Conformed or Transformed?

One summer day, a drought threatened the crop in a small town. On a hot and dry Sunday, the village parson told his congregation, "There isn't anything that will save us except to pray for rain. Go home, pray, believe, and come back next Sunday ready to thank God for sending rain." The people did as they were told and returned to church the following Sunday. But as soon as the parson saw them, he was furious. "We can't worship today. You do not yet believe," he said. "But," they protested, "we prayed, and we do believe." "Believe?" he responded. "Then where are your umbrellas?" The last 24 hours have been tough ones for me. I prayed, yes, but not with my umbrella in hand! Why is it that we pray half-heartedly? Why don't we expect God to to the impossible? He wants to bless us! He wants to give us the desires of our hearts! So, where's the faith? Today it's raining outside.....and inside. God answered pray...

A thankful heart is a happy heart! Yesterday I spent the day at home. Just Brian, Me and Andrew and Olivia. We sat around as a family doing NOTHING. It was a fantastic day! We have been so busy running that we needed the break and how blessed to be able to cook the Thanksgiving meal and eat it together. It sounds so simple, but sometimes it's the little things that bless us the most! Later last night we did go to the video store and rent some movies. We all piled on to our bed and watched it in our room. It was a good ending to a great day! Today we head to Midland, MI (about 2 hrs from here) to have dinner with my family and then tomorrow with Brian's family, but both should be pretty low key and allow us to continue in this slower pace of life for a bit. I am thankful for my family and for special times to slow down and remember how blessed I am.

Yesterday I was listening to the radio in my car. Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine" came on. I have heard it a million times and really like the song, but tears streamed down my face as it ministered to me in a different way this time. I listen to the song and imagine what it will be like in heaven....standing before the Lord. Wow. What a glorious moment! I can only imagine and it WILL be incredible. But what about today? I was overwhelmed with the awe that Jesus is with me here.....NOW....on earth. Every day. Every moment. Am I living my life now in awe of His presence? Am I living with the reality that I am surrounded by His glory? Do I allow His presence to penetrate and change the way I think, talk, and feel? Does it change the things I do, the way I interact with others, the places I go, and everything I do? Today, I will not only imagine what it WILL be like, but I will cherish what it IS like and allow it to transform me. I can only imagine What it will be like When ...

Romans 12:2 says "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will. I want my life to be pleasing to God. I want to be in His will. I want to know what His will is. But....the only way that can happen is by renewing my mind. So, what does that mean? According to the dictionary, renew means "to become new or as if new again" "to revive, reestablish". When I first became a Christian, everything I said and did revolved around what Christ did for me. I wanted to tell everyone. I was excited. I prayed and sought hard after God. My mind was focused....on HIM. It is essential that I renew my mind daily and make it new again......just like the first day of my salvation. This past week I had a family committment that I was not so excited to be a part of. I didn't want to go. I had a bad attitude and complained...

I am taking classes in the Wesleyan church for ordination. Most of the classes I take at FLAME (Fellowship of Leaders Aquiring Ministerial Education) Basically, I do a bunch of pre-work, go to school for a week and then have post work. It has been a great experience, despite how much studying I do. (Brian wonders if I am ever coming out of the den again) I recently went to North Carolina to study Wesleyan History and Discipline and also an Evangelism class. I have some amazing stories to tell. God was soo good. It's amazing what 40 minutes of quiet before the Lord can do for you! I get so busy talking to God and telling Him everything that I don't let Him get a word in edgewise....how sad. God suprised us all by some of the events that took place in our evangelism experience! My Professor for my classes, Mark Wilson, has a blogspot www.revitalizeyourchurch.blogspot.com that tells some of the stories of the week. I would love for you to read some of them...rather than me just r...

I have come to really enjoy the music of Aaron Schust. He helps me worship. Christ gave all for me. I want to give my all for HIM. You can hear the song on his web site . I think the words speak for themselves. Listen if you get a chance! Give It All Away Search my heart, search my mind, search my soul Make me clean, make me new make me whole All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before Your feet All of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to Your design 'Cause You are the one who can make my life complete You are the one who can give light to my feet You are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me You are my strength, You are my God, you are my King You make me laugh, You make me dance, You make me sing Everything inside, everything outside, I give it all away You never change, but You rearrange my heart more everyday

So today my daughter was sick. I called the Doctor and we got in this afternoon. She has strep throat. We decided to go to McDonalds for our "after the doctor treat" and though I wasn't sure it was the greatest of ideas, we proceeded and ordered some food. She smelled the food and puked. She leaned forward and let it all go on the floor mat. Then, she proceeded to say "Mommy, I'm so sorry I puked in your car!" And of course, as much as I hate puke and wasn't thrilled with it, I was more concerned about her. I just wanted her to get better. Minutes later she was asleep. What can I learn from this experience? When we are in a mess, we go to the Doctor (Jesus) and ask for His treatment plan. We leave and take the prescription AND indulge in the junk "food" that will make us sick. Then, when we get sick from those things that we think we want, we apologize to God and worry about the mess we just made. God is really more concerned about us and our h...

Romans 12:1-2 are some of my favorite verses in God's Word. I am supposed to live my life as a living sacrifice...one who is HOLY and PLEASING to God. I do this by not conforming to the world and allowing myself to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. First I look at the word "holy". Holy is being set apart for God's use. Set apart means I am just that....set apart. I am in the world, but not of it. I think differently, act differently, talk differently, AM different. The world says I need to look out for me and please me. Do what feels good and follow your heart. It's easy to get caught up in that, because it feels good at the moment. God says I need to put all of my focus on pleasing HIM and Him alone! I please God by not conforming to the pattern of the world, but by being transformed, and although possibly hard at the time, it has a long-term peace and it feels GREAT. Transformation starts in your mind in allowing God to penetrate every tho...