Twinkle..Twinkle

 

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky………

We wish and wish and sometime even “prayerfully wish” until we realize there is a higher force with the capacity to propel us. And that is hope. Hope is not realized when we can touch what we see. Hopes job is over when we have obtained. True Vision is where the pieces collectively come together and build within our heart and mind. Creating with clarity all details in order for us to be aware when we are in the presence of what we hoped for. Hope is the fuel or catalyst of perseverance.

Think about it……

Evidence of things hoped for…….How will they know if they have not been told

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Galatian 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again.

I love what Erwin McManus wrote in this chapter “Coming our of Nowhere” in Stand Against the Wind.

Romans 12:12 NCV Be joyful because you have hope, Be patient when trouble comes and pray at all times.

 

 

The quest for enlightenment leads us to the wisdom of God. Wisdom is forged through the crucible of Perseverance.

If Rome wasn’t build in a day, neither is character formed in one moment. There is a process in our becoming all that God created us to be. This is the human side of divine change. Transformation is both the miracle of God and the stewardship of man. Godliness is a result of both divine activity and human action. God promises to do what we cannot do for ourselves and He commands us to do that which He will not do for us. There is both miracle and responsibility. God entrusts us with His resources, and then He hold us accountable for what we do with them. It isn’t very difficult to see that we are not all the same. Some people seem to have gotten an overload when God was handing out talents; others seem less gifted. But be assured there is divine talent in you. It is both waiting to be unleashed and depending on your being a faithful steward with what you’ve been entrusted. While we may be unable to perceive it, the great things of God come out of the small acts of faithfulness. When He finds we can be trusted with small things, we then are given responsibility over bigger things. How we serve exposes how we would lead.

When we are Faithful, we are Trustworthy. The person who is unfaithful cannot be trusted. These tow characteristics are inseparable.

If a person does not achieve his or her God given potential, although we might consider it a tragedy we would never think of it as wickedness. But perhaps we should. After all, the servant in the parable of the talents was declared wicked when what he could have done was measured against what he did. Matthew 25:14-30

 

So in conclusion for today -

Think of perseverance as the key to the door that is locked before you….holding you back from what is on the other side.

Will you endure the struggle with the lock or will you just say, I can’t open it?

Just any shape key does not open the lock. Perseverance shapes our character….Our character is the shape of our future.

Just as the key has to be the correct shape – we also have to be shaped to fit our future (deep huh!)

If we do not have the correct shape, the lock does not open. Our frame work is the skeleton key. God is the iron worker, we are the iron he is shaping. Each door we come before he has to take time and effort to bend us to perfectly fit.

The same key does not open all doors. Each key, as each door lock, is special….just for us. If all keys and locks were the same, anyone could open our doors and receive the things in our store house.

Are we willing to be molded, bent, heated till He sees Him image reflected upon us? He tells us the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. “The implications of faithfulness cannot be overestimated and must not be underestimated.”

My prayer for us all today is that we will allow Him to painstakingly shape us so that we fit into what must be unlocked so all may come to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord….and be shaped to unlock…and so on…and so forth.

Twinkle Twinkle little star

Is there a key to what you are

Up above our world so high

Is your space, your time to fly

Twinkle twinkle little start

How he loves you as you are

My stanza to you all!

Kisses,

Candace

NoWhere....NowHere; it is all a state of mind and emphasis

We have been speaking about how Fear paralyses us. If you have not read "The Wind and A Stone" I suggest you go back and review it with this information. I have also included a brilliant section of Erwin McManus book "Stand Against the Wind".


I pray that Oswald Chambers and Erwin McManus inspire you to trust beyond your emotions; that you fight to reach a new level of maturity; that you feel the peace of Christ as you reach the other side a victor....through the grace, mercy and salvation of Christ.

It is in Him, that I request this, knowing it is His will.

Candace

Fear Of The Unknown

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called . . . . And he went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8

Has God ever asked you to do something that seemed unreasonable? Something that took you into the territory of the unknown? What if He asked you to refuse a long-awaited promotion or resist a longed-for relationship? What if He called you to a remote part of the world or asked you to release your children to serve Him in a faraway place?

The unknown is full of haunting “what ifs.” Yet God often calls us to chart unknown territory as we follow Him. Obeying His commands to forgive, to give away our treasures, or to give up things that provide security and pleasure often leave us in the scary territory of unknown outcomes.


Imagine how Abraham felt when God asked him to move his whole family without telling him where they were going (Gen. 12:1-3). God also asked Abraham to persevere—to stay in an unknown land even when the lure of past comforts may have threatened to seduce him and his family back to their comfort zone in Ur.

Entering a new year is like entering uncharted territory. The fear of the unknown could cripple our capacity to follow God’s leading through the days ahead. Yet, like Abraham, when we cling to the One who knows all things, we’re in good hands—regardless of where He leads. — Joe Stowell

Many things about tomorrow

I don’t seem to understand;

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand. —Stanphill

Never be afraid to entrust the unknown future to the all-knowing God.

              __________________________________________________________________

Coming out of Nowhere – Erwin McManus

 Be joyful because you have hope, Be patient when trouble comes and pray at all times. Romans 12:12 NCV

The quest for enlightenment leads us to the Wisdom of God Wisdom is forged through the crucible of Perseverance.

If Rome wasn’t build in a day, neither is character formed in one moment. There is a process in our becoming all that God created us to be. This is the human side of divine change. Transformation is both the miracle of God and the stewardship of man. Godliness is a result of both divine activity and human action. God promises to do what we cannot do for ourselves and He commands us to do that which He will not do for us. There is both miracle and responsibility. God entrusts us with His resourses, and then He hold us accountable for what we do with them. It isn’t very difficult to see that we are not all the same. Some people seem to have gotten an overload when God was handing out talents; others seem less gifted. But be assured there is divine talent in you. It is both waiting to be unleashed and depending on your being a faithful steward with what you’ve been entrusted. While we may be unable to perceive it, the great things of God come out of the small acts of faithfulness. When He finds we can be trusted with small things, we then are given responsibility over bigger things. How we serve exposes how we would lead.


When we are Faithful, we are Trustworthy. The person who is unfaithful cannot be trusted. These tow characteristics are inseparable.

If a person does not achieve his or her God given potential, although we might consider it a tragedy we would never think of it as wickedness. But perhaps we should. After all, the servant in the parable of the talents was declared wicked when what he could have done was measured against what he did. Matthew 25:14-30
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When  I read this I thought of the door of challenge, the door of opportunity and what it takes to unlock those doors.....it takes a key and and expectancy.

Think of perceverance as the key to the door that is locked before you….holding you back from what is on the other side. Will you endure the struggle with the lock or will you just say, I can’t open it. Just any shape does not open the lock, perceverance shapes our character….Our character IS the shape of our future. If we do not have the correct shape, the lock does not open. Our frame work is the skeleton key. God is the iron worker, we are the iron he is shaping. Each door we come before he has to take time and effort to bend us to perfectly fit, the same key does not open all doors. Each key as each door lock is special….just for us. If all keys and locks were the same, anyone could open our doors and receive the things in our store house. Are we willing to be molded, bent, heated till He sees Him image reflected upon us? He tells us the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. “The implications of faithfulness cannot be overestimated and must not be underestimated.” - quote by Erwin McManus

Candace