Goodness, God is so good!! I have been seeing Him move in so many areas of my life since I've been on vacation and just getting a renewed view of who He is and who I am IN HIM!! I think the most important thing He has reminded me of is the fact that He is in control of all I do. That I am connected to Him. In John 15:1-2 it says "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more." I have found a renewed sense of security in this passage. In the last few weeks God has truly been speaking to me about bearing fruit. There is always fruit that we're able to produce. We either produce good fruit or bad fruit. God is constantly looking over us and waiting to prune us. When we allow ourselves to be pruned by God we are opening ourselves up to Him in awesome ways. We are saying to Him that we desire Him to get rid of everything in our lives that is hindering us in our relationship with Him. We can choose to either hang onto those things or give them up to God and allow Him to move us past those into a more intimate relationship with Him. It isn't easy to be pruned by the Lord, and it is something that is constantly needing to happen. We are either dying or growing so when we are growing we must be pruned to continue to grow in a healthy way. When we allow something to hinder our walk with God our production slows and it effects every area of our lives. That is when we must come to God and ask Him to look upon us and remove the garbage in our lives.

I have to admit I have been quite content in where I've been recently with the Lord and haven't allowed Him to truly prune me. When I recognized the fruit that was being produced and actually causing me to not really grow more I immediately insisted God prune me. It is so important to continue to grow because if you aren't growing you're dying. I don't want to be a Christ-Follower that is dying. I want to be one that is constantly living by faith and seeing God move in my life and the lives of others in amazing ways!! It can only come by submitting to Him and recognizing that we are in His garden. He has totally shown Himself faithful in this time also and giving me awesome opportunities to see Him work and increased my faith on so many levels. These past few weeks have been nothing short of amazing and I am completely blown away with some opportunities He's given me and I've walked away completely humbled and knowing at that moment God is smiling upon me!! Such an amazing feeling!

This week I want to challenge you to find some time alone with God and invite Him to prune you. It will be a bit painful but I can promise in the end when you rid yourself of the things holding you back in your relationship with Him it will bring you so much more Joy, Peace, and life! Recognize that you're here to glorify Him and do His work. You are to bear fruit and that fruit is suppose to be Godly fruit. Look at your live and see if you're even bearing any fruit, ask God to show you the fruit you're producing and then ask Him to lead you into a deeper relationship with Him so you can bear more Godly fruit!

We Must Love

This week has been such an amazing week for me. All that I've done has been revolved around hanging out with friends and their family. I have been in the south now for almost 2 weeks and I must say that the feel is different here. People are friendly and open to talking. I have been thinking a lot about what this week's Rumination should be and the one thing God keeps bringing love to my mind. I have felt at times lately that I haven't been doing that great of a job loving those around me. I find it quite easy to love those that I don't know all that well and the especially in St. Croix the homeless people I would help. When I was out serving and meeting needs is when I would love the most. Then when I would be around the people I work with all day everyday I wasn't so eager to serve or help out.....Why is this? Why is it that the people we spend the most time with are the ones we are most reluctant to really show we love them? 1 John 3:18-19 says Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. This is so important to understand. I'm not writing this for anyone but myself and I pray that if you are in this position then God speaks to your heart through this., We have all heard that old phrase of "Actions speak louder than words." It is so true on so many levels. We can't merely just speak words and think that is acceptable. We must live the words we proclaim out in all areas of our life. When we say we are a Christ-Follower and we don't extend our help, or love to someone in need we are completely hypocritical. We can't talk the talk unless we will walk the walk. The world is full of people who proclaim one thing and live another way. That in my opinion is why the Christians or Christ-Followers of this world are receiving less and less respect. So many have proclaimed faith but have not decided to turn from their old ways. The new redeemed life God has given to them they are not walking in. Whether it be because of fear, an issue with discomfort, to little faith to actually believe in what they thought. There are so many reasons why people aren't living in the Holy, Righteous life God has destined us for. For me.....I'm tired of not living in the blessing God has prepared for me. I have done some awesome and amazing things in my short life that is quite apparent. However when I look at all the things I have done, it is all because my reason for doing all my traveling is to share God. I have traveled to 8 different countries and each reason is for a mission trip. When I dedicate my devotion to God and live in obedience to the life He has called me to He is able to bless me. How can a Holy God who detests sin, and can't stand disobedience be expected to bless anyone that says one thing and then lives another way? He CAN'T bless disobedience, it goes against all that God is. He can extend Grace and Mercy to that person and not give them the punishment they deserve but He will never be able to completely pour out His blessings until we walk in obedience.

I just want to set a challenge to be aware of those around you this week. Take note of the ones you tend to serve more than the others. Pray and ask God to reveal the reason behind it. Ask Him to increase your love for those that you don't seem to love as much. To increase your heart to serve the ones you never would serve. See where it leads you. Pray that the words you speak would be uplifting, that you will find something positive in everything. I was challenged Monday night at a church service to fast from complaining, and grumbling. Try it! Let your actions line up with your words of love so that you can be fruitful for God's Kingdom. Don't miss out on an opportunity to be used by Him. How awful would that be? Unfortunately I think I have missed a lot of opportunities and I am determined to not miss another one!!

God is quite aware of YOU!

This week has been such an awesome blessing! God has continually shown me His love and blessings in so many ways! Last week we looked at what it meant to endure, this week I want to look at a section of scripture that has been on my mind all week long! Like the title states, God is quite aware of you, or US! He knows everything about us, what we're going to do, what we've done, EVERYTHING about us! God is our creator and there are so many places we could look that reveals His awareness of us. I can think of so many but my favorite one comes from Matthew 6:30-34 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." God created everything that we see, He is in control of all we see. There is nothing that happens that He doesn't know about, nothing. It is impossible for anything to happen without God first allowing it to happen! What comfort and peace that brings to me. I just sit here and think about all I've gone through, all that has happened in the world and to know that God is in control of all that makes it all well. Even though there are many things that don't make sense about why certain things happen I know that He sees it all and His will is constantly being done.
So when I read these verses and picture myself sitting among the crowd of people that day on that mountain top listening to Jesus speak I am truly comforted. The words of Jesus penetrate my heart and cause me to ask myself, why would I worry about anything ever when the God I serve is watching over me and taking care of me? The only answer....it is because it is human nature to want to be in control of everything. We desire control of our lives, and all we are. When one thing happens that we can't control it freaks us out and we have to fix the situation. That is not what Jesus is saying here, He is saying these thoughts are thoughts of those that don't have a relationship with God. That the ones that have no faith fear because they don't know the security of God's love.

Jesus tells us to "SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE." and He will give us all we need. When we truly submit to God and allow His will to be done every day in our lives we will be to busy doing His will to even care about our needs. He'll reveal Himself more and more, each day and continue to provide over and above our needs. It is a day to day lifestyle that we must have. The only confidence that we can have is that God is in control. Do we recognize that all we have is a gift from God? That the food we eat is provided by His hand. He is the one that gave us the ability to work our jobs, to receive our money, have our houses, and things. All we are and have is from Him, and if He decided to take it all away He could.

I have had times in my life where I've had amazing blessings and abundance, then there have been times where I have literally had to skip a meal to save money. I don't want to say that I am a master of this trust that Jesus is talking about here but I have learned how to live it out in my life. I am forced through what God has called me to do to live a life of faith. Having to place my faith in Him that He will meet my needs each month through the support of others. I make absolutely not money doing what I am doing. I pay to live where I live, I pay to do the work I do, and I have to pay my bills, I support 2 missionaries that I have worked with, and have enough to feed myself. God is the only way I can do what I do. There is no doubt in my mind that every cent I receive comes from Him. I have had months where I have received $180 and I've had months where I've received over $2,000. In each instance I thank God for what He provides and know that He is watching over me. Then there are moments like last Saturday when I was flying that I was handed a free pizza when I was hungry but not wanting to spend the little money I had. I love the moments when God just shows up in such an awesome way. I think all to many times I am surprised by God's working in my life and I wonder why am I surprised? I must continually trust that He is looking out for me and taking care of me and when those moments come I should worship Him for the awesome God He is.

This week take time to reflect upon all you have. The good, the bad, and the in between. Thank God for all He's blessed you with and then look at your day to day activities. Are you living with the Kingdom of Heaven above all? Are you placing God first in all areas of your life? Are you confident that no matter what happens God is in control? Are you faithfully trusting Him for all your needs? If there is any question you answered no to pray and ask God to increase your faith in Him and begin to make the changes necessary in your walk with Him.