THANKFUL THURSDAY...wisdom

Thank you LYNN for hosting Thankful Thursday this week.

Isn't it funny that when we are younger (in age) we think we have accumulated all of the wisdom that we need for a lifetime. In fact in our teen years, often times we think we "know it all". We can't wait to graduate from high school and get out on our own and do things our own way. Where NOBODY can tell us what to do.

(lol)

And then when we grow alittle bit older and realize that we are not such a smart young buck that we thought we were - in fact, we wish we could go back in time and do a few things over.

Wisdom ... when and how do we obtain this in our life?

Wisdom is not something that you can accumulate overnight. It is much like a savings account that accrues slowly over a period of time. A person who consistently adds to his/her account will eventually accumulate a great sum.

ISAIAH 50:4,5 "He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear."

One of the greatest source of wisdom is the Word of God. Daily - we need to study the Word of God and live according to His commandments. Now this is making a HUGE deposit into our account of wisdom.

"A big difference exists between a head full of knowledge and the words of God
literally abiding in us." -BETH MOORE

I am thankful for the wisdom of God, that He is instructing me not only thru His Word but also thru my trials and tribulations. It is my prayer that I will seek His leading and instruction each step I take thru this journey that I call LIFE!

What are you thankful for today? Find more grateful hearts HERE!

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ...more than just a hero

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we had superheroes in our world? How incredible would it be if every time criminals forced their havoc on our city that spider man would wrap his web around the bad guys and tie them up? Or every time our country experienced a terrible devastation like a hurricane or an earthquake - superman flew in and caught falling buildings just in time before they crushed many people.

I often think that when things get tough, people feel like they need a hero to show up and make things better. Often times we look to certain politicians to make our economy better but the only thing we get is some sort of a revealed scandal. Talking about superheroes reminds me of that song several years ago that Tina Turner sang ... "We don't need another hero". So much truth was revealed in this hit song, later on in the tune Tina sings about what we need is someone to show us "the way home".

Jesus Christ does exactly that!

Lets look at why your basic superhero would just not be enough to save this corrupt world...

1. Heroes fight one side against the other. One nation's hero is another nation's enemy. Wouldn't Hitler be an example of this? He was looked upon as a hero to some for his plans to deliver Germany from the economic and spiritual downfall, but at the same time many paid the price for his heroism.

2. Heroes often fight using temporal weapon of force. This is great in a movie but what about real life? After all, what good is superman without his krypton?

3. Heroes often have weaknesses that make them less than exemplary. How many times have you seen the good have reverse personality turns and begin to use their power for evil? This just doesn't happen in the batman sequels or the comic books.

The way I see it, the only true hero, the only One who can offer the perfect package for saving people from the evil one is Jesus Christ. Teaming up with Jesus Christ is not just another bandwagon going down a dead end road ... His Truth and love will lead us in the right direction.

In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question: "How would you describe your own place in your family tree?" The top 3 results were...

1. 22% of those voting said that they are a strong branch that children can climb on.
2. Another 22% voted and said that they are the trunk that connects it all together.
3. 22% of those polled said "what family tree?"

Wow. This poll is very interesting to me ... we are either very strong, or we view our strengths as to what holds our family together or we have absolutely no branches to speak of. You may be wondering what in the world does a family tree have to do with superheroes? Stay with me here for a moment.

PROVERBS 29:18 " Where there is no vision, the people will perish." I read in my Holman Christian Standard Bible where it said "Without Revelation people run wild." We need to see the vision of something better than what we currently see as "reality". In other words, in today's society, we need hope. Without hope we will perish.

Having a superhero in your life may be closer than you think. Your "reality" right now may be distress, uncertainty and confusion. Many times when we are experiencing these type of things - we pass down our negativity and injustices to those around us. Possibly to those in our family.

Jesus Christ can give us all of the strength we need to overcome such things and before you know it, we will see shoots growing out from our family tree and branches bearing fruit will be evident.

ISAIAH 11:1 "Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit."

Now that our hope has been renewed ... look at the strength of His power....

ISAIAH 11:2,3a "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him - a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."

Are you looking for supernatural strength? ~ it lies within your stump, the one that is rooted in Christ. He is the only power that can defeat your enemies. Not superman. Not spider man. Not our politicians. Christ is more than just a hero...

He is :
the King of Kings
the Lord of all
the everlasting God
the Alpha and the Omega
the beginning and the end

He is:
My Abba Father
He is my all in all
He is my Redeemer
My Great Physician
My Provider
He is all I need
He is faithful and true
and the Lover of my soul

He is all of these and more. ...

And He is definitely my hero!

Thank you for joining me this week for Wednesday Weekly Word, this is my weekly post designated to my thoughts and ponderings on a personal study I am currently doing. Right now I am studying the promises and the hope of the return of Christ. It is my prayer that you place your hope and trust in Jesus Christ in these last days that we live in. He is certainly the One, the only One who can make good on His promises!

YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL...please vote in this weeks poll. Your opinion really does matter!

A PIECE OF MY HEART ... are you teachable?

The month of May is always filled with anticipation and excitement as our young people graduate from school. I always love to attend graduation ceremonies ... the thrill of what is to come is always fresh in the air.

This year is no different

for the Adams family.

We have two exciting graduations ... one from high school and the other from college. Our daughter in law Rachel, this past weekend, graduated from nursing school with her degree in nursing. After she completes her boards this summer, she will be a Registered Nurse. We are so proud of her!

Also graduating is Jordan's girlfriend Alyssa. She will graduate from High School in just 2 weeks. She plans to attend Bible College this fall. We are very proud of her as well!

All of this educational accomplishment has made me think about just how "teachable" we are as Christians?

No doubt, somewhere in the past four years, both Rachel and Alyssa probably wanted to just give up. Throw in the towel. Say "forget" it. But they would not have achieved much if they had just given up and quit.

They pressed in.

They studied hard.

They opened their minds to be taught.

They wanted to learn all that they could learn.

How often are we, as Christians open to be taught new things? Do we ever become content with what we already know? Do we become resentful when someone tries to teach us something new?

I could never understand why people just stop wanting to learn. Why is that? ... is it pride or is it that people just settle for filling their minds with insignificant things rather than expanding their minds?

I think a spirit of humility is required in order to have a teachable heart and mind. We all say that we want to be more like Jesus...but that can never happen if we are not teachable.

PROVERBS 18:15 "Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge."

MATTHEW 7:26 "Anyone who hears My teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand."

God gives us the Holy Spirit to lead us into the Truth. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to have a spirit of learning. Attending church, Reading His Word, having godly relationships and having a Christ-like mentor can also help each of us to learn.

Just like Rachel and Alyssa and all those many graduates receiving their due award ... we as Christians must persevere, push ahead, keep learning and stay focused. There is a great award awaiting us and it will be worth it all!

ARE YOU TEACHABLE?

BLOG CONTEST

In case you are not aware ....

iammommy.blogspot

is hosting AWESOME BLOGS 2009.

Today until 10:30 pm you can cast your vote for your favorite blog sites.

Someone was very gracious and nominated

WOMEN TAKING A STAND

for the "Awesomest Faith Blog".

WOW. thank you!

There are alot of my favorite blogs over at

iammommy and it will be difficult to choose one to vote for.

Please check out the poll on the nominated awesome blogs for 2009 and cast your vote.

And if for some reason your faith has been stirred by reading my writings -

I would love to have your vote!

VOTE HERE

AT THE WELL ... finding my spiritual closet

Today's discussion over AT THE WELL has to do with our spiritual closets. This will be a very interesting topic to discuss today.

The question that we are discussing is:

Do you have a favorite "spiritual place" in your home?

Is it a room? a closet? maybe a chair?

YYYYY

I can remember as a young girl, hearing older people talk about their "spiritual closets", a place that they would go to pray in secret. I always imagined in my mind, that these people were going into their "actual" bedroom closets. Opening the closet door, scooting the shoes on the floor over, as to make room for them to sit down on the floor of their closet. Once situated inside their closet, covered with clothes hanging down from the closet rod and shoes piled up to the right and to the left, they were ready to pray to God.

In their closet.
In the dark.
With the door closed.

Isn't that a funny imagery for a small child to have?

As I grew older, I found out the real meaning of a "spiritual closet". Usually it did not mean an actual closet with shoes and clothes.

MATTHEW 6:6 "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

My spiritual closet is a place that I can get alone with God and shut out all of the interruptions of my world and totally focus on Him and meditate upon His goodness and His truth. Sometimes where I find this place of rest, this place of meditation, can be different depending on my day or my circumstances.

My favorite time to get alone with God is late at night when everyone else in the house is in bed or early in the morning while they are still sleeping. Sometimes, it is really difficult around my house to find a time or a place that it is quiet.

Noises seem to just fill the house. And noise seems to be one of the biggest obstacles that keeps us from spending time in our "closets" with our Father. Many of us wake up to the blare of the radio, then we listen to music on the way to work either on the car radio or the bus, after work or school - we listen to our ipods thru our headphones as we exercise or do our homework. All day long there is a steady stream of noise that takes up space in our heads and it shapes our thoughts. We rarely make mental space for quiet reflection.

My daughter proved this very thing as we rode in the car to Memphis for a Mothers Day outing. I like it to be quiet and still at times, but she wanted the radio on. She could not stand the "quiet", not even for a moment.

We are much like my daughter at times, when things fall quiet, we look for something to fill the silence. Have you ever considered your spirit needing a break from all of the noise that keeps you being filled up with God? Does your mind ever need a break to just ponder on the goodness of God?

David said in Psalms "May my meditation be sweet to Him." (Psalm 104:34) Spending time (on purpose) with God wasn't just an obligation or a duty for David, but it was pleasant for him. That is what I want my time alone with God to be....

Pleasant.

Sometimes in order to find this place of pleasant meditation, I might have to actually clear out my bedroom closet and shimmy my way in between the shoe rack and the dust and make it my "spiritual closet". Wherever I can find quiet, stillness, and no interruptions is the place I might call my "closet". Sometimes it is a room in the house, or out on a rigorous walk, driving in the car, or laying prostate on my bed.

My spiritual closet isn't always the place as much as it is giving my attention, my full attention, to God. How many times have you had one of your children come to you and need to speak to you about something really really important...do you say, "wait a minute...lets go inside this closet and talk" and then the two of you go inside a dark closet, you close the door and then ask "ok I can now listen to you." That sounds absurd, doesn't it?

Well at the same time ... the important thing for listening to God is removing all of the distractions that stand in your way. God is asking us to remove all of the distractions that stand in the way of us communicating with Him and listening for His small still voice. God is ready to listen and speak to us in all kinds of different places. He isn't partial to which room in the house it is ...He just wants to commune with us.

HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR SPIRITUAL CLOSET YET?

Please join us over AT THE WELL to hear what others are saying about their spiritual closets. Click HERE!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Each of you pour yourself into others....

You teach by what you say.
You teach by what you don't say.

You teach by what you do.
You teach by what you don't do.

Whether you are young or old.
have kids or not yet.

You are molding, changing and having

influence in a young persons life.
Whether you know it or not.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

CIRCLE OF LOVE...meet Melanie!

This week during my "Circle of Love" segment,

I want to introduce you to a really fun, exciting and spirit-filled friend of mine....

~ MEET MELANIE ~

The Fruits of the Spirit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22

~

I am not exactly sure how Melanie and I started sharing with each other in blogger world. But Melanie is just one of those writers, that you instantly just fall in love with. If I am not mistaken, I think our paths crossed about a year ago thru the meme Thankful Thursday. I have been following her writings ever since.

One of the things that I just love about Melanie is her passion. You can sense the passion that she has in everything that she shares with her readers on her blog. She is passionate about her job. She is passionate about her husband. She is passionate about her kids. She is passionate about Jesus Christ. and she is passionate about her readers.

Recently, Melanie has started a study on the book of Colossians on her blog. Here is another passion I have found that she has...to share God's Word with others! On a recent visit to THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, this is what Melanie was sharing....

An Introduction to Colossians
The book of Colossians was written by Paul the apostle to the people of the
city of Colossae around the year AD 60.

Colossae sits on a ridge above the Lycus River in what is now Turkey. People passed thru Colossae as they traveled from Ephesus to the Euphrates; Ephesus was approximately 100 miles west of Colossae.

About 6 years before writing the letter to the Colossians, Paul had met Philemon and Epaphras while in Ephesus. Philemon was from the city of Colossae where he hosted meetings in his home for the believers in Colossae. Epaphras came to know the Lord thru his friendship with Paul. After spending time in Ephesus with Paul, Epaphras returned to Colossae to share his new found faith with his friends and family.

The letter to the Colossians was delivered to the believers of Colossae by Philemon's runaway slave, Onesimus, and Paul's friend and fellow servant, Tychicus of Asia. Paul was in prison at the time and had written this letter along with two others -- one a personal letter to Philemon and the other for the believers of Ephesus.

Today the city of Colossae is buried under a hill in Turkey. Although the city is no longer in existence, the words Paul wrote those that lived there so many years ago are still true. His words endure and speak great truths that are valuable to us even today.

The letter to the people of Colossae presents Jesus Christ to them as someone that is able to meet all their needs and the answer to all their challenges. Paul tells them who Jesus Christ is and what He can do for each of them. It answers the questions:

* Who is Jesus Christ?

* Is he a god?

* A created power?

Join me over the next few months and together we will look deeper into the words Paul wrote to the Colossians so many years ago. We'll answer the question "Who is Jesus Christ?" and we'll see that even today He meets our needs just as He did for the people of Colossae many, many years ago.

What an inviting introduction to what the coming weeks will be like over at Melanie's place as she guides us down the Colossae road of "Who Jesus Christ is".

YYYYY

Recently, I was able to speak to Melanie online and she shared alittle bit more about her ministry and her hearts passion. Here is what she had to say....

1. PLEASE TELL US YOUR NAME AND WHERE WE CAN FIND YOU ON THE WEB?
Melanie @ The Fruits of the Spirit

2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BLOGGING AND TELL US YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BLOGGING?
I’ve been blogging for just over a year now. There are so many things that I like about blogging – the sense of community we all have together, the way we all love and encourage and pray for each other, and all that I have learned from so many of the women whose blogs that I read regularly.

Blogging has also been a source of growth in my own walk with the Lord. I began blogging as a way to write down and put into words what I was learning and studying in God’s Word -- a personal type of accountability, if you will. I find that the act of putting things into words forces me to think and pray on them more and pulls me towards a better understanding of the topic.

3. WHAT ARE THE MAIN THINGS THAT YOU BLOG ABOUT?
I blog about what I am currently learning as I study the Bible. I am working thru one book at a time. I have just recently begun the book of Colossians.

I also blog about my personal walk with the Lord -- areas where He is specifically speaking to me. I participate each in week in a couple of memes; usually Word-Filled Wednesdays and Thankful Thursday. And, from time to time I will include a post on my family/family life.

4. TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF...if you work ~where? ...have a family ~ tell us about them?
I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and two great kids. My son, Josh, is 7 yrs old (1st grade) and my daughter, Abby, is 4 yrs. old.

We are actively involved in our church, enjoy hanging out with our friends or just at home as a family. We enjoy time outdoors together and taking little mini-vacations over a 3-4 day weekend.

I work full-time as a Systems Analyst and my husband runs his own company specializing in installations and maintenance of medical heart and health monitoring systems. We’ve also, just this last year, started a new business “Beads-N-Style”. Our hope is that this business would take off enough to allow me to resign from my job as a Systems Analyst and run our new business from home.

5. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING THE LORD?
I asked the Lord into my life around 11 yrs of age. Since that time I have experienced high times and low times in serving God, but even during the low times continued to have great faith in God and worked to move forward in my relationship with Him. All the while, continuing to strive to keep my focus on Him and serving Him in my little corner of the world.

6. CAN YOU GIVE US A TESTIMONY OF HOW GOD HAS PROVEN HIMSELF FAITHFUL TO YOU?
God has shown His faithfulness to me in so many different ways throughout my life. He provisions have always been great, He is with me always, He guides and He protects – regardless of the circumstances and regardless of how I react or choose to behave. I can clearly see how certain events have led the way to where I am today and I am confident that I am right where God wants me to be for this time.

7. COULD YOU SHARE WITH YOUR CIRCLE OF BLOGGING FRIENDS YOUR FAVORITE SCRIPTURE?
It’s so hard for me to narrow down to just one… could I share two?

“Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

8. HOW HAS THAT SCRIPTURE MINISTERED TO YOU RECENTLY?
I can’t tell you how many times I have turned to this first verse and how every single time God is faithful. When I truly turn it all over to God – completely letting it go -- He does keep guard over my heart and He gives me peace.

This second verse is one that I have claimed for myself for this year. I believe that God wants us to come before Him boldly, fully expecting Him to meet our needs and fully expecting Him to answer. This is how I want to always pray and seek God – boldly.

9. WHAT ADVICE ABOUT BLOGGING WOULD YOU OFFER TO YOUR CIRCLE OF BLOGGING FRIENDS?
Blog from your heart -- always desiring to serve the Lord and share His love with all those that may find your blog.

"Thank you MELANIE for such great advice, certainly anytime we visit your page we can see you doing exactly that...sharing Gods love with all those that visit with you. Thank you for the wonderful way that you minister to us thru your writings and thank you for your encouragement to me and to WOMEN TAKING A STAND!" -Laurie

Visit MELANIE over at THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT...click here!