I read something the other day that has kind of stuck with me. It's from a book I'm currently reading: Forgotten God, by Frances Chan.

"Some of you would like it if I said we were going to find a healthy balance between unhealthy extreems. That's not what we're going to do. When we are referring to God, balance is a huge mistake. God is not just one thing we add to the mix called life. He wants an invitation from us to permeate everything and every part of us. In the same way, seeking a "healthy balance" of the Holy Spirit assumes that there are some who have too much Holy Spirit and others who have too little. I have yet to meet anyone with too many Holy Spirit. Granted, I've met many who talk about Him to much, but none who are actually overfilled with His presence.

Is it possible to get enough or even too much God? Is there a point when a person can be satisfied with the amount of intimacy, knowledge, and power of God he or she experiences? I don't see how there can be, because doesn't every encounter with God only cause us to thirst for him more?

Let me be clear. This is not a call to misinformed extremism, but an acknowledgment that as believers we can never be "done" with God. He is infinite and we are finite; there will always be more of His character to discover, more of His love to experience, and more of His power to use for His purposes. I can't say exactly what will happen when you admit that you can never fully know or experience enough of the Holy Spirit yet choose to seek him regardless. I know only that when you surrender full to the Spirit, Christ will be magnified, not you (John 16:14).

And perhaps the core issue is really about our holding back from giving ourselves to God, rather than ou getting "too much" of Him. Perhaps when a person says, "I'd just like a little God, thank you very much," they are really saying, "I'd rather not give the parts of my life that I really care about over to God, so I'll just hold on to this, that, oh, and that, too..."

It doesn't work that way. When I read Scripture, I see the truth and necessity of a life wholly surrendered to and dependent upon the Holy Spirit."

I say that I want God, I pray words and sing songs that state He is more than enough for me, but do I live that way? No - I certainly do not. I whine when things don't go the way I think they should. I cry and get depressed when nothing seems to change - or everything changes! I do not rest in His will - accepting and trusting that He will fulfill all His promises to me - and more than that - that He really does have the best in mind for me. He has planned for me - carefully. He knows my desires, in fact some are even the same as His! :) 

I've been stressing about my life lately - why is this like this or that not like that... Why is nothing the way I think it should be? Well if I truly believe what I say I believe, I know that nothing matters but the fact that God loves me, He is the only one that I need to love me, He is constant and unfailing. If I'm not feeling the Holy Spirit comforting me - which is exactly what He was sent to do (John 14:26) then it's probably because what I'm really saying is - I just want a little of God, just when and where I want Him, to help me here - to do this for me. Don't do your will, God - do mine... Which always ends in pain.

Lord help me to truly surrender to and become completely dependent upon you - and you alone - no other ideas or dreams!

The Pledge from "Courageous"

THE RESOLUTION
I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.
I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.
I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.
I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.
I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.
I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.
I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.
I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.
I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.
I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.
I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.
I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. ---Joshua 24:15

Commitment

So I think I have a problem with commitment. Really, commitment to anything: exercise, reading the Bible, keeping my room clean... the list could go on and on. So it has to be about discipline, right? I'm not disciplined enough? But I'm pretty committed to other things, like keeping up with my favorite TV show, or eating 3 meals a day. Maybe it's not so much about discipline as it is about priorities. What are my priorities? If I think I can't live without something - wouldn't I place that thing pretty high on my list of priorities and then by default be pretty committed to it? And probably be pretty disciplined in keeping up with it.

I think this can be applied to relationships as well. And since I do not have a husband I am going to stick with this line of thinking in comparison to our relationship with God. I know that God is my creator, my provider, my sustainer... right? If I truly believed that God was everything I need or ever could need, why do I not have the discipline to read His word, or to talk to Him in prayer for any length of time?

I sometimes think, when Lord are you going to do this, or why haven't you answered this request, or fulfilled this desire? But have I made God a priority in my life?
He loves us so much. Why don't we make Him a priority in our lives as He did in His life by giving His own Son to die that we may live?

"Lord, help me to get my priorities strait!"

Wow - happy New Year! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I guess I've been to busy/distracted to post lately. Which Iguess is an ok thing. You know - life is good - God is faithful - it's a new year and I'm not sure if I mentioned this but I have 2 new people in my life!

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My brother and his wife had their second child over thanksgiving: Elora
Elora Aislyn Story 7 lbs12 oz born November 25th.
So she is about 7 weeks old now. She is so cute and cuddly!
Her big sister Sadie is growing so much as well. And I love her to death - even if she does always call me Aunt Stephi (my sister's name!!!).

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Then mid December my sister had her baby! A bit early, but both baby and momma are doing very well! A boy (yes I said - a boy - even though I thought it would be a girl! Oh well!) - David Dean Dumer 6lbs 11oz. born on December 17th. He is so tiny and yet he is like a baby dinosaur - he's long and strong! :) And at 3 weeks - he just keeps getting cuter!
He is quite the little man and he has definatly been a welcome addition to Wii Wednesdays! :) He will probably grow up to beat his daddy as well as uncle Joe and aunt Tate! Though I think I am not his favorite person yet... Grandma Mary is! (next to his rents... of course :) )
Oh well - give me a year or two! :)

For those who are unaware: At all military base theaters, the National Anthem is played before the movie begins.

This is written by a Chaplain in Iraq :

I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the music stopped.

Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.

Here in Iraq , 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again and the Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect 1,000 Soldiers standing at attention to do?? Frankly, I expected some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie to start.

But No!!... You could have heard a pin drop, while every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of the auditorium, then a dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off: "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you. Remember them as they fight for us!

Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. Many have already paid the ultimate price.

Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins
LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in Iraq , north of Baghdad

Uncommon...

imeem.com

Uncommon - Greg Long & Kristy Starling

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So this is my theme song right now. I listen to it everyday - and I am continually blessed. Here are the words:

What if there's something bigger for me out there
Than the comfort of a life on this middle ground
I've played it safe but now I can't help but wonder
If maybe I've been missing out

'Cause I look around and see a sea of people
Everybody's moving in the same direction
And I think it's time for me to break away, break away

Chorus
I want to finally take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon

What if the right thing was harder than the wrong thing
But I did it anyway
Standing strong even when no one else was watching
What if I really lived that way

Every heart has its defining moment
This is mine and I'm not gonna miss it

I want to finally take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon

I don't care if it makes me look different
I'm never letting go of my conviction
Let the world see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon

I'm done with the easy way out I
'm done with the easy way out
Done with the easy way out
With the easy way out

What if I made it to the end of my days here
Only to find that my legacy was nowhere to be found
I don't want to waste another second
Give me the strength to start right now
Right now, right now, right now, right now, right now, right now

I take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon

I don't care if it makes me look different
I'm never letting go of my conviction
Let the world see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon Uncommon
Call it uncommon... I'm done with the easy way out

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What a great outlook... more later! :)

Wow...

I really like not doing things the traditional way... but is this taking it a bit too far? :)

Introductions

I would like to introduce you all to my new niece - well maybe it's a nephew...! My sister had her first ultrasound yesterday and we got to see the pictures, here is my favorite:

So I think that it's going to be a girl, it doesn't matter, but I still think its true! So if I refer to it as a her - it's just because I hate saying "it"! Lets pray for mommy and baby to have a good FULL term!

My Utmost - Who rules?

June 23, 2009
"Acquainted With Grief"
He is . . . a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief —Isaiah 53:3

We are not "acquainted with grief" in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it. We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin. We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin— and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue— if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.

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So - I'm convicted. After reading this morning's My Utmost for His Highest, Mr. Chambers has brought something to my attention that I know - but haven't thought of in a while. First - I think it's important that we see sin for what it is, "blatant mutiny against God." I have always thought of sin as anything that separates us from God. But I think it's even more than that - when we sin - we are choosing to let that rebellion against God to rule in our lives. When I choose to sin - I am choosing my master, choosing to allow God to die in me. Is that what I want? Is that what we should want? Are the temporal things we struggle with worth killing Christ within us?

You know - when I was younger there was an issue that I struggled with - telling lying. The first time was really hard, but you know every time I told another lie - it got easier! It was because I was allowing sin to rule within me, allowing God's life in me to die. Until I realized that it was a part of me, which scared me. I thought - I have to work harder now at telling the truth than lying. It had taken hold and I was this sin's servant. God forbid!

But there is hope! Mr. Chambers goes on to say "if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed" - Praise the Lord. God gives us the key - by the Blood of Jesus Christ - we can choose God. Choose to serve God with each decision, and every time we do - we kill sin in our lives a little more. I think that, the death of sin in our lives, in itself is worth making those "true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report" choices! And how amazing it will be when the very nature of God is our nature. Every choice - without a thought - will be for life! Are we choosing life today? Are we choosing to kill sin within our will? Our mind? Our emotions? Our desires? What are we doing with the choice we have?

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Lord I pray that you would help me choose you, choose to kill sin within me. Let every part of me be choose your life. Show me the places that I still allow sin to rule within me. Show me how I choose to be in blatant mutiny with you! That is not my desire, God, I desire you to be the only Lord in my life, that I would worship you with everything I do. That sin would not have hold of me and that the work, Jesus, you did on the cross would be perfected within my soul. Let me be so in tune with you that your nature is my nature. Let me see the true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy things, and not only think on them - but choose them. Let me choose life over death with everything I do!
~ Amen

Probably my all time favorite skits!