Dear Children,      It has come to my attention that many f you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.        How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own.. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just get along and love one another.      Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.      Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.      If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it: 1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time. 2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them. 3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again. 4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them. 5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her. 6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless?  Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference. 7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families 8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name. 9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to a church or charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you. 10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.      Don't forget; I am Jesus and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember. I LOVE YOU, JESUS

We got a new Mac computer last week, and realized you can't do very much on it with very much that uses msn, like live spaces or the msn groups.  You can still use them, but the use is limited.  I can't change the live space background on my Mac or use the Windows media player, and in the msn groups, anything besides typing needs to be done in HTML code.  I used to dabble in that, and looks like I'm going to have to freshen up on my skills, lol, or keep stealing my husbands laptop for this blog.  I've been working on a myspace page, yes, finally, lol, where I can do more fun things on my Mac.  Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out.  http://www.myspace.com/mpwifey06

 

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season.

 

 

I had my last day of Bible study this week, with the Beth Moore series, Living Beyond Yourself.  The last fruit of the Spirit we had worked on was self-control.  I can tell you, I was definitely squirming during the homework for the week.  I was a little surprised that the video on self control was done on the topic it was, I could think of at least 20 topics it could have been done on, and I never would have guessed it would have been physical health.  I've never really stopped to think about physical health being relational to self-control.  Dieting and losing weight, yes.  Not being gluttonous, yes.  But eating healthy?  Exercising?  During the video I definitely felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit on my heart in this area.  Ever since I have had my kids, I have either fallen into the obsession camp or the neglect camp.  No in between.  No freedom.  I am happy to say this study has opened my eyes, and I am excited to get started on making my body a true temple of the Lord, and letting my physical health be a form of worship to Him.   :-)

 

 

Here is the video study guide and my personal notes.  The study guide is available online through the website posted above, so I'm not copying or anything, lol.  If you have a chance to do this Bible study, either in your church, or by yourself online, I HIGHLY recommend it.  It's been AMAZING.  Blessings!

 

 

Fruits of the Spirit

 

1.       Love never fails.                               4. Patience waits.                               7. Faith fights.

2.       Joy Cometh.                                      5. Kindness tenders.                           8. Gentleness bows.

3.       Peace rules.                                       6. Goodness does.                               9. Self-control stops.

 

First Corinthians 6:19-20- “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore, honor God with your body.”

 

First Thessalonians 5:23- “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Mark 12:30- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

 

1.       Deeply absorbing a biblical perspective for our physical bodies would free us from the horrific stress our culture has placed on us.

2.       From a strictly biblical point of view (as opposed to medical), physical fitness is probably more about freedom than size.  (Galatians 5:1- “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”)  Keep in mind that extreme conditions call for focused measures.  The ultimate goal for most of us, however, is freedom from obsession so that God, rather than the body can be glorified.  This goal is most often realized through:

·         Recapturing the lost art (practice) of moderation;

Philipians 4:5- “Let your moderation be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand. “KJV

·         Learning to do what we need to do, then getting on with living.

3.       Romans 12: 1-2- “ 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.”     The most transforming and freeing way we can approach the care of our physical bodies is making fitness on way we worship God.

 

 

2 Chronicles 7:1-6- (The Dedication of the Temple)

 “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.  The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it.  When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying,
       "He is good;
       his love endures forever."

  Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.  And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God.  The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD's musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, "His love endures forever." Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.”

 

2 Chronicles 7:9- “On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more.”

 

The Hebrew word for “dedication” is hanukkah.

John 10:22-23-“Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.”

 

The time has come for us to take our positions.  Before we do, let’s rededicate our temples.

 

 

 

Notes:  The Holy Spirit wants to be comfortable in OUR skin.  The three and four generations that are living on this earth have been influenced by a media driven culture.  A dangerous culture, especially for women and girls, today.  Our physical bodies were made for physical living.  For centuries, before the inventions of many of today’s modern conveniences, people HAD to be physical.  Nowadays, we have to choose to have physical living.  We shouldn’t obsess about it, we need to do what we need to do, and then get on with living.  The area of our physical bodies is no other place where Christians are more readily conforming to “other worldly” society.  Renewing of one’s mind, is that approach to physical fitness in order to WORSHIP God.  TO eat and exercise so a person is giving that area of their life deliberately and completely over to God.  In scripture, many times the Jews got into trouble in regards to the temples, was when they neglected God’s temples, or there was idolatry in the temple.  Remember, our bodies are God’s temples, too, and the same areas can cause trouble for us.  We can neglect our temples, or we can obsess over them.  The balance between neglect and obsession for our bodies is respect.   SO many people tend to be in one camp or the other, and cannot find that respect.  With obsession,  we can be yoked into bondage when we obsess about everything we eat and working out.  Eating healthy and going to the gym or working out aren’t bad things, unless they control you, either too much, or too little.  How much attention do those aspects of our physical health get?  More attention than we give to God?  Do we make excuses to ourselves and to others for the amount of attention we put on these things?   DO we spend more time in a day worrying about how we look or what we eat, then in the time we read His word or spend in prayer with Him? DO we spend more time at the gym than we do at church? We cannot let our physical living become our God, but we need to be attentive to the point of respect.  Let the Glory of the Lord fill your temple.  Let the Holy Spirit fill you so full that it pushes out the natural self.  There should be no room for anything else.  

I don't think we could possibly pass around anymore crud in my house than we have been lately, lol.  I swear, everytime I turn around, someone is sick, and then it's like a chain reaction with everyone else in the house.  I thought we were past this 2 weeks ago, we actually went a whole week with no one being sick, and then Jared came home from school with a fever last week.  He had no symptoms, just a fever for 3 days and then was fine.  Then Isaiah and I got the stomach flu.  Then Jared and Isaac started to sound like seals barking, especially in the mornings.  I thought we were back on an upswing the last 2 days, but now Isaac has been up tonight with a fever.  I'm sure my local store must think I'm crazy for buying so much Lysol and antibacterial wipes lately.  Either that or that I'm OCD, lol.  I'm about to be if it'd keep us healthy.  SHEESH!  I PRAY this is not how the rest of the winter is going to go. 

So we had Jazz's birthday here last weekend.  We just had a small party with a few friends, and then she and I had a Mommy and daughter shopping day.  This weekend we are going to see Disney Princesses on Ice, too.  When we went shopping, she picked out a guitar for her present.  I was so shocked she picked that.  Now I need to find her a good beginners book on it because I certainly don't know how to play, lol.  She also got her ears pierced.  She was such a trooper.  Didn't cry at all.  Well, when they used alchohol before they pierced her ears she cried, because her skin is so sensitive, lol.  She loves them, though.  Hard to believe she is 7 now.  Seems like just yesterday she was born.  She's had to deal with more in the last 7 years than I would have liked, but I'm glad it all affected her in a positive way, ultimately.  She's getting to be such a wonderful young lady.  Her skin has been doing so much better in the last few months,too.  She has been able to eat so many more things, too.  I don't know if her immune system is just kicking in properly now, or it's the area causing her to imptove, but whatever it is, I am so thankful for it.  So is she.  :-)

  

 

 

Thanks for sharing this with me, Bridget!!!!

 

 

 

I hate being sick.  James and the kids all came down with colds last week, and I held it off as long as I could, but I ended up getting it, too.  It really took it's toll on me, I could barely get out of bed this weekend.  I woke up feeling a little better this morning, but I was totally dragging all day.  I have such a busy week this week, too.  I wish I could just snap my fingers and have my house cleaned and all my errands done.  If only.......     I hope we all recover soon.  I have way too much to do to keep this up much longer.