REWARD by Paul Baloche

Chasing Mistaken Rabbits In The Mirror???

Ok, I'm back! I was rereading again & guess what! I made another mistake! Funny thing is I misspelled the word mispelled! I decided not to change it because it was just to appropriate! Sometimes mistakes just are what they are & we have to move on. Then I looked at how I signed out, Mistaken. Hmmm, my carriage got before the horse, the egg before the chicken & the....anyway, you get the point! Now, stop a minute, put your finger to your lips & move it up & down really fast! Ready, go!............................................................
I'm just wondering how many of you actually did that? What sound did you get? This is my brain! If you hooked it up to a monitor that is what you would hear! In fact, the first one to be able to adequately put that sound into words I will send you a Free copy of  "God's Mirror" by Max Lucado. This book also includes a CD with Max Lucado reading the first part of the book & a song. Could someone please catch that rabbit I've been chasing! Having said that, I believe at this moment that God wants us to reflect his glory! I didn't choose this book, God did! He is a God of laughter, happiness, kindness, all things good & beautiful! "And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter & brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18. God is humorous! Reflect Him! Matthew 5:14-16 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand-SHINE! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." Reread that if you must! It's great! Can you just see yourself as a lamp stand or a street light? I love how this version says "bringing out the God-colors". Great imagery! So, now go out there & let God's light shine through you & reflect His beauty, His God-colors  onto all the world! And don't forget to laugh! "It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God that is afraid to laugh in His presence." George MacDonald, in Sir Gibbie,

Reminder: Spell that sound! It's an awesome book!

Finger to my lips
Stephanie Goode

Mistake! Edit! Mistake! Part 1

This morning I have been going back through my posts, rereading, seeing if there's anything God wants to remind me of, & what did I find? Mistakes! In almost every post! I coulda swore I went back & corrected my mistakes! Oh well, I went back in & edited them. Hmmm, do I even need to say it? MISTAKES! We all make em, sometimes the same one. We correct them...sometimes, & sometimes we just thought we did but we didn't exactly learn the first time what God was trying to say & then again other times we make innocent mistakes because we get so excited & put the carriage before the horse! I noticed that in my writing I usually made mistakes like mispelling words or leaving words out, when I got excited about what God was telling me. No harm there!  Right? But, in life we need to be careful that in our excitement for God we take the time to discern what the Holy Spirit is telling us. It may seem that there is no harm if what we are doing is for God but truthfully, even though it feels good & right it might not exactly be what God wants us to say or the exact time he wants us to say it. So, having said that I'm going to stop here. I know that God has something he's wanting me to see or he wouldn't have brought this to my attention. I am, the next mistake waiting to happen! Stay tuned..."for the rest of the story". 

Mistaken!
Stephanie Goode

Doggy Days

I walked out onto the porch this morning & as usual my dog raises her sleepy head with expectant eyes. I can see the questions in her eyes, "are you gonna pet me this time? Please, please!" If I don't she will sadly lay her head back down, but if I even speak that tail starts a thumping. If I pet her, oh lawdy, she's all over that! It's never enough! Oh she will moan & groan & talk to me, I can just see it in her body language that if I would just get down on that porch she would curl right up in my lap. If I try to leave she moves closer & paws at my leg begging to stay & keep petting her! She just loves the attention. She even likes to be sung to! A thought came to me while this exchange was going on between us that God, our Shepherd, our Master does the same thing for us except even more! He will always stop & pet us, let us curl up in his lap (even when we stink), talks to us, sing to us & unlike us he will never leave us or stop paying us attention. There are so many verses that tell us that he will never leave us, never forsake us but I'm just gonna tell you about some of my favorites. Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I mean, how much love is that? He's got the whole world in his hands & yet he can love us each as we are so unconditionally. Hello, how many of us can do that? Ner one of us! I for one have a hard time loving period. With love comes trust. Both issues for me. How sad it is that instead of Jesus walking past & not petting me I'm the one walking past him instead of rubbing up against his legs like my cat does or pawing & begging for his attention like my dog. When I was gently petting her along her snout & above the eyebrows she finally just closed her eyes, took a deep breath & relaxed. She was completely at ease & loved. She felt safe & cared for. So easily loved. Why can't we or I do this? On one hand God is like our dog because he is so eager to love us unconditionally, he's justa thumping that tail & in another way he is like us in that he is our Master & wants us to be eager to be loved. He is trustworthy! Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. That is so God! God is so good! Makes me wanna shout, throw my hands up & shout, come on now & shout! I asked him what he wanted me & you to know about his love & that is the verse he showed me! I love it! Lets embrace it! In fact I am writing it on an index card & sticky notes, gonna lay it around, put it in my car to remind myself to pray this every morning! Join me!  

Lord, thank you that you love me so much that you sent your son to die for my sins, which are many. Thank you for loving me unconditionally & never leaving me.  Forgive me for not loving you & trusting you as much as I should. Thank you that you take great delight in me, that you quiet me with your love, & that you rejoice over me with singing. Zephaniah 3:17. Lord, help me to be more like my dog who thumps her tail just at the sound of my voice or my cat who rubs up against me just be near me. In Jesus name!

Undeservedly, unconditionally Loved!!!
Stephanie Goode

MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This...Satan!

Run? or Stand!

Psalms 55 "Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;2 hear me & answer me. My thoughts trouble me & I am distraught 3at the voice of the enemy...4My heart is in anguish within me...6Oh that i had the wings of a dove! I would fly away & be at rest 7I would flee far away & stay in the desert; 8I would hurry to my p lace of shelter, far from the tempest &  storm." NIV  I also like how The Message reads, "Open your ears, God, to my prayer; don't pretend you don't hear me knocking. Come close & whisper your answer. I really need you. I shudder at the mean voice, quail before the evil eye as they pile on the guilt, stockpile angry slander. My insides are turned inside out; specters of death have me down...Who will give me wings, I ask-wings like a dove? Get me out of here on dove wings; I want some peace & quiet. I want a walk in the country, I want a cabin in the woods. I'm desperate for a change from rage & stormy weather."  Have you ever felt like that? Yesterday was one of those days! I was angry, grouchy, moody, frustrated, just not fun to be around & I even prayed "God, please! Take me today! I'm tired, I don't wanna do this, I give up!" I wanted to run far away! A thought kept running through my mind though. A thought that God put there intentionally the night before. I was listening to a sermon by Joyce Meyers & she was talking about running. Why do we run?  When we run we always run to the desert & eventually God is going to bring us back & make us deal! Jonah ran, got swallowed by a big fish & then got vomited back up & sent on his merry way to Ninevah! God's will & plan will be fulfilled. Sometimes we have to stay in the belly of a nasty ole fish, go through some things, so that when we come out of it we can wash the seaweed, slime & guts off our faces & remove the scales from our eyes & heart so that we can be obedient to God's calling! So, what I'm saying is God was working on me. He had revealed some things to me that I had asked Him to reveal & I was having to sort, deal & accept. Ask, believe, receive! I received, now through Him I'm working on accepting it. It's so easy to run & so natural, but God wants us to stand & face our problems because through him anything is possible & when we are weak He is strong! I choose to STAND! Don't let Satan win! Face him in the name of Jesus & keep kicking him in his scrawny tail & watch that little piggy cry "Stop, stop, stop" all the way home!


Standing!
Stephanie Goode

MOAB, JERUSALEM, ZION! OH MY!

Good morning yall! Sorry I didn't get back as quickly as I had hoped but life gets busy, things start happening & God starts moving! So, about Saturday & how God spoke to me. Of course you know I've been struggling, confused, not sure what step to take next so Saturday was no different. My good friend Karen text me just to see how it was going with the book we are reading, The 4:8 Principle, & I reply "good, haven't gotten to far, etc, need to go far, far away so I can read, study, make decisions etc., without other responsibilities", and she replies, "I believe God wants to heal you right where you are! Don't let Satan creep in, you have control, take it now in the name of Jesus! You kick his rear on your side of the phone & I got him on my end." She's my little fire ball! I just ball her up like a bowling ball & send her straight at him! Like she said, " I'm all over him!!! And I see nothing but flames fleeing in the distance! Whoop Whoop!" So thankful! Meanwhile, on my end I was kinda half hearted at first because I felt defeated but I decided "no, I'm gonna stop what I'm doing & give an honest try!" As I started to pray I just said "Lord, I don't even know where to start, what to say, Holy Spirit speak for me." God said "I hear you, get your Bible out & pray through it." Me, "but I don't even know where to start, what to even read! Show me." So I picked up my "New" Bible & just opened it trusting God to lead me. Where he led me was, umm, weird, confusing & perfect! Buckle up friends, here we go! Jeremiah 48. Go ahead, go read it! I scanned it thinking, "ok what's He trying to tell me?" Moab? This is weird! Then it started to hit me. "Oh ok, I see what I think you might be saying, not sure I'm liking this, maybe this isn't really what he meant for me to turn to. Let me just get out my "Old" Bible cuz ya know the pages aren't so stiff." It kept trying to open to a book marked page and I knew about where Jeremiah was so I completely took my thumbs off the pages then closed my eyes and opened the Bible. Yup, you guessed it! It opened to the book marked page which was Zephaniah 3:17! Comforting, my very favorite vs. Ya know I have never read the whole chapter 3 so I decided to & lo & behold if it didn't say things along the same line as Jeremiah 48, just a little nicer! Ok so next to that is a devo and the scripture Psalm 126:1-2 caught my eye. Surely not! Mmm hmm, I looked it up. How fitting! I mean really! As I said before, God is so funny! He can get his point across even while being loving & humorous! There's a lesson there, pretty sure! Alright, so let's go back & take at look at all this & see what God was revealing to ME about ME.  Jeremiah 48 is talking about the city of Moab, full of pride, arrogance, boasting, refusing to listen to God's instruction, lazy & how she, Moab will be punished & destroyed, ashamed, barren, they will scatter & run from God,joy & laughter gone, no song & laughter. And at the same time God says he will weep, wail, cry out, mourn for Moab & its people. Vs 36 says So my heart laments for Moab like a flute. NIV or My heart moans for Moab,...like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. The Message. Vs. 38 ...In Moab there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants. Declares the Lord or like pottery no one wants I will smash her to bits. The Message. Moab has become an object of ridicule. You cannot hide or run, vs 44 says (my words) whether you run in terror or are climbing out of a pit, you will be caught in a trap! But after her year of punishment, vs 44, "I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come." Declares the Lord. This is harsh! I AM MOAB! Prideful, refusing to change, rebellious, etc. God is & has been patient & tolerant. To me this was a warning & a promise of restoration.  Now, Zephaniah 3:17 says "The Lord your God is with you (present among you MSG), he is mighty to save (a strong warrior there to save you), He will take great delight in you (happy to have you back), he will quiet you with his love (he'll calm you with his love), he will rejoice over you with singing (& delight you with his songs.). Isn't that beautiful & reassuring? After getting a butt chewing that verse was the salve I needed to soothe my wounds. Chapter 3 talks about Jerusalem who was rebellious & defiled, obeyed no one, she accepts no correction, does not trust in the Lord, & she does not draw near to her God, Vs 1-2. God thinks surely after he has destroyed everything Jerusalem will change their ways & find a way of escape from her troubles & relief from the punishment, but they don't so in vs 8 he says " if that's what you want, stick around. Your day in court is coming & I will bring evidence & will pour out my wrath...the whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger."  Then he declares restoration. He will send their enemies running & in vs 13 they will be "content with who they are & where they are, unanxious, they'll live at peace." Scolding, punishing, loving & restoring. Are you getting the picture yet? I am also Jerusalem! Let's look quickly at Psalm 126. When the Lord returned the captives to Zion they were "like men who dreamed." Vs 2 "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy." This is what God promises when we obey! They proclaimed all the wonder God had done for them. Vs 4-6 MSG "And now, God, do it again-(Restore out fortunes O Lord NIV) bring rains to our drought-stricken lives so those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, so those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing." I love that! That was my prayer! Needless to say I got put in my place & lifted up at the same time. Isn't God awesome?! The way he speaks to me never ceases to amaze me! I AM MOAB! I AM JERUSALEM! I WANT TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO ZION! How about you? Did I correct it all in that one day? No, but I am a work in progress & God is happy about that. In fact He has chosen to use me in big ways in the last few days & has blessed me for my efforts according to his Grace! Even in my broken, imperfect way! He can, will, & wants to use you too! Let Him! You want regret it!


Striving
Stephanie Goode

A day in my world

Howdy! How has your week been? Thursday I took a trip to Longview with my witty friend Holli! It's never a dull moment when we're together! I love it! Well, while we were talking she suggested that maybe I try getting up the next morning and claiming that today I choose to be happy. So, I did! Friday morning I did some Bible study-felt encouraged, then I decided to go to the gym because this really does make me happy, then I went to a counseling meeting in my work out clothes, no make-up & a hat! It felt so good just to BE! Now, let me share a little of God's sense of humor. I was in Wal-mart pushing the buggy, thinking & praying. Scary thing for a blonde to do all this multi tasking! As I was walking down the frozen food aisle I thought to myself "ya know I really should be on my knees praying in fact I want to be on my knees" (but of course I wouldn't do that, I'm in the middle of Walmart for goodness sakes) Ha! No sooner than the thought went through my mind my pen literally fell out of my hand. Can you just see it? I laughed to myself & thought "ok, your so funny, I get ya." So I bent down, picked up my pen and whispered a short breath prayer! Isn't he funny? It's as if he said,"o yeah? Ok here's your chance! I dare ya, get down there!" In Psalm 37:4 he says, "Delight yourself in the ways of the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Ha, ha! I Love it! So be careful what you desire, he may just give it to you! Be ready to be obedient. It may just be something small & simple & then again it may be something that takes you completely out of the box, out of your comfort zone. It may also be a desire that is not righteous or in your best interest but because you insist he may allow you that desire in order for you to  learn & bring you back to him in allignment with his will so that he may strengthen & mature you. Well, after a nice afternoon satan decides he aint liking this too much so he decided to steal my sunshine. What a...devil! Thing is, he used my husband to do it & of course I fell for it! I am so bad about that. So, we fought all evening! Ugh, not fun times! Satan knows that I am struggling to do what's right and he also knows how dern stubborn I can be so he tries me often. Freakn wears me out! But God never leaves me, he's there offering assistance all I  gotta do is take his hand! Can I get an AMEN?! I'm afraid I failed, once again! Have you ever been there? Ugh, it is so hard to eat crow the next day! Well, I did. Stay tuned to hear how God spoke to me on Saturday.  Meanwhile, feel free to comment, ask questions, share stories or testimonies, or if you just simply have a prayer request. I would so love to interact with you & hear your stories & pray for & with you. If you have something personal you can email me at thewildflower_6@yahoo.com. 


Just your average girl,
Stephanie Goode

From the heart!

Today is, the last couple of days have been, one of those days that I think how can I post when I feel like I do? Depressed, overwhelmed, confused, unworthy, broken & the list goes on. Well I said I would share my struggles so here we go. Maybe you're having one of those days too. I pray that you aren't, but if so, let's work this out together & see what he has in store for us if we trust him enough to give us what is best. Do you? Do I? Ouch, I would have to say that most of the time I am a "doubting Thomas", a "Gideon", a "David", a "Sarah" & so on & so on. Ya know these feelings we have can & usually are self inflicted with a heaping cup of Satan. The Jerk! I have my thorn in my side as Paul wrote about in 2Corinthians 12:7-9 & I have asked God to remove it & the only thing I hear whispered in my ear is "my grace is sufficient for you." God also promises that he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear", & here's the part we leave out, "without giving us a way out". There it is! Plain as day! 1Corinthians 10:13. He will send us a lifeboat but will we take it is the question. I believe that for me, today, right now, for this moment, my way out is writing to you. As I write my thoughts it causes me to dig into my Bible. To put my focus on Christ, where it belongs! If my nose is in the word it can't be sniffing around seeing if there's any scraps, or any bones to dig up. Let's dig up God's word right now!
Doubt-distrust, to be uncertain about, consider questionable or unlikely, hesitate to believe. Look at this way-Distrust (God), uncertain about (God), consider (God) questionable or unlikely, hesitate to believe (God). Is that how I feel or what I believe about God? "Of course not!" we say. Really? Because when we doubt his promises this is what we are telling him. I don't trust you, I'm not sure, I doubt it! Wow! I have literally said those things to him, in those very words! When I look at it in writing I want to hide! When I stop & consider the last few days, I know God has been speaking to me because he has heard my pleas, but my response to his response was "I know, I know your right, I'm trying, I'm just not good enough, I'm not that strong, I just don't understand." Whatever, I do know, quit trying & just do it, I am good enough, I am strong enough, & I do understand-enough. I haven't received a Bible vs from twitter in over a month & all of a sudden I get 3! Here's the first one, Ezekiel 18:32 "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord God. "Therefore, repent & live!  On this day I was thinking about my physical death & how I wish it were now, but God is talking about my spiritual death. Cuz hey, I was ready to give up on it all! Second vs. was Matthew 10:38 And he who does not take his cross & follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Again, I thought "your right, I am not worthy of you & picking up that cross & following you is just too much." Pity party! Now the third vs which came in yesterday was Samuel 22:31 As for God, His way is blameless; the Word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. Now, my hormones were leveling off a bit by then & I had actually just said those words to myself, You are my refuge you are my shield. Satan loves it when I'm down, but I was on the way up so that scripture felt good to me. I can do this! Right? I walked through Walmart quoting fragmented scripture & Psalms 23. Now Psalms 23 wasn't in the right order because for the life of me I couldn't remember it so I beat on Satan with "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, I shall not be in want, I shall want for nothing, yea thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, you anoint my head with oil, u lead me beside still waters, you prepare me a table, somen bout my enemies, You'll take care of em that's all I know, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever! Amen, amen, amen! Shew! God really doesn't care if its in order or the exact words just as long as we are calling out to him! Yes, again, I was discouraged this morning but the more I seek the better I feel. Consequently, my devos for the last couple days have been about inspiration of spiritual initiative & initiative against depression & despair. But guess what! I didn't read them until today! God has it all layed out, I've just had my nose to the ground sniffing out scraps! God wants us to take initiative that is given to us by the Holy Spirit & rise up, pick up our mats, stretch out our hand, dip in the river & do the impossible, overcome life not be overcome with life. All this in His name & through his power! The second we obey, the depression is lifted.
Mark 11:23-24 I tell you the truth, If anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  24 Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.



The message is this: Trust & obey! For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust & obey.



The Doubter,
Stephanie Goode

Just getting started

Hi! Just starting my blog & am so excited! I have so much to learn, but am ready to increase my knowledge! What's on my mind at 1am? Well Sleep for one but also thinking about how to defeat satan. Deep subject but well worth it as he seems to keep 1 toe in the door with every positive move I make toward God and doing what is right. My situation is complicated but oh so common. We can discuss it later, just wanted to throw that out there as that is what I have been struggling with this evening. Looking for peace & comfort! Lord thank you for your many blessings today & for all the ones to come! Thank you for the peaceful rest I am about to get in your name!


As always your struggling bummer lamb!
Stephanie Goode