Forever For His Glory

Let me begin by saying this: that if God had let me live in the muddy mire for all of my life, and then sent me to hell for my sins, God would have been perfectly righteous and just to do so. I do not deserve anything. But God and the way He loves. It all began with a phone call last Monday afternoon. “Do you want to go to the International House of Prayer on Thursday?” The International House of Prayer (IHOP) is located in Kansas City, Missouri, and they facilitate 24/7 praise and prayer, which they have been doing for 14 years. My friend and her mom were going up to Kansas City because my friend was going to be in Youth With A Mission’s Intimacy 2 Impact Discipleship Training School for 3 months, which happens to be about a mile down the road from IHOP. The call was a direct answer to my mom’s prayer that she had prayed the day before the call - that she could see how IHOP facilitates prayer so that she could organize a 48 hour prayer where we live. I didn...

Once upon a time, there was a little sister that adored her older brothers. She wanted to go everywhere with them, and hung on their every word. One day, one of her brothers was in a rather grouchy/sour mood, and as she casually remarked about a certain woman singer that they didn't like, her brother snapped, "Well, she sings better than you ." You could have heard a pin drop. The little girl gasped at such a comment and became silent as she tried to hold back tears. Her whole world had just been turned upside down. She loved singing. She grew up singing in choir with the same above brother, and could often be found singing merrily through the house. But all that changed in an instant. All because of six words. She never was the same again. And I should know, because that little girl was me. In an instant, all of my fears were manifested. I had always been terrified that I didn't sing well, and people just told me that I did because th...

Sensitivity can be a plague sometimes. Women are naturally sensitive and I have apparently been given and extra measure of it. Some ways it’s handy and other times it’s horrid. I am able to connect with people easily because I pick-up on their emotions, and I’m able to get them to talk because of it. But, I also pick-up on their anger and displeasure, and I guess I like to please people too much. One harsh(ish) word and I can burst into tears. “How could they say that ?” It can be quite a challenge sometimes. I tend to play things over-and-over again in my head. “What did I do wrong? What could I have done better to not make them angry/displeased?” Yet, that thinking is very selfish. “Why did they do that to me ? Do they enjoy making me feel miserable? They don’t understand me . I’m uncomfortable with what they said. It hurt my feelings.” Which only comes back to pride and the breaking of the 2nd commandment from an inordinate view of self. Since when did I become so import...