Ask...Listen...Follow...

Where You go, I'll go

Where You stay, I'll stay

When You move, I'll move

I will follow You

Who You love, I'll love

How You serve I'll serve

If this life I lose, I will follow You

I will follow You

I Will Follow ~ Chris Tomlin

Tee hee...I'm laughing at how silly my thoughts are at the moment.  I'm nervous about writing my first post for 2012...  =P   That's why I've been putting it off. 

My Abba Father has been showing me so much in these past few months, weeks, days, hours even. 

I'm beginning to fully realize...realize even more that our God is always ready and willing to show us new things about Him.  He's always ready to wrap us in His warm and comforting embrace.  He's always ready to listen and interrupt us if necessary.  He's always there to wipe away the tears that we let escape.

I'm the one holding everything back.  I'm a girl, standing in front of a bridge--a narrow bridge.  There's no way to 'go around it.'  Jesus one step ahead of me, reaching out His hand, encouraging me, beckoning, calling out to me to join Him, follow Him step by step.  I've followed Him this far on our journey and this is just another bridge I need to cross.  But it's not "just another bridge."  This bridge, just like all those in the past, will be a new experience for me.  I will grow in and through Him.  I will learn more about Him and myself.  And I'm standing there...waiting for Him to do something...  To "give me a sign" to move in a certain direction...

He is always ready to speak to me.

All I have to do is ask.

Why don't I ask more often???  Why don't I listen more often??? 

Maybe you ask the same questions...  All I can say is that I can't change what I haven't done in the past, but I can change what I will do in the future.  It's a New Year's Resolution, so to speak...  =) 

So no matter how many "forks" in the road there are, no matter how I look at it, there is only one direction to take...  The one that my Savior is standing in front of.  And it's my fault for being the one who's closed her eyes, expecting to 'stumble' onto the right path or eventually find it on my own.

So to be honest...I don't exactly know where that path is going to lead me...and when those "forks" come along, I most likely won't know which one leads where.  But whichever path He is in front of, is where I want to go.
I just got a flash on the animated Disney Peter Pan movie.  When all the "Lost Boy's" are following John (with his top hat and umbrella) singing "We're following the leader, the leader, the leader.  We're following the leader wherever he may go."  Along the way they go through tall grass (the tops of heads and that umbrella bobbing up and down), over a hippopotamus (I think)...  *giggle*      *sigh*
That's how I want to be, following Jesus (not oblivious to my surroundings  =P).  Joyful, worshipping, willing, determined, without any doubts or reservations.

I long to see my Shepard face to face...  To feel His touch...   To hear His encouragement...  To sing His praises...  To dance in the warmth of His light...  To be still in Him...

My dad just said something the other day...  He didn't make it up...and I'm not who the first person to say it was...

If there were no problems, there could be no miracles.

Feel free to read that a couple times...I did  =)

I pray for there to be an abundance of blessings in your life!  I also pray that through those trials that you're facing, that our Abba Father would perform miracles for you.  That you will grow in and strengthen your relationship with Him. 

"Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." ~ Psalm 106:1

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


Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  Pleas email me at TiffaniJoi143@gmail.com to ask permission before using any part of post or any pictures.

He Orchestrates...

{This is one of my favorite songs!  It always makes me cry as I remember the extreme sacrifice Jesus made for me.  I made this video especially for this version of the song.}

Touch of the Master's Hand ~ Danny Gans
Album: Brand New Dream

One of my favorite things to say about God is that He orchestrates things.  {As a side note, I am NOT trying to start a debate over pre-destination and free will}

When I hear orchestrate, I think of a compose and conductor of an orchestra.  He's written the symphony out and He knows exactly how the notes should be played, what the tempo is, and what key signature the piece should be played in.  He's up front, and as long as the musicians look to Him, He is guiding them as they play.  The musicians are His 'tools', and He is able to use them to create something beautiful.

During rehearsals, those musicians might make terrible mistakes, over and over and over...and over again.  Then throw in those cumbersome and tedious arpeggios or the big dramatic crescendos.  BUT He is patient, because He knows what the end result will be, and He is willing to wait for us...I mean the musicians of course.  ;)
Some of the musicians are able to help each other get better, but ultimately they look to the composer.  He's the One who keeps them on the rhythm, motivated and encouraged.  He's listens to the the complaints and the whining, about sore fingers, aching backs and parched lips.  He understands, because He's gone through the exact same thing.

They also learn to work together as one.  They learn that the piano alone is beautiful, but when played with the harp it sounds so much better.  Then add in the violins and the flutes.  Only with all the instruments playing together can the make an orchestra.  And have you ever heard of an orchestra without a conductor, let alone a composer?
Then on that glorious performance day, we will all be perfect and everybody will applaud and praise the conductor for His great work. 
They Lord has been showing me daily that He is in control, and I definitely am not.  I can rely on Him alone, and He never fails! 

He forgives my mistakes, complaints, and my eagerness to hog the spotlight.  He promises to finish the good work that He has started in me.  And that can't be easy.  But I guess...I know that since He created me, and knows me better than I even know myself, He will be faithful like He always is.

Dear Precious Heavenly Father,

Please search my heart and root out any sin and fleshly behavior that is still trying to hang on to me.  Please Father, show me when I'm feeling discontent or too comfortable, because there is always something I should be working on in my spiritual life. 

God, I pray for those who are reading this post right now.  That they would be blessed and You would use Your Words to give them peace and comfort for whatever struggles they are facing at this very moment.

Your Word tells us that those who believe in You and have received Your Son's gift of salvation are like a body.  We must all work together and that none of us are more worthy or important than any other.  Please Father, remind me of that whenever I start to become prideful or try to judge anyone else.

I pray that You would use me in Your symphony and that I will daily become more and more like You and my Savior.

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

Amen!

Au Revoir...Until next time!

Many Blessings!  =)

Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  Please email TiffaniJoi143@gmail.com to ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

Play the Play...

But You give Your love to me

You open up Your heart unselfishly

Lord, in Your embrace now I can say, I surrender

CHORUS:

Everything I held so precious

Everything I kept away

I give it up, give it up

All for You, I give it all for You

Everything I held as treasure

I give it all for You, I give it all for You

Joy Williams ~ Surrender

Album: By Surprise

I recently heard the author Francis Chan give this great spiritual analogy that spoke to me so much, it inspired me to start this blog… (I will be paraphrasing it (adding some details that pop into my head), because I don’t have the video in front of me.)

So you’re at a football game (please keep reading even if you aren’t a sports fan…=) In my opinion, this is one of the greatest analogies I’ve ever heard!)

So you’re at a football game…you’re so excited! You’re there to root for your team & you’re sure they’re going to win. They’ve got the best coach, the best assistant coach, the best uniforms, the best equipment…how could they lose?
You wait with growing excitement as both teams huddle up & discuss their plays. You can tell even from where you are that your team is excited…they’re like horses chomping at the bit, pawing at the ground ready to go. They do their “On 3, go team” thing. Then the whistle blows…and instead of getting in their formation your team goes & sits on the bench. Naturally the other team is surprised, but they don’t miss the opportunity to score a touch-down.
Then comes time for the next huddle. You can tell that your team is really excited again, then the whistle blows...and again instead of facing off the other team they go off to the benches.
This goes on for so many points that soon it becomes time for your team to make a serious decision. They need to start playing the play their coach is calling or they’re going to lose. They need to be unified, listening to their coach & courageous…or they might as well not play at all…

I’m sure some of you’ve already seen the connection to our lives, but I’ll go ahead & explain…

We as the body of Christ are the team…we have the best coach (our Lord God, Abba Father), the best assistant coach (our prescious Savior Jesus Christ ), the best uniforms (we are clothed in God’s armor Ephesians 6:10-18, God’s), & the best equipment (the Holy Spirit is our Comforter & Helper). What more do we need???

We get in our huddle as we go to church & Bible studies, small groups. We get excited as we pray and feel the Lord’s presense with us. We make a plan or hear the Lord’s voice telling us to do something. BUT, then “the whistle blows”, it’s time for us to go out into the “real world” & actually do something. Challenging things that take strength, courage, boldness, we don’t. We take the easy way out…& sit on the bench. We who should be on fire! We who can do all things through Christ who gives us strength! (Philippians 4:13) We who house the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God!

The “other team” whether it’s a pre-believer who we’re being called to talk to or Satan, attacking our life straight on or anyone in our life who opposes our spiritual or moral beliefs; they will not wait for us to sum up the courage…we need to be ready.

How many times though do we as believers take that easy way out. Sit on the bench, because we’re scared.
The Lord is SO willing to give us the strength we need…all we need to do is ask for it!

We as believers need to realize the cross-roads ahead of us. We need to take the road less traveled, pray for the strength & play the play.

Please do not think that I claim to be perfect in this. I constantly find myself in times that I’m not surrendering…ugh!!!! I don’t expect to be perfect…BUT perfection is the what I’m striving for…

My mom & I have been reading a book by Andrew Murray called Absolute Surrender. It’s a great book so far & I know I’ll be quoting from it in the near future. Aaannnd…now that I’m flipping through it…I see a section that goes right along with this analogy:

“You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to its special, definite object and service. I have a pen in my pocket. That pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds in partly, I cannot write properly….

“And now, do you expect that in your immortal being, in the divine nature that you have received by regeneration, God can work His work, every day and every hour, unless you are entirely given up to Him? God cannot. The Temple of Solomon was absolutely surrendered to God when it was dedicated to Him. And every one of us is a temple of God, in which God will dwell and work mightily on one condition—absolute surrender to Him. God claims it; God is worthy of it; and without it, God cannot work His blessed work in us.

“God not only claims it, but God will work it himself.” ~ Chapter 1

I will say farewell on this note…this section is a lot to think & pray over (I know it was for me…=) ); so I will let you…

Au Revior…until next time. =)
Many Blessings!
Tiffani

PS: I heard Francis Chan tell this analogy in the Study Guide DVD set for his book Forgotten God.