Taking refuge in the Lord, living by the Holy Spirit

During prayer today, I was reminded of what taking refuge in the Lord looks like. It's standing in God's shadow, letting Him be the barrier between us and the beating heat, the trials. (Psalm 91:1,2)

God is also like an umbrella that protects us from the beating down, pouring wet rain. We have to go to Him to block the storm, protect us from the cold, harsh storms and trials of life.

This is why we need to pour our hearts to Him, pour out our need for more faith. Even the Apostles needed to ask for more faith....Luke 17:5. God can give us the ability to have more faith, trust, and belief. We have to meditate on Hebrews 11:1 - We have to believe in God's sovereignty, His love, and His plan for us.

We have to stop trying to figure out stuff separate from God.

Imagine being legally blind and the need for prescription/optometrist bona fide glasses...without the glasses you can't see far ahead of you, running into stuff, running over people....That's us without the Holy Spirit. We can't see where we're going! The Holy Spirit is what gives us vision to see what we need to. We can see things and hear things when we allow ourselves to be completely led by the Holy Spirit.

There are many people walking around without their glasses on. And there are the unsubmitted believers, they're the legally blind with the dollar store magnifying glass...they can kinda see stuff, but they're not seeing everything! They see just enough to think they know what's going on, but because they don't have the full strength prescription, the full strength of the Holy Spirit, they are missing out on so much.

We have to have the Holy Spirit, we have to walk by the Holy Spirit, we have to walk by the POWER of the Holy Spirit. We grow strong in the Spirit by following the convictions...ignoring the Spirit strengthens your flesh.

Be sure to take refuge in the Lord by staying in His shadow, let Him be your covering, and wear the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to see and hear God!

For more encouragement in the Lord, check out my other BedHead Devotionals found on YouTube, where I share my walk with the Lord, pretty transparently so that you can see how to hear God's voice and that He truly still speaks to us!

Here's today's video that goes along w/ today's blog post! God bless you as you pursue Him and aspire to know Jesus more!!!!

Be faithful....to Him!

My eyes see the world, too lazy to change,

My heart is despairing in this day and age.

Peer pressure, affairs, alcohol and drugs,

Have taken the place of true friendships and love.

So many worshiping their things and their faces,

Spouses and kids’ hearts left empty, vacant spaces.

So many things with so little time,

Relationships are what we choose to sacrifice.

Times need to change and not get our best,

It’s our hearts, minds, and attention we need to invest.

 

God forgive us for serving only ourselves.

God forgive us for leaving our Bibles on the shelves.

Open our hearts to Your love and our ears to Your voice,

Let grace fall from above, help us make the right choice.

 

Thank you Lord in advance, for helping us to change,

Help us let go of our first loves, despite the pain.

 

Lord, give us this day - our daily bread,

And help us trust what Your Word says.

 

Take our lives and make them new,

Help us be ready and faithful to only You!

By Jennifer Morin, August 30, 2012


Interesting that I wrote this poem before I read Luke 12:22-40:

²² Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life^[b]? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵ “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. ³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

I wish you believed....

Have you ever found an amazing thing? A great product...something that once you tried it wholeheartedly and witnessed the amazingness of it, you were convinced that you were deprived up to the moment you found it...and that you will never be without it again...and you want everyone you know to have it too?

What was it?

Did you tell your friends about it when they came over? Did they go out and get one?
Did you let your mom try it out, your dad? Do they have one? How 'bout your brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, cousin, grandma, grandpa, neighbor, best friend?

I am one of those people. If I find something that is proof positive everything it claims to be and it is amazing and life-transforming, I shout it from the rooftops.

If you read my stuff, you know where I'm going with this right?

The best thing I've ever came across was the story of Jesus Christ. Eleven years ago I heard of the most amazing opportunity. The best thing I bought into and have never cashed in for my 30-day money back guarantee.

The amazing, life-transforming part about His story is that it's really real...when you just believe.

NOTE: Faith is not skepticism.

I have some friends here and there who say they gave Jesus a chance...but they didn't do it WHOLEHEARTEDLY with FAITH...and WITHOUT SKEPTICISM. So quite frankly, they didn't give Him a fair chance...they didn't quite believe.

I would love to sit down and have coffee with those friends of mine and tell them something like the following (with duct tape over their mouths to avoid a debate and a rebuttal because that's not my heart or intentions.):

I wish you believed...I really do.
I wish you believed that I am not a liar.

I wish you believed I'm not trying to convert you to something that will rip your life off and waste your time. I wish you believed that I truly do care about you and where you will be for eternity.

I wish you believed what the Bible said is true and that it had ultimate authority in your life (...oh how simple life can be if you just stick to God's opinion on stuff ).

I wish you believed Jesus is who He says He is, and I wish you believed all the accounts of people who witnessed His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection...and the witnesses who saw His pierced hands.

I wish you believed that an amazing almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent God created you into the unique masterpiece that you are....and that you're not a fluke by-product of ocean matter or apes evolving.

I wish you believed that God made you in His image to love you and have a day by day connection of relationship with you.

I wish you believed that Jesus is the truth, the life, and the way.

I wish you believed me when I said that the entire story of Jesus Christ is real, and the very fact that I can hear God's voice and you could too transcends any self-serving, self-elevating, man-made religion.

I wished you believed that I care so much about you that I am telling you the truth!

That's what I would say. I am so concerned for so many around me who really truly believe in their own thing. 'As long as I do good'....they say. See it's not that easy.

We all can't do good 100% of the time. Think about it: are your thoughts, words, actions 100% perfect & good...100% of the time?

It's not this life I'm living for. It's eternity. What I believe today will impact me later and forever.

I'm not sure why people just can't believe with a pure heart that Jesus is God and God is pure. He won't hurt you. People who are fallen and not perfect will...but God won't.

Jesus is so purely love and forgiveness, grace and mercy for those who believe in Him. It's amazing - the story of what Jesus did for us on the cross! And it's for everyone to believe!

I wished you believed...

We are free!

It is Christ who set you free,
So now stand up and just believe.

Your words of faith don't match your actions,
Your fear and disbelief show no anticipation.

For we are called to walk by faith,
and move by the unseen,
Yet when some do just this,
they're called crazy, unwise, and near insane. 

Who would pack up their entire life in faith to move,
Those who walk by the Spirit to follow Christ -
And so should you!

So sad His followers are known best for their judgment,
Called critical, hypocrites, superficial, and so discontent.

There's too many who are not 'saved',
Who are so much better well-behaved.

You say, 'Hey, leave me alone, I'm forgiven - you should know we live by grace',
Though this is true, let me remind you:
When people look at you, they should see Jesus Christ's face!

We all need to try harder,
We all need to walk stronger.
Although not by our own strength, might or power,
But this is your warning - we're at the final hour.

He said, "Apart from me you can do nothing",
The Word says, "Through Christ I can do all things".

So close the wide gap between you and Him,
Get to know the real God, please let Him in.

The world is looking to us for mercy, hope and love,
If they see it in us, they'll want to know our Father above.

So let Him change the way you think, feel and act;
Let Him guide your words - please let them see,
Despite their lack of knowledge - He sits on the throne,
We all are truly subject to His mighty sovereignty.

So crucify your flesh, get out of YOUR way -
Let God guide your ship, do to what His words say.

Pick up your cross and follow Him,
And show them what it means, to be free in Him.

They're looking for answers, they're looking to you,
Love Christ first, and show them it's true.

He loves them and longs for their hearts,
That's why He's equipped you and set you apart.

Love Him, live for Him, and show them we are free,
Open the door and let them in, for you hold the key.

Written by Jennifer Morin
July 4, 2012 - 7 a.m.

Happy Indepedence Day!!!!!

John 20:1-31 - Believing or Disbelieving?

I turned to the Book of John 20 in my Bible today...the title of that section reads "Jesus Rises from the Dead". And that's why Easter is a great celebration for the believing.

Today is why I am who I am.

Jesus Christ is alive - resurrected from the dead...

He overcame death - just like that!

As I read through this chapter, four 'characters' stood out to me today as I read of Jesus' first day of resurrection.

In verse 4 it speaks of Peter and the other disciple running together. The other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter. I love that he was running faster. He was running with great anticipation. Probably with joy, hoping what he was told of Jesus was true, expecting the tomb to be empty.

Go down to verse 8: "So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed". He saw nothing....He saw that Jesus was risen and gone, and so he believed. His great anticipation was met with confirmation!

In verse 11 we meet Mary Magdalene. She stood outside of the tomb weeping. She had great faith before, but now she was mourning...read of her disbelief in verse 13, "...they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him". Her words did not display faith that He had risen.

This reminds me of people who are so focused on the death of the Christ and do not acknowledge that He is risen. There comes a point that we have to turn our attention from the death to the resurrection. Although, it's by His death we are saved and forgiven of our sin...but that's not the end of the story, so we can't stop there!

Even in verse 14 Mary did not realize Jesus was standing in front of her...not until He called her by name in verse 16: Jesus said to her, "Mary!"...then after 'seeing Him' she tried to cling to Him.

Next, in verse 19, we meet 'the disciples' behind locked doors, fearing the Jews. Think about it. This was the group who had followed Jesus throughout His ministry, but now their leader was 'gone'. Who would protect them now?

This is a group of people that I hope I don't find myself in the midst of. I do not want to fear those who do not believe in Christ. I do not want to fear perscecution. I do not want to fear ridicule for my faith in Christ!

I want to stand up boldly for Who I believe in!

And our fourth character is Thomas. He's the "Unless I see His hands...I will not believe" guy. Oh, I am sad for those who refuse to believe in Christ without 'seeing Him'. Jesus knew what Thomas had said and appeared to Thomas, saying "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands...". In verse 27 Jesus said, 'do not be unbelieving, but believing'....Then Thomas believed & confirmed his faith with: "My Lord & my God" (verse 28).

Who are you? Which character are you?

1. The other disciple
2. Mary Magdelene
3. the 'disciples'
4. Thomas

What is so wonderful when you read this chapter is that Jesus appeared to the disbelieving characters: Mary, the group of them with fear, and Thomas. Despite their disbelief, He was still gracious and revealed Himself to them.

Maybe you're disbelieving today...maybe you hope Jesus is real, but you're not sure or willing to take a chance. God will reveal Himself to you - just ask Him to.

But think about what verse 29 says:

"...Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed".

That's who I want to be. That's who I am! I believe what the Bible says, I do not have to see a thing. I want the unconditional love and forgiveness the Bible says Jesus offers and so I accept what the Bible says throughout....And God greets my faith with salvation.

"...these thing have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and

that believing you may have life in His name".

John 20:31

That's who I am....the believing!!!  Won't you join me?

Note: all verses taken from the NASB.

We choose....

We choose our life.
Some choose to be the victim, some choose to be the victor.
Others choose to resign to the easy way out.
Others cannot decide.


We choose the advice we will follow.
Some choose wisdom, some choose foolishness.
Others choose to do it their own way.
Others decide to not do a thing.


We choose our friends.
Some choose like-minded, driven people to hang with.
Others choose codependent people to feel secure.
Others remain loners.


We choose our spouse (most of the time).
Some choose based on money, looks, prestige and power.
Others choose based on emotional/mental attraction.
Others choose to remain single.


We ultimately choose who will be -
By the advice we follow,
By the friends we let influence us,
And by the spouse we marry.


Whatever you do - make the right choice.
The things we allow in our life will do two things:
They will either hurt us or help us.


I have the life I have by:
Choosing to be the victor and choosing wisdom.


I have been successful this far in life by:
Drawing boundaries with people who want to hold me back.


I have the beautiful secure family I have by:
Marrying a man of integrity, character, love, and honor.


However, to get to the core at where I am today, and how....
The answer is that I ultimately chose Christ.
He is my beginning and end. And with Him,
all this has been possible...
And more is yet to come.


Won't you pursue the life you long for, the life you deserve by:
Choosing Christ today!


Email me at flexyourselfjen@yahoo.com to know what this means and how.


God bless,
Jennifer Morin
1-7-12