DOES GOD KNOW YOUR NAME?

Wow what a question - Does God know your name? My goal this year is to read

through the bible. As I was reading through Exodus I was struck by this line:

Exodus 33: 17 And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked,

because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

Imagine God knowing your name, but how do we know in our hearts that God knows

our names? The one thing Moses did was talk to God on a regular basis. However,

have we really talked to God lately or have we just lobed requests at Him as though

He worked a fast food drive-in?

Moses did not do that - in fact when he met with God, it was on God's

timetable - not his. Who in his right mind would climb a mountain and talk with God

40 days - surely no one I know would take that time today!!

But that is just what we need to do today - climb a mountain and be with God!!

Climbing a mountain in Mose's day was no easy feat - steep, rough mountain trails,

really I would be hard pressed to call them trails more like a path cut out by some

wild animal. Not an easy path to follow, but when meeting with the Lord of Glory the

trip is surely worth it!!

Now flash forward to today - we make climbing mountains easy!! We blow holes in

them and put tunnels through them, or we blast away rock and put a nicely paved

road through them. But even with all our short cuts - a trip up a mountain still isn't

easy, especially if you aren't used to the trip.

Picture a tall mountain looming in the distance and the thought of a nice Sunday

drive comes to mind. You begin your decent up the mountain and you think that

this was a great idea - what a beautiful day.

After a short time of driving and looking at the scenery you realize that your chest

feels heavy and it is getting hard to breathe. So you pull over at a rest stop and sit for

awhile - hoping and praying that pressure lessens. Some of us will turn around at

the pit stop and say the pressure is too much I have to turn back...they never met

their goal of making it to the top of the mountain.

Others of us though will rest a bit and then continue on. After we begin going back up

the mountain we travel for a little bit aware of height, but still enjoying the drive. All

of a sudden you get a violent retching in your stomach and you think you are going to

throw up - so you pull over and try to breath slowly. You find a little grocery store and

you go in and buy soda crackers - after sitting for about 2 hours your stomach begins

to feel better. Now you must decide do you proceed on or turn around and head

home. A lot of us will turn around and say something like the ride was so very nice,

but it is getting late and I don't want it to be dark when I try coming back down the

mountain. A small portion of us will continue up to the top of the mountain.

The trip that you imagined was a short, scenic trip, but that isn't what it turned out to

be. It has been beautiful it is true, but it has been hard. You are tired, worn out,

even a little light headed. It is now dark and the mountain roads seem to drop off

into nowhere, but you are determined to make it to the top of the mountain.

It is now midnight and you make it to the top of the mountain. You pull off at the

last scenic rest stop, but you see no glorious view - only darkness. So you sleep and

rest awhile. You made this trip and you are not going to miss the view for anything.

Hours latter something wakes you gently..it is the light splashing across your face.

You sit up excitedly knowing that you will finally see what you have been seeking

and you aren't disappointed. This is something you will never forget, but what does

that have to do with God knowing our names?

The journeys are the same and there will be problems, pressures, and darkness - but

if we push-on we will not be disappointed. So what did Moses ask God for when he

got to the top. Was is money, fame, healing, etc...no this is what Moses asked for:

Exodus 33: 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

All Moses wanted was to see God - thats it to stand in His presence. How many of us

would have made that journey just to see God - really not many. We are happy with

a safe distant relationship. We explain it away by saying we don't have time, we are

busy for the kingdom. Or we that if we face that many problems, then God doesn't

want us to climb the mountain.

Do you want God to know your name - really? Do you want to fight your way up the

mountain to just meet with God? If so then begin the journey today and start up that

hard path, but remember you will meet obstacles. How you deal with those

obstacles

determines whether you will see the view or not!!

Exodus 33: 17 And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked,

because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

Exodus 33: 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

I have to say this has been a very hard winter for us, but through it all I have learned a lot. I have learned that God is faithful in everything and that I don't have near the faith I should. I have learned that Jesus loves me more than I love myself and loves my husband more than I love him. I have learned that God is moving in our lives and that soon something good is going to happen because God is good.

Then end of winter and the beginning of spring...yes I am looking forward now and not looking back.

The End Of Days and Gods Valentine

The last few days I have been watching the news and expecting Jesus to return any second. The world is now seriously in what the bible would call 'birth pains' (Matthew 24:8) and from here on in it only looks to get worse. The weather conditions, the wars, the killings and the attacks on Israel are going to keep increasing until Jesus comes again.

Some are going to attribute the weather conditions to global warming, but rest assured this was talked about before any factory or car ever belched out any toxic fume. The bible talks about weather conditions in the end times and contrary to Hollywood - man will not be able to save itself from what is coming. There will be no legislation, no scientific genius or group to ride into rescue us - all we will have is speculation and biblical prophecy.

The Bible also says that we are to expect wars and rumors of wars - well we certainly have those. The last century or so has been filled with war and violence; even now I think it would be hard for us to even find a place that isn't being touched by the hands of war. Legislators debate the ethics of war and the cost of war while young men and women die on the battle field and family and friends are left to bury the soldiers. Towns are ravaged by war and you can follow the processions of people that are left without home, father, mother, sister or brother. As much as we pray for peace and cry out for peace, peace will not come until the end.

As for the murders that scream into the headlines every other day - they have unfortunately become the norm. Right now - we are not shocked like we once were by killings in the malls, schools, workplaces and alleys of the country. Oh don't get me wrong - we still stare with disbelief that something like this could happen, but just as quickly we forget and move onto some other mayhem that catches our attention. May the Lord help us get through what is coming, because without Him no one will stand.

Despite all the prophecies we have concerning the weather, wars and killings, none is more spoken of in prophecy than Israel. Right now it looks like Israel stands alone in this world, from the UN to Iran and Russia to even some here is the US - all want Israel to fall. Israel has had enemies plotting her down fall since God established it, but rest assured what God has established cannot be destroyed. Yes for a time Israel will feel like all hope has been lost and they have no savior, but when Jesus steps foot on the Mount of Olives Israel will know that Jesus is truly the Messiah they have been waiting and praying for.

The time is indeed short and Jesus will call from the clouds to gather His people together. Why you may ask would He do such a thing? He will take His people from this earth even those in the graves because of the judgements of God that are coming. I often wondered why even the bodies in the graves, but I believe now that God does not want any part of His people being touched by the corruption that will sweep across this world.

People believe that a loving God would never punish the world, but God is more than loving He is also just. If someone killed someone in your family and the person stood before the judge and he let him go with no punishment would you feel justice has been served - NO. It is the same with God, even though He loves us all - there has to be punishment given. But you don't have to stand with those facing punishment - God paid the bail so to speak by sending His Son. Jesus died on a cross to save you and me from permanent separation from God.

Look and see how bad the world looks today - with Gods presence still in it and just imagine a place totally without God, no joy, no redemption, nothing but pain and suffering - that is a horrific punishment. To avoid that all you have to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus died on a cross to save you, and that He also rose again from the dead and that He is with God in heaven now. God loves you so much that He gave His only son for you, to save you...what do you say to that kind of love? This love is yours to accept or reject, no one can make that decision for you.

As I read this now - I don't so much see the gloom and doom, but rather I see hope. God sent Jesus to give us that hope and I pray that you share in that hope. With valentines day a few days away - remember that the greatest love you can experience is waiting for you. Call on the name of Jesus and accept Gods grace and forgiveness and see what living is really like.

May God Bless You!!!

Wow - I am amazed that it is almost a year since my last post. A lot has happened since last September. I got a permanent job - not just a long term temp job - however now I am beginning to question whether I am going to keep it or move back to temping.

God has been working and moving in my life and my husbands life greatly. Lets see last December my husband had begun experiencing chest pains - bad ones. They were bad to the point that he would have to stop what he was doing and sit down or lay down for at least a half hour.

Well my hubby has had a pacemaker since he was 10 and he is 41 now - so a little discomfort isn't anything unusual, but this pain was. So he began a serious of testing and the outcome wasn't looking too good. He had to miss time from work because the pain would exhaust him. So we did what we knew we should do - besides go see his doctors - pray!

We began to pray together and I sent out prayer requests to my Christian friends. But the pains kept getting worse - the more we prayed the worse they got. So we went to the prayer room in our church and had them lay hands on him and pray. We went too many times to count and now had our church praying for him as well.

Well the big news came around March sometime - his cardiologist thought his symptoms sounded like a series of small heart attacks, but he couldn't be sure until he was tested some more. So his doctor arranged for a specialist in Philly to see us. This would be one long day of testing and waiting. They wanted to do the tests because they figured the next logical step would be too do an Angio-gram (which my hubby certainly didn't want, and neither did I).

So up until the day that we went to Philly we prayed, went to the prayer room and had family, friends and the church family pray for him. The day for Philly had come and it was a miserably long day. We got to Philly around 9:30 a.m. and the day began with a chest x-ray, then an EKG, then a stress test and finally an echo cardiogram. He was examined by 3 Cardiologist - well around 3:15 we finally got to talk to the head Cardiologist. He told my hubby that he can find nothing wrong and it is in great shape considering really only one side of his heart works. They then cancelled the Angio-gram and said no further follow-ups were necessary.Now we are praying for his total healing and can't wait to share that with world.

My hubby has been able to give his testimony in church, to his cardiologist and the nurses and techs at the hospital where he goes for pacer checks. God has really moved in heart this year - my normally shy, timid hubby has been witnessing and giving God just praise and glory for all He has done.

Now we come to the end of summer and God still amazes. God is moving in a very powerful way in our lives - can't go into detail right now because I don't feel that is what God wants, but when I get the OK I will share it with you all.

Right now let me leave this post this way. If you have never accepted Jesus as your savior - its not too late. God loves you so very much that He gave what was most precious to Him - His son to die for us. We can't earn it, we can't work our way to God, we can't be 'good' enough, but we can be forgiven. To be forgiven we must accept God's gift freely and that is Jesus. If you want to be forgiven and made right with God then pray this prayer.

Dear Jesus,

I know I am a sinner and I need a Savior. Please forgive me, please come into my heart today. Thank you for coming to me just as I am today. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I may have power to live my life in a way that pleases you. Thank you Jesus for saving me, thank you for making me clean and new. Amen

If you prayed this prayer - please drop a post so that I know. May the God of all glory be with you.

Until Later

Yours in Christ, D

DAY 40

40 days of gifts have come to an end. Today's gift was a simple envelope that had 40 of 40 on the front and no peeking on the back. So I opened the envelope not expecting to find what I found. Inside the envelope was this note :

WE ARE COMING TO SEE YOU! Hi there! Hey There! We are

coming to see you the week end

of October 6th. Yep will will fly in

late Friday night, hopefully spend

Saturday with you in the 'City' and

have a 'girls' night of laughs, hugs,

games and whatever. Happy Birthday

Now who you may ask who is coming to see me? My two sisters and my mother are coming out to spend the weekend. I did ask my husband to take that Saturday off because well if we go into the 'city' I won't be the one driving, and I am sure my family will be thankful for that!! Not that I drive bad, but I don't know my way around and since my husband goes there quite frequently - seems a logical choice.

It is kind of funny that they are coming out since about a month ago my husbands brother asked me when my mom would be visiting because he would love to see her again. Now his brother only met my mom once and that was when we got married - so I guess she must have left an impression.

Well now I really have to scramble and finish rearranging my furniture and making the place shine - can't have company come into this mess. Although they are family so technically they aren't 'company' - they have to love me regardless, which is a good thing. Hmmmm I guess that is all the updating for now. I pray that you all have a very blessed day, and an even better week!!

Work, Earrings and Happy Cookies

Another week has come and gone, and I figured it was time to give an update on several things going on. Work...well they changed my job and gave my job to the new girl. I have to say she seems to be doing one part of the job pretty good, the other part she still needs work at. How do I like my new job? Answer...I wouldn't know - I haven't started it. Everytime I go to start it an emergency comes up, that relates to my old job and I have to help handle it. the new girl isn't up to speed yet on how to handle situations like that. Now today I am really supposed to start my new job - I will keep you posted and let you know if that actually occurs.

Now for the birthday - my 40th birthday is only days away, and I feel every bit of those 40 years plus a couple more thrown in for good measure. I am down to the last few packages that my sister sent me. If you don't remember my sister sent me a box with 40 gifts in it, and I am to open one a day. Well so far a brief run down on some things that I have gotten...2 votive candle holders, a teddy bear, an outfit, 2 pair of earrings, a key ring, 2 little lulu videos, a baby huey video, a felix the cat DVD, the mystery doily thingy, 2 book marks and a very snuggly wrap - which will probable wear out before winter is here at the rate I am using it. Well that brings you up to date on some of the birthday gifts.

Last weekend was my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary - and it went very well. We all took finger food deserts, cookies, cream puffs, strawberries dipped in chocolate, and then my in-laws has a small buffet catered in. Well I took cookies to the celebration and the lady who was from the catering company asked me if I wanted to bake some cookies for a fund raiser they are doing next weekend. The funds go to the Christian Childrens Retreat, and every year they have a small type of carnival. They have arts and crafts stands set up, ususally an auction, a bake sale obviously - thats what the cookies are for. So during the coming week I need to make cookie dough so I can bake them all off by Friday morning.

On Friday morning I need to run the cookies to a church by my parents house so that they can be platted up. I know I am going to make snicker doodles (yes they are a happy cookie), sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, maybe chocolate chip cookies, and possibly oatmeal cookies (but I haven't decided). So this weekend I need to go grocery shopping so that I have all the ingredients that I need so I don't have to go run out to get everything.

Well I think that brings you up to speed on everything - shoot it brings me up to speed on everything. Well I need to go finish getting ready for work remember it is TGIF (Today God Is First). Have a very safe and blessed weekend. I will talk to you later.

Tired, Exhausted, Just Plain Worn Out!!!

I think that describes just about everyone that I know. I know why I get to that point - I don't spend enough time in God's Word or in prayer like I should. When I don't take the time that I should to sit at Jesus' feet - I take all the anxiety that I should be casting on Him and carry it by myself. I was not built to carry that load and neither were you!

Others I know are tired because of the physical burdens they are carrying. They are sick in body, and it is trying to make them sick in spirit as well. This one is harder to get past because our ailment is always with us - reminding us at every turn that were tired, weak and broken.

Still for others it is stress in their jobs or home life that lay them out. I want you to know there is a savior who will take these burdens for you, but it's up to you to lay them down. Jesus will never force you to go where you don't want to go. So because of this a lot of us walk around - in chains that we can't see - but we can feel.

Some of you have given your lives and situations over to Jesus - let me tell on the day you did that the Angels in heaven rejoiced with you!!! However, you are at the place right now - where you feel beaten down, let down and alone. Now more than ever you need to be in God's house, with God's people, and in His word. We were not meant to stand alone - we are a body - that means I don't function well without you!!! Take some time to sit at His feet today. Cast your cares on Him - tell Him what frustrates you. He is tender, caring and gentle. Trust me when I say He will scoop you up into his arms, and hold you while you cry. Then when you are done - He will wipe your tears away. Let Him be the Father He was always meant to be.

Now there are those of you who will read this who have never given your hearts to Jesus. Some think there is plenty of time. No one is guaranteed of a tomorrow - if September 11th taught us anything its that your day can start out normal and then in a blink of eye end. You may not have another chance - today may be it - don't waste the opportunity. Still others of you feel - you are good enough, you give to the poor, support saving the environment - anyone you know would say you are a good person. In spite of your goodness - it isn't good enough to make it past a Holy God. God gave His Son for a reason - because He couldn't look on sin - not any of it. Now if I were to give you a gift and you look at it and say I don't need it. How do you think I would feel? Multiply that by a million times and it still won't touch how God feels when you reject His free gift thinking you are good enough.

Take time to ask Jesus into your heart. Tell Him that you accept the sacrifice He made on the cross, that you believe He died for your sins - and for mine. That you believe He died so you don't have too. Tell Him that you want Him to forgive your sins and come into your heart. That is as simple and as basic as it gets. No eloquent words needed - no Pastor required. Just a quiet conversation between you and the One who created you, and loves you more than you will ever know.

Well this isn't even remotely what I planned on writing today. I pray that each of you is blessed today!!