Jesus is Coming back!

Jesus is coming back!  Did you read it? Did you hear it?  Did you get it?  Jesus is coming back! Jesus is coming back!  If that doesn't get your excited and ready to jump up and dance, friend, we need a sit down conversation together!  Jesus is coming back!  It's going to be better than any prince who has ever ridden a white horse and rescued the princess!  Oh, my, Jesus is coming back!

The book of Revelation gives us great insight into the last days.  I want to foucs on a few specific words in these few minutes that we have together!  

"...Let ys rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready" (Rev 19: 7)

"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of of heaven from God, PREPARED as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." (Rev 21:2)

"Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or decietful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev 21:27)

"Let him who does wrong, continue to do wrong; let him who is vile conitnue to be vile; let him who does right conitnue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.  Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me and I will giev to everyone according to what he has done."(Rev 22:11-12)

 Friends, Jesus is coming soon!  What are you doing to be the "bride" (his church) to be ready for the day he comes back?  What impurities, blemishes, spots do you need to clean up, wipe out and stain remove from your life so that when he arrives you have made yourself ready?  How are you preparing daily to meet your Groom?  The time is coming when your Groom will come back - the trumpet will sound announcing his arrival and he will one day ride a white horse!  Are you ready? Are you preparing yourself?  There won't be time when Jesus comes back to change, the changes need to happen now, so you are PREAPRED for his arrival. 

 "So you must also be ready, because the Son of  Man will come at an hour when you did not expect him."    Matthew 24:44

The Prince finds the Princess

Once upon a time, in an enchanted land, there lived a princess.
The princess lived a comfortable life.  The king and queen of her land
found it easier to give the princess what she wanted than to deal
with her nagging requests.  The princess spent most of her time and
talent lying around and being served.  She expected people to
meet her needs, pay her bills and tidy up her messes.  She didn't
even take time to say a mere, "thank you" to her staff.
The princess, however, always wanted more .  There was one
particular thing she wanted and she couldn't wait until the day
came that she would meet her prince!  She dreamed of how he would sweep her off 
her feet and into his arms 
and they would dance the rest of their life away together.


Oh, to dance the rest of our life with our prince.
Some of us have found our earthly prince.  The
one that we pledged our love to in front of family and friends.
Some of us our still searching for our prince, the one which we
will "dance through life" together.  


If I knocked on your door, sent you a text message or email...
what would your answer be to this question?
"Which princess are you?"


Would you be Sleeping Beauty?  
Sound asleep not even realizing your prince is drawing near?


Would you be Cinderella?  
Having waited for this moment to be with your prince, but allowed someone else's rules to cause you to run and leave your prince at midnight?


Would you be Snow White? 
 Busy tidying up the house, hiding from someone/something rather than confronting it?


Would you be Aerial?  
Willing to give up all that you knew to be with your prince? Leaving behind family and loved ones?


Girlfriend, what type of princess are you?  Because there is coming a day when Jesus is going to come back for his bride!  "Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done." (Revelation 22:12) When Jesus, the groom, comes for you and for me, how will we look?  Will we be like a bride on her wedding day, clean, crisp white dress, no wrinkles, freshly pressed, hair done, make up applied, veil neatly in place?  Or will we be like the princess at the beginning of this blog, sucking life out of those that give and never giving in return?  


We take great measures in this lifetime for a special day to be ready to walk down the aisle.  I tell you this, there will be no greater day then the day my Heavenly Father sends his son, Jesus Christ for this bride!  It is my heart's desire that when he finds me, I am not a Martha too busy to sit at his feet in my lifetime leading up to our reunion or that I would have allowed fears to keep me back from accomplishing what I needed to prepare myself for his arrival.  (Rev 19:7, 21:2)


There is coming a time when a "Once upon a time" story, a fairytale that has replayed in our minds over and over becomes an eternal reality.  We will meet our Prince of Ages and he will take our hand and we will dance the rest of time in His presence.  Isn't that really what its all about?  Preparing ourselves for the day he comes, so that he finds us ready!  


"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Matthew 24:44


Maybe you are married right now on this Earth and have already planned that special marriage day?  Maybe you are still a young lady waiting for the day to come when you are  married on this Earth?  No matter where you are, married or not, let me say this, there is a greater wedding about to take place that you need to keep your pretty blue, green, or brown eyes focused on... and that day is what the angel spoke in Revelation 19:9, "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!"  Everyday when you wake up say, "I am a bride. I must ready myself for my Prince's arrival."


"Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.  Behold, I am coming soon!"  - Jesus , Revelation 22:11-12

True Beauty

The cool crisp morning air, vividly bright blue sky with white cotton ball  puffs sporadically placed in the sky.
Fresh air flowing through my nostrils and beauty through my eyes....
Jolted in a split second by a disgruntled child, hurried husband, and a clock...
I quickly load the car and turn on the ignition.
Driving along the cold, hard black pavement, maneuvering around potholes
I am captured once again by the beauty of the sky, the cleanliness, neatness, and precise
positioning of the clouds.

Beauty.
Captivating.
Intriguing.
Breath taking.
Relieving...

My mind is racing about this word -beauty.
Yes, God made the creation and in my eyes this morning, I was taken back by its beauty.
What then, is beauty, really?

Beauty is defined as the qualities that give pleasure to the senses.

In essence, beauty looks, tastes, smells, sounds and feels pleasurable.
I think for many of us, we limit beauty to some of our senses and we do not open all of our senses.  The definition clearly says senses - plural.

We may see something that catches our eye and we think wow that is beautiful (this can be a person or thing).
After it catches our eye, we may pursue it, find out more about it.... only to find that it doesn't taste, smell, feel or sound beautiful!

When we look at our life, we need to think about what our beauty looks like and make sure that it is balanced.  We can't take so much time, energy and effort to adorn our outside appearance to look beautiful, that we neglect to groom our words and gestures in loving other people - which can leave us tasting bitter, sour and ugly.  What do people that you encounter everyday in all different circumstances take away with their 5 senses?  What smell or aroma are you leaving?  An inviting perfume that is intriguing (smell), a flavorful taste that makes their appetite church to want to be around you more (taste)?  Warm embraces (touch as in hugs, handshakes, pat on the back)?  What sounds will they repeat in their mind... did you leave words of encouragement, joy, laughter?

As a follower of Jesus Christ, it is important that  I groom myself inwardly and outwardly.  As Paul states,  "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves." 1 Peter3:3-5


Matthew says that we are here to be "salt seasoning" which brings out Godly flavors.... if we lose our saltiness how can people taste godliness? (Matthew 5:13, The Message)


Here's the reality...
What is on the outside doesn't make us beautiful.
The inward beauty is what shows outwardly that makes us beautiful and attractive.


So as you put on your lipstick ask God to help you speak words that will be tasteful, flavorful and encouraging.  As you listen to the radio, television or conversations at work, ask God to help you filter out the garbage and take only the treasures and to give you the strength to walk away from unhealthy conversations or turn the channel from music that fills our ears with dirt and filth that clogs that pathway for true beauty.... And may people when they leave our presence have a sweet smell, that resonates with them that makes them think about and lead them closer to Jesus.


Let's give our 5 senses a makeover and by doing so, become the beautiful daughter of the most high king!

Got Oxygen?

by Michelle E. Georgiana

Do you ever feel like you are drowning? The air in your lungs is fleeting out of your mouth and not returning
to refill and refuel the lungs to keep your body going?  It is as if any moment the last breath will escape and there will be no more life left within you?  I am talking about emotional drowning.  We are so busy with appointments, places to go, people to see.  As a mother of 4, a wife to a wonderful man, an employee, a youth leader, to list a few, there are times where I have found MYSELF drowning.

With 6 people in my home, 5 other people's schedules bombarding my life, swamping my mind with details of what needs packed, what slip needs completed, somebody needs money, oh and the refrigerator is empty, food needs bought -wait its 4pm and I don't even know what I am cooking for dinner!  My dear hubby will come home and expect a smile and a happy wife, picked up house, while the children are wrestling about, destroying all the labor of "picking up" that occurred while their minds were engaged in learning all day....  Just writing this makes me want to GASP!  Air, people, I need air!

A revelation came to my mind a few years back and I was recently reminded again about this concept....

When you board an airplane and take your seat, shortly the plane will begin to move towards the run way for take off.  In the mean time, the flight attendants, begin reviewing the procedures for "what if" scenarios and what you need to do!  As a parent, the rule has always been, put the oxygen mask on you FIRST!  Then put it on your children or others who need help.  Seems backwards, right?  I mean I would do anything to help my children and the mother instinct in me is to reach out and grab their masks making sure they are nice, neat and presentable, then I will get my mask.  Take care of the kids first!

But how backward, my thinking was!  See, what  good am I to help them if I don't have my own oxygen?
If I put on my oxygen, then I am breathing (not gasping for air) and I am able to appropriately (without panic or hurriedness) put their masks on.  I am constant and alive, because I chose to put my mask on first.  It is not selfish, it is a priority.

So, how does oxygen masks on an airplane help me today?

In our busy lives, we work diligently as women, as mothers, as wives, as employees to meet everyone's demands... and often we neglect ourselves.  We forget to prioritize.

Priority is defined as "precedence: status established in order of importance or urgency..."
If you are gasping for air daily, failing to put on your "oxygen mask" by doing what is necessary to keep you
functioning as the mother, wife, friend, family member, employee that you want to be - then you need to prioritize yourself.  (GASP! I know, it seems so selfish, but you can't do what you want to do if you are dying or dead - because it will take everything that you have to just exist!)


My life line is the Word of God.  I need it to sustain my life.


Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  (Matthew 4:4)


My kids don't define my life.
My husband doesn't define my being.
My ministry isn't my Creator.
But God is my Author.


It is through Him that I am able to do all things, for he is my strength. (Philippians 4:13)
If God isn't on my priority list, but only a thought to be on my priority list, then I will be gasping for air, because he is the breath of my existence.  Our minds will say, I will pray once the kids are in bed or I will read my chapters after I handle this - and before we know it, we fell asleep before we could say amen or read more than one chapter!  It is vital to our health, wealth and being to read the Word and pray to the one who has all the answers when we are alert.  It is actually more selfish to not prioritize God in our life, because when we do not seek his renewed strength, direction and wisdom everyone else in our life suffers.  Instead of flourishing, blooming, thriving, we are withering, dying, gasping for fresh breaths.  Our lives aren't consistent, stable, and rooted, rather they are wavering, unstable and swaying!  What we think is good is not!  We need Him to be first, to be our guide so that we can be who our families, friends and employers need us to be!


This, too, applies to our marriages.  Many marriages today fall apart, because parents forget to date each other! They forget that before there were kids, there was just the two of them.  Kids will not perish for being left with a babysitter, they will not feel neglected nor rejected because their mommy and daddy left them!  Rather, they will be loved in even a greater capacity, because the oxygen mask for a good marriage is spending time together alone!  When the husband makes the wife a priority and the wife makes the husband a priority, emergency oxygen masks aren't needed, because their lungs are full of air and not gasping.  


Where in your life do you need to check priorities?
If you are gasping for air, there is one who is able to keep your tank full, 
change the current survival mode you are in, and set your feet on the path he created for you to walk.
Sometimes we just need to cry it out with God and allow him to send the Holy Spirit to show us
what we need to change. 


 Girlfriend, I have been there - I have tried to be the all in all to everyone, instead of letting him be my all in all.  No matter the madness in your life, no matter the discouragement in your life, Jesus is there!  Just call out to him and put on your oxygen mask first!


God Bless!

One Word

Before 2010 came to its almost midnight closure and 2011 struck with the sound of midnight, God laid it on my heart to enter this new year with prayer. It's wonderful how he prepares you in advance for what is to come.  Prior to Christmas, my husband and  I had multiple conversations about gifts - and how we spend so much time, money and effort finding the right gifts for people.  Yet, we spend so little time seeking the right gift to give to Jesus on his birthday.  This year, on Christmas Eve, before presents could be open, we sat our family down for the story of Christmas, followed by our family singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, then writing on index cards the gift that we would give him.

Mine read, "This year, I will give Jesus more time to talk as I take more time to listen.  Prayer is ESSENTIAL, not OPTIONAL."

And this has sunk into my heart since Christmas.

I have been revising, prioritizing and revamping

to not just give half hearted prayers, to give short time frame

prayers, but to spend quality time in prayer.... listening more than speaking.

Allowing his words to penetrate silence, just as the baby's cry did the night

Jesus was born.

As the new year was dawning, I wrote to several people and asked them if there was any

specific need in their life, that I was spending the last hours of 2010 and hours during the first day

of 2011 to pray for specific requests.  With each prayer request I raised them to the one with all the

answers and this word kept reappearing in my listening ...... PREPARATION.  

Preparation is defined as the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose.

We, as God's children, cry out in our anguish, we rejoice in deliverance.  We expect our God to supernaturally intervene in situations when we can see no way out!  We know he holds all the answers,

he holds that miracle we seek, because he is our all in all.  

But, I ask this question, have you PREPARED YE THE WAY OF THE LORD?  

John the Baptist did - you can read about what he did for the arrival of Jesus in the gospels.

We ask God.  We seek God.  We pray to God.  We cry out to God.

Yet, in our daily lives have we PREPARED ourself, have we set in order our lives to be ready 

when God shows up...and not just for the second coming of Jesus, but are we ready for when that

answer comes.  What will God find when he shows up to deliver a gift that you have been longing for

the words HEALING, DELIVERED, FREED!

This year, I am not making a resolution.  I am making a commitment to prepare daily for the moments when

God shows up that he may find a clean heart, a renewed steadfast spirit, for no man knows the hour of his arrival, but God has appointed times for all things to come to pass.  May this be the year where his children are PREPARED, when they are made READY IN ADVANCE

to receive, to give, and to be whatever comes to pass.

May his peace, his love, and his mercy shower over your life as you PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD.