Little Joys!

I know, I know!  I'm supposed to be putting the finishing touches on my guest post for Purity Week at HisHandmaiden.com...and I am.  But it's also Halloween...

I just want to share about the cutest little kids that have come, shyly knocking on our door.

I'm talking about the little girls under 5, dresses like butterflies & princesses.  The little boys dressed like Superman & Star Wars rangers. 

So innocent!  Their eyes a little afraid as you first open the door, but their fears melting as you put a handful of tootsie rolls & skittles into their little pumpkin shaped bag.  Although I like to think I'm spreading as much joy & smiles as I am candy.  =)

The cutest little, "thank you", and wide smile as they run away to show their mom their new goodies with squeals of delight. 

I can't help but smiling as I close the door.  Wondering if I'll see them again next year, if I'll remember them next year.  Will I be here next year?  Or will I be in a new neighborhood with new little kids?  Oh well, it doesn't matter.

I just wanted to let you into my mind for a little while & give you a glimpse of the joy that I'm receiving tonight.  =)

Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!  =)
Tiffani

PS:  Whether or not you like Halloween, please know that I'm not trying to promote or bash the day.  I'm simply speaking of the precious little kidlets!  =)


Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi. You must ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

Song: We Are the Free

We sang this song at church & I absolutely love it!  It was amazing hearing group of brothers and sisters in Christ singing this song for the Lord!!

This definitely is my song of the week!  Maybe even my song of the month!  =)




Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!
Tiffani

Girly Christianity?

Chorus: Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) ~ Matt Redman

This is one of the songs we sang on the workshop night.

A couple nights ago I went to a girls workshop at the church my family & I just started attending.  It was called GI Jane: Getting Aggressive About God.

It was a great night; the High School pastor's wife was the one speaking.  This is one of the points she made, that I elaborated on in my mind.

We are girls...we love the happy endings, the emotions, the feelings, we're hopeless romantics, we are feminine, we are girly etc...  And that's how we're made.  But sometimes that transfers into our Christianity.  We only see the blessings, we sometimes forget that Jesus isn't just the baby in the manger or our Friend & Savior.  He is also the Conquering King who will be coming back to battle in the end days.  Christianity:  Is it the best thing that's ever happened to us?  Yes!  Is is the easiest way to live?  No!  Which is why we need to be dependent on the Lord for strength.

Galatians 3:26-28 says, "26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Now obviously I'm still a female, and I'm still girly, God is saying that is His eyes when it comes to our faith, we are supposed to be the same.  The traits that separate men & women life shouldn't apply to our Christianity. 

For example, men are usually tougher, more aggressive, they're usually stronger than women.  They are the protectors of their wives.  That's how God made them.  But when it comes to Christianity, men & women are equal. 
Girls shouldn't be weaker in their faith; we need to be just as strong, because there is spiritual warfare going on all around us.  We need to be right there in it.  And we can, because of Jesus.  He erased those boundaries in our faith, because it isn't physical strength that's necessary, but spiritual strength.  "8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." ~ 1 Timothy 3:8

The message I heard has inspired me to get more aggressive about my studying in the Word, & continue to grow stronger in my relationship with my Savior Jesus.  1 Timothy 4:10, "For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe."

Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!  =)
Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  You must ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

I Am a Salmon Who Was Born For This

I LOVE this song!!!

It reminds me of something my dad always says.  "We are salmons."

Salmons swim upstream.  They don't go with the current.  Even though the waters they swim against are strong, they are stronger.

We as believers are exactly like that!  The way of the world in all around us, trying to push us its direction.  But because of the strength the Lord gives us, we can prevail & swim upstream, against the grain.  We might get tired...we probably will, but we need to remember that we were "born for this"!  We were meant to stand "apart from the crowd", stand firm, stand with God!

Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!  =)
Tiffani

PS:  The CD that this song is on just came out last month.  It's called Music Inspired By the Story.  Well known Christian artists sing songs about well known people in the Bible.  There are some other amazing songs on the CD as well.  I would highly recommend it!  Just look on iTunes or Amazon.com


Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  You must ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

Our Everlasting God...

You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God

You will not faint, you won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak, You comfort those in need

You lift us up on wings like eagles

Everlasting God ~ Christ Tomlin

Everlasting: enduring through all time; perpetual; lasting til the end of time.

Above is the Webster's dictionary definition of Everlasting.  Those are all true of God.  And yet, He is even more than, just everlasting.  Because He was here before time even began!  And He will still BE, after time has ended. 

Everlasting: Alpha & Omega; ever was; ever is; ever is to come; infinity; no ending

The above is the definition I thought of while think about our everlasting God. 

Have you ever tried to think about God's existence?  How He created time?  And that there will be a time where there is no time?  I guess that last one doesn't really make sense....  There a will be a "no time" when there is no time anymore.

We will not be bound to seconds, hours, days, years.  We will be with God forever.

That is so beyond my comprehension...  My mind keeps trying to compare "forever" with something that I do comprehend.  I've been alive for 16 years....  So 16 years times...times what?  Times...infinity!  Which is yet another word I cannot even begin to comprehend. 

At first its a bit frustrating...  But then these thoughts comfort me... 

It gives me joy that my God understands the things that I don't!

It gives me joy that I'm not the one "in charge"! 

It gives me joy that I don't have to understand everything! 

It gives me joy that my God is merciful enough to allow me to live in 'time' that I do "understand"!

It gives me joy that my God is so complex!

It gives me joy that even though He is so complex, He loves me!

It gives me joy that even though He is so complex, He invites me into His embrace!

Our God is so good.  I know that even though I pray for wisdom, He won't reveal knowledge to me that I can't handle.  He understands, because He created.  And that...gives me joy!

Au Revoir...Until next time.

Many Blessings!  =)

Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi. You must ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

What Are My Talents?

Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done

Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are

Who Am I ~ Casting Crowns

I have been thinking (I do that a lot)...  And I asked myself..."What are my talents?  What am I good at doing?"

Talent: A natural aptitude or skill.

My prideful self of course took off with all the different things that someone during the course of my life has complemented me on... 

Then the Holy Spirit reeled me back in & told me to ask the question again...and really think about it this time.  So I did...  I wasn't really proud of myself after I got my second answer. 

I am great at being prideful...
I'm get those waves of ungratefulness...
I'm just great at being cowardly...
I'm pretty good at being stubborn as well...
I'm also very good at procrastinating...putting things off...
I'm not always the kindest person...
I'm not always meekest person...
To be perfectly honest I'm always working on all the Fruit of the Sprit...


I could go on, and on...and on...  But then suddenly my thoughts like that stopped.  And the Lord reminded me that He doesn't want me to dwell on my faults...  That's not going to make me improve.  Every now and then, we need to be reminded of what we were without Christ.  We need to be reminded that we're not perfect.  We need to be reminded that without Him who created us...we are nothing...but with Him we are sons and daughters of the King.  Children of the most high God.  Who loves us despite our many, many...many imperfections.

I can now say that I am talented, because God made me (special, and He loves me very much...Bye! (Sorry!  Had to throw VeggieTales in there...I couldn't resist!  =P )) 
I'm good at being His child.  And not because of anything I did, but because of the love, grace & mercy of our Abba Father.

Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!  =)
Tiffani

Prayer...Immediately

All those people goin' somewhere

Why have I never cared?

Chorus:  Give me Your eyes for just one second

Give me Your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach

Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten

Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give Me Your Eyes ~ Brandon Heath

Am I in a rut?  Am I just going through the motions?  Do I take for granted that I'm saved through the grace of God & the sacrifice of my Savior Jesus alone?

Every so often these thoughts fly through my head...  And I have to dwell on the question for a little while...  I have to pray, ponder....and then what?  How many times do I think about these things, but then just move on with my day...promising myself & God..."Oh, I'll pray about that later when I have more time..."  God, You mean you don't have time for ME?  "Oh, no Father," I weakly protest, "that's not what I mean at all..."  Silence.  "Well, I know that's the way is sounds, but You know my heart...You know there's nothing I would rather do than just spend time worshipping You all day long...but I can't".  Silence.  "Really, I can't..."  You can do nothing apart from ME.  I AM the One who gave you today, & you don't have time to pray about something very important I've placed on your heart?  "Well, when You put it that way..." I reply getting weaker...  Silence.  I am broken...I know that the Lord is right...as always!  And broken is what wants...  He wants me to completely surrender to Him, so that He can mold me & show me & lead me, exactly where I need to go... 
There's no beating-around-the-bush with God, there's no playing phone tag...there's no voicemail...  If we don't answer when God calls us the first time, He will keep calling...and calling...AND calling...  Until finally we "find the time" to answer...  Sometimes if we wait too long, the Holy Spirit will stop us in our tracks (in our rut, while we're going through the motions) & put that theoretical "phone" right in our face...so that we can't ignore, not hear, or walk by it again...

But I can avoid all of this if I would take action when the Lord shows me something I need to work on in my life!  If I just surrender to Him daily it would make my life a lot easier...  If I would pray about those fleshly tendencies when they are first shown to me.  If I didn't try to make excuses for myself...

That's why out of all the songs I could've chose for this topic, I chose Give Me Your Eyes.
Because that's the example that's being set in the song.  There is a problem that is made aware...and there is a prayer...  A prayer first & foremost asking for forgiveness...then immediately afterwards is the a prayer of longing...  A prayer of wanting to be more Christ like, than we are.

And I know that being completely honest with myself, that's not always going to happen.  The Enemy is very good at dangling "little emergency's" in front of us.  Those that are just important enough for us get distracted at least temporarily from the One who truly matters.

Dear Precious Heavenly Father,

I come broken before your throne of grace.  Broken with shame that I so often put You aside.  Make You wait.  And I praise Your name & thank you from every crevice of my soul that You are a God of forgiveness.  A God of patience.  A God of mercy. 

Lord, please mold me, make my heart more mindful of when You have something to tell me!  Teach me to go through my days totally on fire for You alone!  Where the only thoughts that fly around in my mind are pleasing in Your sight.  The only words I speak point back to You.

Thank you Abba Father for loving me even though I will never be able to deserve it!!

I ask this all in Your precious Son Jesus' name. 

Amen!

I pray that the Lord blesses you abundantly today & that you will feel His embrace forever!

Au Revoir...Until next time.

Many Blessings!  =)

Tiffani