Free Will..Who Holds Who Accountable??? Who are You Holding?

As we have studied God does not have a problem with accountability, forgiveness, change or charity.  He tells us we are accountable for so many things - awareness, trying to the best of our understanding, seeking more understanding in all things toward Him, others and our own inner and outer workings.  When we do this we will be changed by the renewing of our minds moment by enlightened moment.  This enlightened transformation leads to true giving without a thought of our self. 

This is our highest calling and the cause for all things that happen toward us, into us, through us and pouring out of us.  This is what He chooses to be united with and the reason we must be separated to move into his presence in harmony.  So.....knowing that you are an instrument in His harmony, what is your tune?  Have you looked at the piece of music He is orchestrating today.  Watch the conductors hand and follow. 

Write about it this weekend.  I will post some things to spur creative thinking.

My love to each of you - I posted Os Hillmans devotion today for us to think on.

See you soon,
Candace

The Value of Words

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

"And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." - Matthew 5:36-37

Imagine for a moment that you are living in Jesus' time. It is before Jesus has begun His public ministry. He is a carpenter in your local town of Nazareth. You have asked Jesus to make a table for you. You're on a deadline and you must have it in a week. You agree on the price of $100 for the table and the date of one week for completion. A week later you arrive to pick up the table. You lay your money down on the table and Jesus says, "Mr. Johnson, I am sorry but the table is not ready. I ran into complications. Also, I can no longer honor the price I gave you. It is now $150 instead of $100."

Two years later you hear about this same Jesus who is preaching to the local townspeople. How are you going to view this Jesus? You probably won't give much credence to His message because of your personal experience. Our lives have an ability to reinforce the message we stand for, or they can violate it and make it totally ineffective. This literally happens all over the world in different settings with Christian workplace believers. Our message becomes ineffective because we have not done what we said.

I know people who, when they tell me they plan to do something, I can expect them to follow through about 50 percent of the time. I am sure you have had the same experience. Words and commitments are made with little meaning behind those words. However, I know others who will follow through almost every time. The only time they don't is when something falls outside their control. I quickly learn whose words have substance behind them.
There are times when we are unable to perform or deliver what we promised due to outside influences. The key to turning these potentially negative circumstances into a witness for Christ is communication. If we are unable to pay a bill on time, we must communicate with those we owe and make a good faith effort to resolve it within our means. In these cases, God's purposes are being performed as well if we seek to do the right thing.

Do your words mean anything to those who hear them? Do you make commitments and fail to follow through on them? What would others say about how you follow through? Ask the Lord today to show you how you are doing in this area. You might even want to ask three people who are the closest to you how you fare in this area.

Just A Day -

This day has gotten away from me girls.

I have been working on some of the things we spoke about yesterday.  There is quiet an orchestration of events going on in our midst.  The winds of change are blowing.  Stand up and out; feel the wind blow your hair and allow it to carress your cheeks.

Today, I send a poem and my love,
In Christ,
Candace


The Window




Me inside, the elements out,
The pane of glass, between.
The rain pelting down
From swift moving forms
With weight, so clear, to see.

Desire for the wet to singe my face,
and run down as tears I can’t release.

The pane before me stops
Those precious moisture drops.
So I sit, and watch, no emotion is drawn.
Oh, to be that glass,
To feel the wind and the rain,
And to pass through, even, to the other side.

Do I dare take a chance,
Open up to the storm,
Or stay safe, in my home, element-free?

The pleasure of the rain,
That sensation, beyond the singe...
The sinking, deep cool I pursue
Overcoming the heat, experiencing comfort, at last.

The breeze which moves
The clouds in, through, and past
To swaddle my freshly washed flesh.
To sit in, and see, feeling trapped, to live life,
As I watch, every element, passing by.

This moment has passed
And the rain's letting up,
The brightness, of the sun, breaking through,
Too bright to look out,
So I turn my face in,
Close my eyes, and think of the day
When all will be done
And my Savior will come
To release what's been holding me down.

My peace comes from Him
No matter the day
The time or the season I'm in.

My skin, He will cool
And my tears, He knows well,
There’s no need, or desire, to show
My pain to this world.
We all have our hurts,
It's encouragement we need,
The strength, to get through this day.
So again I lay low
To lift up my pain,

And the pain of the others I know.
Our God sees what we face

And our hearts, He protects
He’s our warrior, physician and friend.
Today, when you hear,
Do not harden, your heart,
As you did, in those earlier years
By Candace Huffmaster©