Face To Face-The Wrap Up
Face To Face-The Wrap UpAnita MondragonWhy is it so important that we love the Lord, our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?I believe the importance lies within the relationship we are to have as Believers. We as Christians are all the Bride of Christ. In a marriage relationship, there must be communication, respect, truth, love, and trust. Without these things, there is no ‘marriage’…you’d be more like room mates.However, most of our conversations with the Lord consist of us telling Him what we want and need. We rarely ask Him what He wants and needs from us! Why is this so? I honestly believe that some, if not all of us are afraid to ask God what He wants and needs from us. We are fearful that He will ask us to go to a place we’d rather not go…or do something that we don’t want to do, OR to stop doing the things we are doing. So we stay in our ‘stale state’ of pretending to be a good Christian, but never reach our full potential.For those of us that have children, we know how sad it is to see our child not live up to his/her full potential! It’s heartbreaking! Our sad wail is, “They could have been so much more!” I’m sure the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a few of those same conversations about some of us!Shellie made a lot of good points in this chapter! The one that stuck out most to me was when she said, “God isn’t meant to be a PART of our lives…HE IS OUR LIFE!” She went on to say that the only way for us to accomplish God being our life, is to “Ask…and keep asking. Seek…and keep seeking. Knock…and keep knocking.” That statement really struck me as I thought about God in His pursuit of me and my eternal soul! I recall Him “Asking me” to come to Him several times! I could feel His presence as He “sought me out.” And even when I tried to hide from Him, His “knock” at the door of my heart grew louder! So, I realize now that persistence, and constant prayer is the key to allowing God to BE our life!When I finally get to see Jesus face to face, I want to see a smile cross His face as He welcomes me home! I want Him to say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant! You loved me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…AND you loved your brothers and sisters in Christ…even though some of them were hard to love. You kept my commandment to love them and your neighbors as much as you loved yourself!”So-as hard as it is sometimes in my flesh, I strive to give my broken want-to to Jesus on a daily basis. I’ll admit…He has to remind me from time to time, because I’d rather let my fleshly desires kick in, and take care of nasty people and situations by myself…in my own way; and…I admit that I do try to give Him some pointers on how He should handle things…but He gently reminds me that My way…is NOT His way, and that His way is always best!Years ago, I wrote a poem about my desire to see Him…face to face. Some days, my longing to go Home and be with Him, causes me to ache! It’s a desire that is so deep, I can hardly wait to see Him…to look upon His face…to catch that first glimpse of His smile as I enter that wonderful place called Heaven!Here is the last stanza of the poem I wrote called, All of Who I am!…When my brown hair turns to gray…My life slowly slips away…When the lines upon my face,Mark the course of my life’s race;With my destination in full view,I’ll bid my loved ones here adieu..I’ll be looking just for YOU, Jesus…And that smile will cross Your face! -anitaAre you ready to meet Him, face to face? Or, do you have some broken things in your life that you’d like Him to fix first? Take them to Jesus! He’s ready, willing and able to fix whatever is broken in your life-especially your want-to!Anita
IS THERE A “KINK” IN YOUR HOSE?
Have you ever been out watering your garden? Every flower you meet is thirsty for a drink! With your fancy nozzle in hand, you begin showering each plant with life-giving water.
Everything is going right…the water is flowing freely. But…then it happens! All of a sudden, the flow of water stops! Nothing is getting through that fancy nozzle.
WHY? There’s a “kink” in the hose!
You see, the power is still happening at the main source-the faucet. The problem is not the main source, it’s the conduit-the hose that got twisted. That happened to me this morning as I was watering my garden.
The Christian Life can be the same way! One minute, you’re so close in fellowship with God, you feel as though you can almost touch His face! His Life-giving Water is flowing through you-spilling out on the thirsty souls you encounter.
Then, something happens in your life to twist you all up inside. It may be health issues, loss of a job, family problems…. At any rate, the “water” stops. The joy is gone. Only bitterness, anger and rage are present.
There’s nothing wrong with the Power source. God is still there in the midst of your troubles. He’s still pouring out His words of love, peace, joy and blessing; but you can’t hear them now…the anger inside of you is too loud!
The only way to get rid of a kink in the garden hose is to walk back to where you see it twisted, and straighten it out.
The only way to rid yourself of kinks in your troubled life is to go back, find what it is that’s twisting you all up inside, give it to Jesus-lay it down, walk away (don’t pick it back up!), and allow HIM to straighten it out!
If you do that, His love joy and peace will once again spill out to those thirsty souls around you, pouring out Life-giving Water, and you, yourself will be refreshed!
Anita
STAND FIRM…AND WATCH THE VICTORY COME TO PASS!
THE EFFECTS OF A LOVING MIND
HE WANTS MY TONGUE!
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PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, SATAN!
IF FOR BUT A MOMENT…
By Anita Mondragon
He sits in a cell here on death row,
Awaiting his turn…almost time to go.
THE WORST (HELL) VS THE BEST (HEAVEN)…
PRECIOUS MEMORIES OF LOVED ONES, NOW GONE…
On Memorial Day, we visited the graves of my in-laws and my parents. It was bitter-sweet…