10.5.11

Colossians 2:6-7 And now, just as you accepted Jesus Christ as your lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down in to him, and let your lives be built on him.  Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you  will overflow with thankfulness.

My Thoughts

This is the Bible verse we need to teach to new Christians.... it is something I missed out on somehow for years and years.  Somewhere there is a disconnect between asking Jesus into your heart and learning to follow him...learning how to get your roots to grow deep down into God. I know lots of people that have been saved, that are going to heaven... but there are few I know that really get this part. I didn't get this part. Even when I went to Sunday School regular...somewhere I missed out on how to have a relationship with God.  Being saved saves our soul, we get to go to heaven...having a relationship with God saves our lives here on earth.  What it can do for you is amazing!!

Let me tell you the difference in my life... between being saved and growing in Jesus...  I was saved when I was 9... and over the years I would drift in and out of Church....I would re-dedicate my life to God...and each time I missed out on the part of  how to grow...I am sure preachers preach it... but nobody in my life, nobody ever sat me down and said "Now if you read and study your Bible every day that will change you. That is how you get to know, truly know God." Nobody told me that I now had the Holy Spirit living inside me to guide me, to let me know when I was doing right and to let me know when I was doing wrong. Most important I didn't understand just how much God loves me!..Little ol, make a million mistakes me! I just didn't get it.  I prayed... forgive me of my sins... I prayed be with my children...I prayed please be with the sick.  I prayed those things I was suppose to pray... but I prayed at God not exactly to God... I surly didn't talk with God. All along I was trying to do my best, and I was often giving up. I read Bible stories to my children and told them what I understood about God. But there was just so much I didn't know!!!! I suffered depression and anxiety for years... I have a wonderful husband, and  wonderful kids, all in my life was good. But still I suffered...something was missing from my life.  God was there all along I just didn't know how to access him.

Then my son, who "got God" somehow...who know how to talk to God...my son who could quote Bible verses from a pretty young age, put a One Year Bible in my hands. I love this Bible ...it has a bit of Old Testament, a bit of New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs for every day of the year.  When your son gives you a Bible that is all laid out so you can read it thought  you commit yourself to doing so.  That is what I did... on January 1st just after Christmas I picked up my Bible and started to read, each day I read.  At first I was utterly confused..then I begin to understand and my prayers changed... then God put somebody in my path that invited me to a weekly Bible study... I was liking this Bible reading, my prayers were changing and some days I was actually understanding what I was reading. Somewhere along the way I started writing about just a little part of what I read each day.  Then God started speaking to me about my thoughts about those verses. I can start out to write one thing and end up with something totally different that what my beginning thoughts were.  I began to see changes in my prayer, I was talking to God not at God...and I was beginning to feel the Holy Spirit inside me leading me and guiding me. At first it was a faint whisper...now I hear!! The more I read, the more I understood the more I called on God... the more I noticed when he answered.  The more faith I had to call on God. The more I read the more I understood.  The Bible tells us all the time to seek wisdom..and it tells  us when we seek wisdom we will understand.  The more I read and pray the more I understand!  It is amazing! Truly amazing how it has changed my life. Today's verse tells us that we will overflow with thankfulness.  I actually find myself waking up in the middle of the night thanking God for all he has done for me!!... Joy!!... I use to have moments of joy...like when you get married, or have a baby...when your child learns something new.  Now I have days full of joy!  Amazing joy.  The more I understand God and his great plan for my life the more my heart grows!!!.. I am free of panic and depression..and when I get anxious I am able to use God's word against that anxiety and have it gone in minutes... it use to last for days.  I love the world...I love people.... I am not afraid.  I understand what it means to hide God word in my heart so that I won't sin. God's word changes you!! You have to stick with it...and do it daily... even if it is just a verse or two... but it will change you in amazing ways. 

My dream is to tell people how to grow roots in God.  How to change their life once they choose to be saved.  I have been preached at by people, well meaning but very condemning in my life.  I have been pushed away by people that "Love God." My dream is to show people how much God loves them... how much God wants them to have a wonderful life...and tell them how to go about doing it.  I was told once that I must not know God if I had anxiety... it was said to me like I was a bad person. How could I go to God with my anxiety if that meant I was a bad person.   What I want people to know is that God cares about their troubles, and their anxiety. I want people to know that God will teach you how to be a better person...you don't have to be good to know God... you just have to know God... God will then put the desire in your heart to be good.... God tells us how... God gives us strength... it is all there for the taking... we just have to learn how to ask for it... we have to learn how to know God.  My experience is pick up your Bible and read and read and read...surround yourself with people that love God...learn from what they know.... your life will change in amazing ways! 

Today my heart fells often like it will explode with love!! Just explode.  I pick up my Bible each day with excitement at what I will learn.  Each day I learn something...each day I find more to put into practice.  I am not always good at it... some things I have to keep working at...and keep asking God to help me...but I get a little better at being the person God wants me to be each day.  Each day my joy, my peace grows.... when I mess up instead of hiding from God I run to God and say "God I messed up!!, Please forgive me, please help me do better next time." Then God helps me do better. God hugs my heart and tells me he is proud I am growing.  God's love is only limited to the places I place the limits... I have l am learning every day to remove the stop signs I put in the way of God and my life.

If you were here with me and ask me if God loves you? I would take your face in my hands and tell you with tears in my eyes. "God loves you so much, more than you can even imagine!" ... "God forgives you... God wants to help you love him!" ...I would beg you to promise me and mean it ... to read your Bible every day...I would say "This is God's word, it lives!!  It has great power... the power in this book is mean for you to use for good. This will grow your roots so deep in God and so deep in God's love that you will never ever want to be without it."  "This Book will make you understand just how much God loves you and he loves you so much!!" "I love you too...and I want you to feel what I feel today!"