This is something that I wrote a few years ago and when I read it the other day it really spoke to me where I am at and felt lead to share it.

Washing Clean

So there I was looking at the daunting task ahead of me... giving the cat a bath. Now maybe if I had a cat that has had baths every week for its whole six years of existence this would not be a problem, but my cat... well let me tell you about my cat. I think my cat is probably the most difficult animal in the world to give a bath to. The neighbors know when you give this cat a bath! Not because you told them, no that would be too easy. They know because they hear sounds not yet known to the human race coming from your upstairs bathroom! You have never heard a cat utter the sounds of sheer death until you have heard my cat! Oh, that's right I was going to tell you about this escapade...

Like I said there I was looking at the cat and trying to get the courage built up to pick him up and take him into the bathroom. Finally after stalling for oh, let’s say... two days I took the cat with me into the bathroom and closed the door behind us. Then I walked over to the tub with the cat in my arms and started the bath water. That was mistake number one. Never, I repeat NEVER hold a cat in your arms while you turn the bath water on! The cat jumped from my arms scratching the skin away from my bones and ran across the bathroom towards the door. I thought to myself "wow that wasn't very smart on my part." I decided to get the water to a good temperature before trying to catch the cat and put him in the tub.

As I got the cat reluctantly into the tub I realized that I had forgotten to grab a cup to help me wash the cat. So I hollered over my shoulder through the closed bathroom door hoping that my voice would project down the stairs to where my husband was cleaning up a mess that our nine week old puppy had made "Hey babe, can you bring me a glass." I heard no reply but had faith that my words had made it to his ears. Moments later the bathroom door opens and there is my knight in shinning armor holding a glass in his hands. He handed the glass off to me and pushed the puppy away with his other hand, as to not bother the already drenched and terrified cat anymore. With the door once again closed I pressed on with my mission to get this cat clean.

I was able to calm him down enough to get him completely covered in shampoo, but then it came time to rinse him off... "Oh, joy!" I picked up the glass and started filling it with water and dumping it over the cat. I did this several times and then all of the sudden it was like someone reached down and smacked the cat on the behind. I mean he just went ballistic! He started yelling bloody murder and was doing flips and flops like I have never seen a cat do before! I put the glass in the corner of the shower on the ledge so I could try and get the cat under control. Then somehow the cat managed to grab the edge of the tub and pull the glass right down into the bottom up the tub. And when it hit, it did what every glass cup does when it meets a hard surface at a fast pace. It shattered into tons of little pieces. That was mistake number two. Never use a drinking glass while giving a cat a bath, unless you enjoy cleaning up broken glass out of a wet bathtub!

So then I swept all of the glass to the far end of the tub with one had while keeping a firm grip on the still rampaging cat. I then grabbed the cat with both hands put my face on the top of his head and shushed him until he calmed back down. I then held the cat and pushed him back and forth under the water facet while trying to keep the broken glass away and finished washing the shampoo off of him.

Finally the nightmare had come to an end; I turned off the water and started squishing the water off of the cat. I pulled the towel hanging on the rack down and wrapped him up in it. Then I took him in my arms and held him for a few minutes to get him the rest of the way calmed down. When I took the towel off of him I noticed that he still had shampoo on the top of his head. I threw my hands up in the air and said... "Oh, forget it!"

After this whole ordeal I have realized something, we children of the Lord are exactly the same as my cat! We are saved by grace into the kingdom of God, and yet when God begins to cleanse us and wash away all of our sins we flip out.

God has an amazing plan for us, he wants to prosper us and give us a great future, but we get in the way. We look at the things that he has for us and we get scared. We try to run away, oh we may not do it intentionally but we do it. We will be so close to breaking through and having victory in some area, but then the refining process gets too uncomfortable so we begin to squirm and then we full on book it out of there. We may even look at what God is offering to us and we pull it down and shatter it until it is no longer an option.

Thankfully God never gives up on us! No matter how many times we squirm, fuss, scratch, kick, scream and runaway; God will not give up on us! He allows us to runaway so that when we do come back we can appreciate it knowing that he really is the BEST way and the ONLY way! I thank God that he has given me a bath and that I can be clean through the grace and mercy of my Lord! And I pray that all of us can recognize that it will be much easier if we would simply submit to his plan!

Thanksgiving

What an a amazing time I have had since my last post! I'm not saying that it was all roses... there were some definite moments where I would have LOVED to just give up, but as it is said in James 1:2-4

 ² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

I don't know about you but I find it difficult to find joy sometimes when things start to pile up on you! I was in a hard place at the beginning of last week. My husband and I were down to NO working cars (thankfully our family helped to get us places), The bank that I work at was taken over by the FDIC, I felt like I was getting a bladder infection and my Kidneys hurt so bad that it was difficult to walk. I had to cling desperately hard to the truths that I know. I know that God is for me and will NEVER forsake me (1 Chronicles 28); I know that God has a plan for my life to prosper me and not to harm me (Jeremiah 29), The Lord is my strength and my shield (Psalm 28)!!!

It was not easy by any means, there were some tears and some fervent prayers of petition.... but I made it through that storm! My job is taken care of, my health is very much improved, and my husband and I each have a working and reliable vehicle. However we serve a mighty God who goes above and beyond, so not only did he add unto me those things he also made a way for me to get my braces removed after 11 years of wearing them!

Now my husband is expecting a job offer in the next couple of days and I am working toward a promotion at work! God is Good, beyond what I could even imagine! I am not saying any of this to brag but simply to remind you and myself that God is in control and has YOUR best interest in mind! So be strong and hold on, God IS opening doors!!

1 Chronicles 29:13 (New King James Version)
 13 “Now therefore, our God,
      We thank You
      And praise Your glorious name.

Warfare

In all honesty since my last post I have had a very rough week! I have had to constantly remind myself of the promises that God has made for me. I even got onto my blog and read my own post for encouragement! This morning I felt myself come to a breaking point. I felt like a failure in several areas. I don't know if it was God or my own mind, but I felt a tug telling me that I am at war because I started this blog and I have been more open and bold with my words and actions promising to share only the truth of God's word. I love to look up the definitions of things in the dictionary (I guess I am a little bit of a nerd in that way), so I looked up the word "warfare" out of curiosity!

Warfare (by Merriam Webster):
1.) an activity undertaken by a political unit (as a nation) to weaken or destroy another
2.) struggle between competing entities

"To weaken and destroy another" hasn't that been the devil's mission since being cast out of Heaven? Out of fear and pride we give him the authority to do just that in our lives! I know that when I have tried to take things upon myself rather than relying on God, he has defiantly succeeded in weakening my faith! There is a "struggle between competing entities" when it come to God and the devil. We are privileged that we already know the ending, but sometimes that knowledge is easy to forget when you are caught up in the midst of a battle! That is the very reason that God has given us his word.

Hebrews 4:12 (New King James Version)
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discern-er of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

God's word is living and powerful!!! Sharper than ANY two-edged sword!!! What an amazing God we serve! As I said before God has made the way for us, he never said the way would be easy, but he has given us the tools to stand firm no matter what the enemy tries to throw at us!

Ephesians 6:10-20
¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

I could go on for hours speaking about the armor of God, it is one of my passions, but I won't... this time; but I will continue to open my mouth boldly to make the gospel known. I could choose to live in fear of what may happen if I don't back down, but I am more afraid of what may happen if I choose to keep God to myself! There are too many people in my life that I have the opportunity to reach, and yes, if I back down God will use someone else; but he has already put me in their lives "for such a time as this" (Esther 4)!

Remember that God has given you his armor, so stand and fight with boldness!

Be more than a Conquer

Numbers 13:30
"Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

God has called us to be more than conquers!!! This is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible! I still remember the first time I read it. I was in my room having my devotion with God and came across this verse. I had been struggling with a lot of things and the volumes that this verse spoke to me were astounding!!

God had told the children of Israel that "this" was their land, they simply had to take possession of it. Moses sent spies into the land, and when they returned they gave a negative report. They said "yes, the land has everything that the Lord has promised to us and more, however there are these giants in the land." All they could see were the obstacles that were standing in their way. Joshua and Caleb however had faith. They knew that God had told them to enter the land boldly, because he had already made the way for them. They stood up against the crowd and proclaimed "We can certainly conquer it!" The unbelief and lack of faith caused God to send his chosen people back into the desert until that entire generation had died off only Joshua and Caleb were allowed by God to enter the promise land!

How many times do we look at our promised land and all we see are the giants that stand in our way and we are ready to turn the other direction? God has already prepared the way for us. He has that perfect job, that amazing home, the spouse who will honor and love you, the physical and emotional healing, the breakthrough in finances!

Numbers 23:19
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"

God WILL always come through... we just have to hang on and not loose faith. God is incapable of not keeping his promises!! What a mighty God we serve!