Chrismas is over.....2012 is near...does it even seem possible.?????

Audrey Christmas Morning.....

Audrey Christmas Eve Night.....She always opens up pj's on Christmas Eve

Are you winterized?

Today I was going through some things and I don't think that I have ever shared this devotion that I wrote back last year here on my blog but thought it would be good to share again even if I did.....

….in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me. Philippians 4:11-13

Over the course of last week I realized what the true meaning of winter was…watching on TV at the news at the states in the North and seeing all the snow they had gotten I just couldn’t imagine being out in it as we were here. I realized that if it helps to wear layer of clothes and get all bundled up before going out in the snow to keep warm. I am just thankful that our six inches of snow only comes as often as it does. To a lot of people in the North it is normal to wear several layers of clothing on any given day to just stay warm. It is normal to them to have to shovel the snow out of their driveway in order to get out, scrape ice off of their windows each time they get in the car, and all the other things that go along with snow, ice, and winter.

In our spiritual lives, we all have "winters" too and we have to winterize for them in order to face them. When winter comes it is a time of bleak and dark dreary days. We must face the fact that winter can be hard and trials are hard. Just like the season of winter, our spiritual "winters" can leave us discouraged, lonely, and depressed.

There are some things that can make the cold of our winter very intense. We need to winterize and guard against them.

· When we are going through trials and hardships, we sometimes tend to let our guard down and it's so easy for worldly influences to take over in our lives. It seeps through the cracks around the doors and windows just like the winter air. It may be the influence of friends, music, or just worldly thinking. It all can work overtime on us as we face trials in our lives. We've got to dig out the caulk and weather stripping and block those cracks and holes. Using God's Word is the best way to do this. If we have it in our hearts, it can help stop the winter air of the world from seeping into our lives. Psalm 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

· During the winter it is easy to develop a bad attitude. It doesn't take much at all for some of us. In comes the dreary days, the cold and chill, and drip...drip...we have formed those icicle attitudes. We become cranky and out of sorts with our family and anyone who we come in contact with. We also tend to complain more about anyone and anything.
When we are in the midst of a trial we sometimes automatically go into icicle attitude mode. We don't have any fellowship with anyone to help encourage us through our trial because who wants to be around us? We have to remember that no one else can fix our bad attitudes. Only we can do that. It's not easy either to adjust your attitude during a "winter" because the weight of that ice is bearing down on us. I've found that the simplest way to start working on adjusting a bad attitude is to take a step back and just remember who God is and who we are not."Be still, and know that I am God:" Psalm 46:10

· Winter can bring so many things along with it. Blizzards being one of the worst as the effects it leaves is so devastating. Circumstances in our lives can also be devastating. Bills mount up. Family members get sick or some might even die. Relationships get sour, and many other circumstances weigh down on us until we think we can't go on because we can't see what's down the road. I think that during these times we need to remember that God sees the outcome. He's our Potter and we are the clay.
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold Job 23:10

· Better bundle up because if you are going through a trial, then depression is going to come nipping at your heels sooner or later. Just like the dark and bleak days of winter have a depressing effect on us; trials seem to frost our lives with depression. The problem is that when we are in the midst of a "winter", it is so easy to just let it nip away at us. There's no easy way out of depression but keeping our lives in tune with God can help guard against it. Regular personal devotions and a time with God each day can go a long way in dealing with it. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. Psalm 55:17

Prepare Your Winter Emergency Kit

I am sure the people living in the North have to prepare for winter, the severe cold; in order to prepare there are things needed to endure the winter. As Christians, when our "winters" and trials come into our lives we must learn to prepare for them as well. Here are a few basic things we should have on hand.

· Non Perishable Food—Scripture –Memorized scripture can help more than anything.

· Extra blankets and warm clothing – Fellowship – Having fellowship with other believers strengthen us. We need their love, support, and prayers.

· Drinking water – Christ- The Living Water – Bottle water in a winter emergency is a must. We need it to survive. We need Christ and His Word to live. Relying on Him will keep us from a parched existence. Drink in His love, His promises, His blessings, and His strength. Looking to Him in the face of our trials and circumstances will help see us through our "winter".

· Emergency Candles, or Flashlights – God’s Guidance- The electricity may go out because of the weight of snow and ice on the power lines so we always need a light source to have on hand. God's guidance is our light source. We can't get through our daily lives, let alone our "winters" without following God's direction and leading. Staying sensitive to God's leading will keep us going in the right direction and will help us to see a little more clearly.

We will all have "winters" in our lives, but choosing how we deal and prepare for them can make all the difference in the world.

Audrey- 14 yrs old - New Pictures!

Prayer!

Today as I was coming back from lunch I was listening to the radio and not even sure what channel it was on but the topic was prayer. How much do you pray? That sentence was kind of convicting. The man said you know we all say that we pray and we may do it going along about our day. Some are sitting at desk working and some are in a bucket 100 ft in the air doing their job but they can still pray he said but I don't mean this as a simple question. How much do you really pray? I know you may be thinking well my prayer goes through weather I am up in a bucket 100 ft in the air or weather I am sitting at a desk it makes no difference, those prayers can be powerful but I do believe when the scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14 states If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. The man on the radio said this scripture to me means..do you seek him? do you get on your face? do you praise him even when things might not be just going the exact way you want them to?

When I heard this it became a little convicting to me. There have been times I have spent hours on my face before the Lord and I can look back and those were times I was seeing things happen that I was asking God to do. I really begin to think about Prayer meetings...a few years back my friend was choir director at a church we were attending at the time she called prayer meeting on Monday Nights there was probably 20-25 people in the choir and out of that many people there was only about 4 counting myself and my friend that was truly faithful in coming every Monday Night to pray. This wasn't a 5 or 10 minute prayer there were some nights we were there 2, 3, and even sometimes 4 hours praying God came down and we seen results from those prayer meetings. It seems now everyone has got to busy in life to worry about prayer. If we get 10 minutes in a day before we start the day or before we end the day we think that we have done a great job. Where as the concern gone for the lost people in this world? are we to worried bout self to worry about those that are hurting, or dying and going to hell.

You know sometimes I suspect that people believe in prayer, they know the promises God has made, they have even read and heard stories about answered prayers, but they still use prayer sparingly. In my own opinion I believe that most of the time the reason this happens is that many doesn't understand how prayer works, and may believe that it doesn't matter weather they pray or not. They either believe that God's gonna do, what God's gonna to do anyway so why waste their time? or they take prayer as their last resort and after everything else has failed, they'll pray a little bit, but in their hearts they don't view prayer as making an impact on the decisions they make everyday.

In the book of Daniel we can read Daniel didn't pray that way. He prayed three times a day, he prayed in his room, in the lion's den, he prayed for wisdom, guidance, and he prayed that God would forgive the sins of His people of Israel and return them to their homes. Then if you read on in Daniel you will find him struggling in prayer for 21 days because he is troubled by a dream that he has had. Would Christians today have a hard time praying for 21 days straight? It is something to think about. We ought to always pray and not give up. In Daniel 10:12 it reads.....Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

When you pray you turn loose the very powers of heaven, you have the power to battle the very forces of the darkness, and angels are willing to fight to answer your prayers.

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 14:1 - when you pray angels are at your beck and call.

Why should we pray and not give up? so many times we pray for our loved ones and we think that it is doing no good at all and we begin to think well why should I continue to pray....
We should always pray and not give up, not because God is hard of hearing, or not because he need to be pestered into answering our request, and not because he doesn't want to answer our request. He teaches us to always pray and not give up because when we pray, our prayers carry weight. Every time we pray we unleash more and more power from the throne of God. Every time we pray for that loved one to get saved it puts more and more pressure on them to listen to God. Sometimes we may pray for our friends that are going through struggles, every prayer we pray imparts them more and more power from God.
Prayer is not a passive act on our part it is an aggressive, active ministry.
We may have all heard the phrase PUSH Pray until something happens and sometimes if we can just remember this simple phrase it will be a reminder to us to pray more.

Just a little of what is on my heart today...Pray it is a blessing to someone be blessed!!!!