ask? We can't be rescued from every pain...we could miss the lesson or cut short the cure. When we have listened to too many voices other than God's. When we allow ourselves to be distracted by circumstances than we lose focus. When we look at the problem and not at our heavenly father, we will become lost, confused and frightened. We must never forget that we have a heavenly father unlike any earthly father; he can't fail, he is all knowing and all seeing, more than capable to rescue us from any trial we find ourselves in. If he doesn't answer, if he doesn't save us...there is a reason. Be patient and wait until God reveals himself once again.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8