Change is in the air.....

Hello friends,

The past year, well, the past three years, have been full of changes in my life. I am a little weary and in need of some rest.

Back in the summer, I began writing my 2 lists:

- The things God wants me to do;

- The things other people think God wants me to do.

You know what I found out? We as Christians, with good and bad intent, love playing God in each others lives. I have people guilty of doing that to me, and I have found myself guilty of doing that in others lives as well.

You know what else? I have been playing God in my own life.

So now it's the time when the rubber meets the road for this Christian. It's time to shut out the noise and listen to God. So, as change remains in the air, I am committing however long it takes to grow spiritually, bury myself in the Word, and search out that still small voice that God uses.

I am also going to take this time to learn how to be a better friend and be a Barnabas to others rather than a Pharisee.

I didn't like when others treated me this way; so I am going to evaluate how I treat others.

See, this remains true...change begins inside us. And I can tell you this much, not everyone in your life is going to accept change. The Pharisees will have you thinking you are going straight to Hell in a hand basket...

But the Barnabas in your life is going to embrace you, love you, and see that Jesus is the one true Guide that you have, and they are going to continue to point you straight to Him...

How have I started my change? By separating myself from the Pharisee in me, and the Pharisees in my life; and surrounding myself with each Barnabas that God has put in my path...

And with fervent study and prayer, I want God to change me from a Pharisee to a Barnabas.

Won't you join me?

It's just what's on my mind.

Darkness Into Light

This may be a surprise to some of you, but I suffer...no, struggle...no, um...well, I have a diagnosis of depression. I do suffer and I do struggle, but I don't want that to be my identity.

I was diagnosed in my early 20's and had a huge struggle over the years, until I got saved in 2006. The Lord then made me see how some things I was doing were not pleasing to him, and he started changing my heart.

Lately the darkness has been overwhelming...suffocating...dibilitating almost..and I have had to take a step back and evaluate my life. And I am missing the light. The main thing that I have had to do is make two lists:

- One list consists of the things the Lord wants me to do;

- The other list consists of the things that other people think the Lord wants me to do.

Yes, my friends, there is a difference.

And yes, my friends, it is okay to say NO :)

You see, as Christians we often find ourselves trying to be the Holy Spirit to other people, and we can often guilt them into doing ministries or tasks that the Lord has not released them to do. Then some things start to happen: the ministries that the Lord has called them to do suffer because there is not enough time to devote to everything; their time with the Lord suffers because there are too many tasks to do in a day; being away from time with Jesus takes away the Light; and soon they find themselves in darkness.

That's where I have found myself lately. I am overwhelmed; and some things need to go. That's why I am working on my two lists and praying about what I am supposed to continue to do and what I need to lay down.

Keith Green once said, "Don't get so caught up in the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work".

Is it time for you to lay some things down?

It's just what's on my mind.

Maybe I Just Need to Vent?

You ever feel like when you talk, this is all that comes out of your mouth? Nasty looking, isn't it?

As I look at myself and those around me, I see how often this mess comes out of our mouths. It doesn't always have to be profanity to be ugly; there are many words that we speak that are not acceptable in the eyes of God.

Being a Christian means we are called to be different; sometimes I look at myself and those around me and wonder how anyone sees any difference in us from the way the world acts. We gossip, we back bite, we slander, we concern ourselves with things that are none of our business, we tear down...we destroy.

Instead of bringing the Church out into the world, we are bringing the world into the Church.

We worry more about who has on what outfit, who is talking to whom, who looked at them crosseyed, who did or didn't speak to them this morning, whose cake or casserole was better...it's a song called "Me, Me, Me". I listen to those around me (and myself) who feel like the world and God owe them something and then stay angry because they haven't gotten it...we spit out vile hatred and feel like we are entitled to do so. We put on our Sunday faces for church and the rest of the week we live like we don't have a clue who God is. Jesus had something to say about that:

Matthew 23:27 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

We might think it looks good on the outside, but God sees the heart.

So, what's on my mind this morning is this - if we spend as much time and energy on our relationship with Jesus Christ as we do on all these previously mentioned things, the world would be full of Christians on FIRE for the Lord!! Here's some advice I'm giving myself this morning :

God has given me much more than I deserve, and He doesn't owe me anything but Hell. But because He loves me, He provided a way through His Son Jesus, that I not get what I deserve, but that my sins are covered by His precious blood. I need to be on my face before Him, thanking Him for saving me from sin. And now, He is changing me...I am not the person I was, but am resting in the Father and trusting that He is fulfilling His promise to make me more like His Son. Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ should be experiencing the same thing, and their lives should be changing as well.

We are called to be in the world, not of the world.

Paul struggled with this, saying that he often did the things he shouldn't do, and did not do the things he should...but he provided us with this counsel:


Romans 12: 1-3: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.


What do people see when they look into our lives? I don't know about you, but I want them to see more Jesus in mine...

It's just what's on my mind.

Where's Your Handprint?

This is a picture from one of the most awesome weekends I have ever had! CrossRoads (ok, Camp Little Cross Roads) 25th Anniversary Reunion. Saw some old friends, made some new friends, and laughed until I couldn't laugh anymore (yeah, Lori, I needed a posie pad LOL).

We were asked to put our handprint on the wall in the old Canteen (which is now the staff house) along with our names and the years we served at CLCR. It was neat to see all of them, the different colors and names and years...all the people who had served God on that mountain...who had worked together for His purposes.

I thought about the person I was then....and the person I am now. And how God used alot of those handprints to shape my life. The lessons He taught me through the hands of others. The love He showed me through the hands of others.

Then I thought about something else - where is my handprint missing? Is there somewhere my handprint should be that it's not? What am I failing to do in my relationship with the Lord, and my handprint is absent? Is it not showing up in my Bible study, my prayer life, my relationships, my witnessing, my church?

And another thought...am I missing including my handprint somewhere that God has called me to put it while trying desperately to make that mark somewhere else?

Think about your handprint:

- Married folks - is it missing from the heart of your husband/wife?

- Parents, is missing from the heart of your children?

- Children, is it missing from the heart of your parents? So much turmoil is going on in our families today, and it's because we are not putting our families in the place that God wants them to be.

Or are you too busy trying to make your mark somewhere else, that all they get are the smudgy leftovers, a faint impression that is almost unrecognizable?

Is the handprint you are trying to leave in ministry so large that it leaves no room for anyone else's?

Christians, is it missing from the heart of God? Because His handprint is surely on your heart. Or is He getting your smudgy leftovers because you are working so hard to try to please Him, that you are forgetting to spent time with Him? To seek His heart and fully give Him yours?

My prayer today is for each of us to have our handprints in the places that God has called them to be!

It's What's on my Mind this morning,

Melissa