The Anticipator

So I was blessed to serve at a women's retreat recently and one of the requirements of this particular event is if your married the husband has to go through the retreat first then the wife the following weekend.

I was standing behind a young couple that caught my eye. The husband had his arm around his young bride with an excitement I could feel 2 rows away. He had this huge smile on his face and was looking at her with such anticipation for her coming weekend.

The wife on the other hand appeared annoyed by his constant speechless cheering. Her body language was stiff and pretty much saying go away. He kept trying to make eye contact with her to no avail.

In spite of her apparent rejection he seemed clueless. (I'm going to leave that comment alone)

He continued looking at her so lovingly and even attempted a few quick kisses which apparently annoyed her even more.

In all fairness to our young couple the husband was excited because he had experienced the retreat and knew what his bride was in for. His life had been radically changed by his time with Jesus and he couldn't wait for her to feel the same way.

But for now it caused a gap between them instead of bringing them closer together.

A few rows up however was a very different scene.

Another couple, further down in their walk with the Lord, were arm and arm in a very united embrace. 

They were both excited as they had been through the weekend and knew how much the things they learned enhanced their relationship.

They chatted and laughed and had huge smiles on their faces that were infectious. They too slipped in a few kisses but it was definitely a mutual embrace.

They shared the joy and anticipation for the women getting ready to experience their retreat.

It was at this point the Holy Spirit spoke again. He said if new couples started off their relationship with me and truly made me the foundation of their lives they can be years down the road with all of life's challenges and still look like the 2nd couple. 

If they encounter me on a regular basis they will anticipate great things when they know we are going to spend alone time together. He said it's never too late to begin this kind of relationship. It can start at any age it just has to be a mutual decision.

How encouraging is that and yet I thought of so many married couples I know, Christian and non Christian that NEVER have anything good to say about their spouse.

The Holy Spirit reminded me that if a spouse, boyfriend, family member or friend spends time with the Lord and the other doesn't it will inevitably cause distance between them.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

One will anticipate spending time with the Lord and the other will not. The Lord can almost become a rivalry in the marriage or relationship.

The question it posed for me as a person, single or married is do I consistently anticipate the Holy Spirit?

There's a woman that worships at my church. I don't know her personally but from what I've observed I can tell she loves the Lord. She genuinely loves God's people and has a servant heart. She loves to praise and pray but in spite of all these admirable qualities, I cannot sit near her.

Why? Because she is a word anticipator.

You know the type, they anticipate what your going to say and say it with you. Maybe a word here or there would be OK but she anticipates entire sentences! I have trouble focusing on the sermon because I hear her talking with the speaker and sometimes she get's the word wrong but just keeps going. That Gems is just plain distracting for this attention deficit person.

This week I sat down forgetting about the anticipator and then there she was right in front of me. Great...

Once again the Lord spoke to me. What if you were so engaged in what I had to say that you anticipated my every word. OUCH! Do I sit on the corner of my seat not wanting to miss a thing?

Do I anticipate hearing from the Lord that way?

These are some of the definitions of anticipate:

to expect; look forward to;

Do we look forward to spending time in the word? 

Do we get to church early so we are ready for the message?

 

to perform (an action) before another has had time to act.

Do we hear someone start a scripture and finish it with them?

Do we jump into serve before we are asked?

Do we steal away personal moments like spiritual hugs and kisses with our God?

to answer (a question), obey (a command), or satisfy (a request) before it is made:

Do I anticipate the assignment the Lord has for me each day?

Do I do the right thing before the Holy Spirit has to convict me to do it?

I pray my spiritual life will not become robotic and terminate my desire for Jesus. I pray to look less like the terminator and more like the Anticipator!

Gross Servant

 God don't let me be a gross servant. This has been my prayer the past few weeks. You see on the outside it would appear I have this servant thing down. I truly do love people and I sincerely love to serve God's children BUT what if you could lift up my sea of servant hood. What would you see there? What trash would you find? If you pull back my servant heart is it completely the servant heart of God?

I wish I could tell you it was but I would be lying to both of us hence my prayer not to be a gross servant.

There is this constant battle that goes on inside of me.

I wish I could blame the devil like this picture portrays but that would be another lie. It's my own selfish desires that I battle. My need to feel important or needed. My desire for recognition or my own sense of pride. I know, I warned you this was going to be gross.

A few weeks ago I listened to a sermon about being asleep.  
Revelation 3:1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:these are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

 I started asking God where I was asleep. Gems as I have told you before if you ask He will tell you.....

 Gross Servant.

My prayer is God will strip me of these motives, that he will take away all my self-contentedness til there's nothing left of me.

He gave me a wonderful example this weekend of how He doesn't need me but in spite of my  junk will still use me with all my grossness.

 

My daughter and I went to the Leesburg Bike festival last weekend to minister to bikers or anyone God would lead to us. I ordered these cool tracks to hand out.

I did get to hand some out but God wanted to remind me He doesn't need me. This was part of my awakening. 

He told me to put the tracks on the table across from me. I called it my Jesus table. I also had a small box for prayer request.

I thought I was going to hand out all the tracks personally but God wanted me to see that He would draw those He prepared for that day. One by one I watched as random people sat in the “Jesus chair” and read His word with no help from me.

Do you see this mans face? He is contemplating the word of God in the middle of a busy street filled with the noise of motorcycles, loud motorcycles, yet he could still hear the Holy Spirit.

I was in awe of the reminder of just how powerful the word of God is and the love that those words represent.

I continue to pray that my servants heart will be transformed. I continue to plead that I will not be a gross servant. I ask God to strip me of my human needs and to open the eyes of my heart and fill me with His Spirit so I may experience the power of the Holy Spirit with a pure heart.

Ephesians 1:18-21 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Help me Jesus to serve like you.

Commitment of a Dove

Well Gems I had a traumatic encounter today I want to tell you about.
It was such a beautiful day I had all my windows open enjoying the day when all of a sudden I hear this ruckus outside the kitchen window. 
I look out and my landlord's dog is running around the screened in lanai with a dove in his mouth.

Now I want you to have a visual here. I was coloring my hair so I was wearing this old t-shirt that is covered in hair dye. I'm pretty sure I had a brown ring around my forehead. 
OK so I start yelling out the window “Tonka, NO NO put the bird down.” I run out my door, around the back yard into the lanai and yell TONKA! 
He drops the bird but still has a mouth full of feathers and there are feathers blowing all over the place. I'm like ahhhhh! 
I'm trying to get the crazy dog into his house when the doves partner flies down to be near his mate and Tonka makes a run for him. 
Now he's got that bird in his mouth and the other dog is coming outside. (you know what a great pet lover I am) So now I'm trying to grab two black labs and save the doves single handed. 
I finally get Tonka to let go of the second dove and dove one is laying on the ground in a puddle of blood.

 I get the dogs in the house and I'm trying not to cry. I look through the sliding glass door and Tonka is now inside with a mouth full of feathers.
I call my landlord and leave a message on his voice mail that I'll explain the feathers later... REALLY I'm just trying to relax here.
I go over to dove two and he won't move. He just stands there next to his dead mate looking devastated.

It was truly heartbreaking. I'm now apologizing to this bird. He's just staring at me, probably wondering what's going on with my hair.
In the mean time my landlord's room mate comes home and walks outside, no doubt wondering why Tonka is growing a beard, he looks at me with the same scared face of dove 2. Again probably wondering whats going on with my head. After a quick explanation I leave. A little while later dove 2 died. It was either a broken heart over his mate or heart failure from the scary human.

I went back in my house and thought that is true love. 

That dove swooped down trying to help it's' mate get away from an animal 50x bigger than it.
As always this got me thinking about Jesus, true love does that.
No wonder He used the dove out of all the animals to appear after He was baptized.

Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him

I made some comparisons of Jesus and the dove.

Doves: perch on telephone wires

Jesus: is always calling us

Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America Jesus is either being hunted for by people who need him or shot at by those who continue to reject Him.

When taking off and landing, Mourning Doves’ wings make a loud whistling that may help startle predators or warn flock mates.

Jesus always has our back using the Bible to warn us and the Holy Spirit to fight spiritual battles.

Mourning Doves feed on the ground and in the open.
Jesus left Heaven and lived among us, right out in the open.

But the thing I loved the most is that Doves find a mate and stay together for  life.

Jesus also stays with us for a lifetime, even in the face of danger 50x bigger than us He will come to our rescue. 
 
And we will spend eternity with perfect love and the commitment of a dove.

Growing Faith

 

Luke 13:18-19 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden.

Have you ever wondered why if faith as small as a mustard seed could move a mountain you're not moving any mountains? 

Matthew 17:20 “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

I've been wondering just that. I would think by now my faith was at least as big as a mustard seed right?

But maybe we are looking for great big miracles like mountain moving or raising the dead as benchmarks of our faith growing and maybe we should be looking a the smaller ones that effect our lives daily. I think it starts small and like most plants can continue to grow into something large.

I was at Bible study this week and there is a sweet lady in my group named Alice. Normally I change names but not today. This is Alice.

Alice is one of the sweetest women I know but what I really love about her is her prayers. She shares the most humble sweet prayers to our King.

She taught me about small moments of growing faith in her prayer this week.

Along with her usual prayers for the homeless, the military and our country she thanked God for the long lines of traffic she hit at 3 different churches on Easter Sunday.

She told the Lord how much it blessed her to see so many of God's children worshiping Him on such a special day.

Wow, would that have been my prayer? Would I have been thanking God for being stuck in traffic 3 different times? I wish I could say yes but the truth is I would have probably been complaining about the traffic and wishing I had taken a different route.

I realized at that moment Alice's faith had grown to where she could praise God for her inconvenience because she didn't see it as one. My faith grew as I listened to her. I realized I should be more attentive to what pleases God.

Our faith grows when we grow. Maybe something this elementary could be the start of your mustard seed growing.

Jesus is all about faith, we don't talk about it a lot because we don't want to make people feel bad or make it look like we are bragging about ourselves.

2 Corinthians 10:15-16 Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you.

Paul is saying he's not there to boast about his relationship but to help grow the faith of those he was speaking to so eventually they could share to other regions.  You have to have your own personal faith before you can share with someone else.

When was the last time you gave a testimony of faith to someone?

Romans 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted each a measure of faith. 

God gave everyone a measure of faith, however, you have to use it to make it grow.

Hebrews 10:38 “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

God's word says He takes no pleasure in the ones who shrink back.

What does shrink back mean? "To pull away from a source of disgust or fear."

Now I know we don't shrink back from God out of disgust so it must be we shrink back out of fear.

The only way to conquer fear is to do what your afraid of. Put your faith in action!

Do you remember the rich guy in the Bible that tells Jesus he has obeyed all his commandments and Jesus says atta boy now give up your dough and come follow me.

(Gena translation to read the story go to Luke 18 )

The guy ends up bailing because he doesn't have faith that Jesus can take care of Him in a manner that he's accustomed to. Luxuries with the world trumped relationship with his Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

For example:

The other day I was at my friends house and I was heating a cup of coffee in the microwave. I apparently was daydreaming and nuked it way too long. When the bell dinged I opened the door and without thought sat it down to add my sugar. I heard the Holy Spirit say “stand back your going to get burned.” It wasn't an audible voice but a strong thought in my head. I didn't process the thought I just stepped back as I added my sugar and

BAM the coffee exploded!

If I wouldn't have moved back like He said my whole hand would have been burned.

You see I have had those faith moments before so now I know to just listen and ask questions later.

No angel appeared with the message, there was no voice from Heaven that caused the earth to shake it was just me having faith that I hear God.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Gems I want to encourage you to start living by faith. I'm not saying you have to walk on water (not yet anyway :) but I am saying you have to start somewhere if you call yourself a righteous one, a believer in Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” 

I challenge you to plant a seed in your own garden and become a faith grower then start harvesting the things unseen with confidence.

Light Detector

I love when the Lord randomly talks to me using visual aids.

I was with my new boss Melissa, an amazing woman I might add, and we were at a lighting company she does business with. The place had such cool display rooms but one caught my attention right away. It was a room filled with chandeliers that were barely lit. I love chandeliers so I went into the room wondering why it was so dark.

As I entered all the lights in the room slowly got brighter and brighter. As if my presence some how made the lights engage, it was magical. When they were all lit it was so beautiful.

The Holy Spirit said “this is what it should be like with believers. We should bring light into a dark world.”

Light should begin just because the presence of the Lord has entered.

For example, one time I went with some friends to eat and we were sitting at the bar waiting for a table. A man walked up and starting talking to us. He then did the strangest thing, he put his back to me and started telling a joke to my friends. He looked over his shoulder as he started and said to me “you won't like this joke.”

He didn't know any of us yet “something” told him I wouldn't appreciate his joke. I think that something was the presence of the Lord.

Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Some times we do nothing but show up, other times our actions cause the light.

Another visual.

I was in the ladies room and a woman walked to the sink the same time as I did. We were both washing our hands, she then turned to the paper towel dispenser to dry her hands. 

She stood there for a few seconds waving her hands underneath the dispenser waiting for a paper towel to come down.

She looked at me and I smiled and said I think your going to have to pull the towel out yourself.
She obviously thought it was one of those automatic ones. We both laughed and I again thought about our being the light. Sometimes we have to apply ourselves and not just wait for something to happen.

The next story is another example of doing something to cause light for someone in darkness.

My daughter and I were at the Sam's Club Saturday doing a bake sale to help raise money for missions. 

That in itself is funny because I don't bake. I showed up with a huge baking dish and the only thing in it was a paper towel. I figured I would buy something from Sam's to fill it but thank God other people did bake and there were plenty of yummy things to sell.
There were 4 shifts and I was on the second shift. I knew my daughter of course but the rest of the people volunteering I was meeting for the first time. 
While we were there a young man showed up on a bicycle who apparently had been drinking. He started off talking with my daughter then I spent an hour or so listening to his story and sharing the love of God with him.

At the end of our conversation he asked if I was going to church that night and I initially said no and asked why. Sometimes the Holy Spirit has to hit me with a 2 x 4.  

 My new friend asked if I would meet him at church that evening and I of course said yes. I also told him if he stood me up I would kick his butt (probably not "light" talk.)

Later that evening I went to church and waited outside about 40 minutes for him but he didn't come. I was disappointed but I knew I said some things that were hard to hear. I figured he was either processing or passed out.

Either way I prayed for him over the weekend and hoped I had shed some light into his world.

My son Anthony leads a class at his home on Sunday nights and was going to be late getting home so he asked if I could go to his house to let the group in. As they came in I recognized one of the women from the bake sale. When she saw me her face lit up and she seemed so excited to see me. She said to her husband “that's her, I can't believe that's her!”

I thought she was pointing me out because she couldn't believe I showed up to the bake sale with an empty pan but that wasn't it.

She told me Sunday morning her husband was volunteering at the Connect 2 station which is the information center for new people at the church. A man walked up to him and said “ I need to find Amanda and her mother. I can't remember her name but I have to find her.” The volunteer explained there are a couple thousand people that go to Grace and there are multiple services so he had no idea who Amanda or her mother were.

The visitor explained that he promised this woman (me) that he would meet her at church but something came up and he didn't make it. He wanted to make sure I knew he didn't stand me up. His urgency may or may not have had something to do with the butt kicking :)

The volunteer apologized again that he couldn't help and then my new friend said “I met her at a back sale.” The volunteer said “a bake sale! Wait a minute my wife was at a bake sale.” Only God....

He got his wife and sure enough they recognized each other. He explained to her what he told her husband about not being able to meet me and really wanted me to know he didn't stand me up. She told him she didn't know my last name but would be happy to take a note and give it to me at the next months mission meeting. He said that was too far away, he wanted me to know now, but gave her a note and made her promise to give it to me.

She had no idea Anthony was my son and she would see me the very next day. She and her husband made some motion and were part of the light process.

Gems I think if we had a spiritual camera and took a a spiritual picture this is what we should see.

The family of God lighting up a dark world.  Being light detectors the Holy Spirit can use to turn people onto Jesus.

Lamp Unto My Feet

In the last jewel "you can't get there from here" we were packing  and waiting for our move destination to be revealed. And I once again had to rely on my favorite verse.

  This is not my favorite verse because I read it and it seemed nice but because I learned to hold onto it for dear life when fear was running rapid and medication was not an option.

I’ll give you a little history using one of the many times the Lord used this verse to guide my path.

A few years back the Holy Spirit told me to go to Tennessee, not just Tennessee but Johnson City TN. I had never been to TN. and had no idea if there was a Johnson City.  I had to look on a map and sure enough there is. As if God needed a geography lesson.

The Holy Spirit used a series of events to show me Johnson City but the lamp unto my feet confirmation was when a friend, who was on a mission trip in Africa, and I had a very similar dream. The only difference was at the end of her dream she heard Johnson City. She had no idea what that meant but I did. It was my confirmed travel destination.

A few nights before my adventure I went before the Lord asking if it was Him speaking to me or me having a delusional moment and perhaps needing some type of therapy.

This was when the Lord took me to my Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet. And a light to my path.

I prayed for that light and guidance then God impressed on my heart the name Jonathon.

I was unemployed at the time and had no idea how I would get to Tennessee. My theory was and is if God makes the plan He will provide the provision. I searched on line to find out how much an airline ticket would cost, a hotel as I have never been to Johnson City or TN for that matter and of course car rental. About 2 days later I got a check in the mail to cover the entire trip and even enough to feed me :)

I was pretty nervous as I don’t like to fly and I have no sense of direction in towns I know never less towns I have never even heard of.  A friend dropped me off at the airport, drove off without turning back leaving me standing there shaking in my boots.

As I sat in the airport waiting for my flight I opened a book I brought to read hoping to calm my nerves. To my surprise and delight on the very first page was my verse.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet. And a light to my path.

I knew God was putting light on the unknown path.
This verse showed up all four days I was away in the most unusual places. It’s too long to tell the whole story but I do want to tell you I found this quaint little town outside Johnson City and decided to explore. I parked my car and walked down the streets enjoying the old buildings and cool weather. I came upon an antique shop in what appeared to be someones home that caught my eye.

I’m not an antique shopper but felt like the Holy Spirit said to go in. I walked up to the entrance where a sign hung on the door saying "ring the bell." I felt a bit like Dorothy standing outside the entrance to OZ wondering what to expect. 
I rang the bell and a man who appeared to be the owner opened the door.  We gave the standard head nod and smile to each other and I heard the Lord say “introduce yourself” so I did. 
His name was Johnathon!! I was able to share the love of God with him and pray with him. The Lamp had lead me straight from Florida to Tennessee to Jonathon and the light was shone upon us both.  I was in awe of God's faithfulness when we trust Him.

Through out my life when God has asked me to do something outside my comfort zone He has been consistent in giving me my life verse.

Back to the recent move. I told my apartment complex I was moving a month ahead of time and “thought” I was moving in with a friend. I thought wrong. The Lord shut the door and 3 weeks before we had to be out of our apartment I had no idea where I was going. 

Gems I had to start walking in faith down a dark path trusting God would light the way.

I then did the only thing I knew to do, PRAY.  My daughters and I gathered on my bed and we asked God to light the path. 
When we finished praying Amanda went on Craig’s list and found an unbelievable deal on an apartment in a private home. It was such a great deal I immediately had visions dance through my head of what it must look like. I thought for sure it must be a crack house as it was too good a deal. 

I called, spoke to the owner and off we went to check it out.

As soon as we turned into the subdivision I knew we were following the lighted path and sure enough it was a perfect place for us. We moved in over the weekend to an adorable apartment, small but quaint. We say words like quaint when we mean really small but I don't want to complain.

I was pretty exhausted from all the packing and unpacking and rested at my kitchen table to pray for a minute. I shared with my sweet Jesus that I was tired, physically and spiritually and looked forward to some rest time with Him. A few minutes later I grabbed another box and opened the cabinet above the refrigerator to put some things away. My hand hit an object and when I pulled it out it was a Bible. 
It had been laying opened for some time and it was opened to Jeremiah 6. I grabbed my Bible to look up the scripture and in my Bible I had Jeremiah 6:16 highlighted. This is what the Lord said:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.

I knew God was telling me that as long as I keep walking in the Godly way I would find rest for my soul. You walk in the Godly way by allowing God’s word to be a lamp to your feet and a light to show you the path to walk on.

I looked in the front of the Bible to see if there was a name of who it belonged to.  
Gems what I found literally put a smile on my face. There on the front page printed into the paper itself was my life verse.

There was my final confirmation. I knew for sure we were in the right place.

I have already seen God connecting some dots since we have been here and I’m looking forward to some rest time with Him.  I know my path is always lit even when things are hard to see for me. It's at these time we have to remember that He is holding our feet in the palm of his Hands.

Gems we need to trust God because He will always be that lamp to our feet and light to our path.

You Can't Get There From Here

Have you ever felt like that? Like God is calling you to some new place and you have no idea how to get there, especially from where you are now? 

We think we own our lives and we should have all the details worked out but that is not what God says.

Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.

We are continually being called to new places in our walk with the Lord. The problem is we want all the directions before we leave. We want the future destination, the money for the trip and the exact directions of how we are going to get there before we decide if we will go. Unfortunately that is not how God works. He asks us to walk through the open door first, then He will provide the how, what, where and when.

The unknown is what will bring God all the glory, other wise we are still in control and there is no faith required for the trip. We have to trust God and be OK with not understanding How He does things.

Proverbs 20:24 A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?

Recently I was in New York and my brother and I were going to take a walk in the woods. The problem was we were in about 2 feet of snow and I was having trouble keeping up. Being the brilliant person I am I realized if I walked in his footsteps it was a lot easier. I didn't have to make a path.

The Lord spoke to me and said this is how it is with our spiritual walk. We meet up with Jesus and He has the way planned. He will go before us and protect us, we just have to trust He knows the best way.

We start off with Him but soon we can't handle not being in control and we go our own way.

I will share my latest testimony with you as an example.

I knew the Lord was telling me it was time to leave my current home so I started to pack. I had no job or new address lined up but I got my boxes.  A few weeks into my decision to move I began to feel anxious about all the uncertainty. Yes I am still human. 

It was Christmas Eve night and I decided to pray, again, for a job and my finances. I started praying financial prayers from the Bible over my life.  As I was praying out loud my phone rang. It was my sweet sister Roxanne asking if I knew anyone looking for a job. Seriously, it was Christmas Eve, who calls about jobs on Christmas Eve! Only God!  He was providing the next step.

You see Gems the first step is to decide you will follow God then He will move again. One of my favorite life verses is Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,a light on my path.

It's OK to make plans after you hear from God BUT you have to be willing to move forward in the Lord's direction even when it doesn't make sense, especially when it doesn't make sense.

Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails

Gems I don't know where the Lord might be leading you but I do know it can be a very scary place. I want to encourage you to say yes. Make the first step, decide, then He will show you the next step. 

The going part is your decision the how it happens is God's responsibility. He always provides provision for His purpose.

I may fall along the way and I may make some wrong turns but God will direct me. And He will direct you!  

Proverbs 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

These scriptures are in the Bible because He knows we need them. Jesus knew we would need encouragement and coaxing and obviously so did the ones who went before us.

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Jeremiah 42:3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do."

I have decided to follow Jesus and I know He will make my steps firm even when I'm having trouble keeping up. We will be OK because with Jesus we can get there  from where ever we are.

 Psalm 37:5-7 Commit your way to the Lord;trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,your vindication like the noonday sun.