Obedience

I have never considered myself to be one of those "do as I say not as I do" parents, but WHOA yesterday I was totally convicted!
I am ALWAYS telling my kids "you have to listen AND obey", "you may not like my decision but you need to respect it (no LOUD sighs or mumbo/grumbo under the breath, you know....the things you did to YOUR parents...I was a MAJOR eye roller and to this day I am still pretty darn good, just ask Brent! Sorry Babe!) Anyway, yesterday after I had explained to Mr. Lex how important it is for him to listen AND obey the veil was lifted, OK more like yanked, from my eyes. Do I listen AND obey my Heavenly Father? DUH?????????? I try, really hard, but I can not and do not alway listen AND obey. And as Christians we must do both. You see you can hear it and carry it around in your head and think about it and never put it into action, whether it is sin that needs to be dealt with or an assignment the Lord has for you. You can also be flappin' your mouth (oh yeah, thats me) telling the Lord everything, like He doesn't already know it, that you do not give him a chance to speak or reveal things to you. LISTENING and OBEYING! You see this is how you grow in your relationship with the Lord and strengthen your spiritual walk. While the things being asked of you may be painful, the Lord will be with you. Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. Hebrews 5:8

He told his disciples "teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20. There it is! He WILL be with you!

So lets try to be better listen-ers AND obey-ers because that is what He is calls us to do!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? I do, ALOT! I sometimes get so bogged down by "whys" and "what ifs" that I get myself into a trap of thinkin' and at times it can be hard to get out of. Today I was reminded by Psalms 139 that the Lord has OUR whole lives mapped out and that we need not be worried about the "whys" and "what ifs". All we need to do is seek the Lord and HE will guide us. He has everything worked out for us. We are looking through the keyhole of a life that has already been set out for us; we think we know what we need and want but do we really??
You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Psalms 139:5
What comfort! Psalms 139 is full of encouragement that the Lord knows everything about us, of course he made us, and He wants to bless us! Let us be overjoyed and not overwhelmed!

Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! 20 They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. 21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? 22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

This is all NEW too me!

So many people are keeping in touch and encouraging others! I hope that the Lord will use me to bless someone!