The "Monkeys on Our Backs"

Funny, but nevertheless true-this morning upon letting my lil' puppy back in from outside, he was running around the house with his lil' comfy coat on to keep warm. I began to attempt to be still and pray. I cried out to the Lord for Him to do things that only He can do. I started with my head held high looking to The Author and Finisher of Faith and pleading with Him to do a work in my life. As I continued in prayer, my head fell down almost completely between my knees, begging and praying for the Lord to just "show me what to do." As I closed out the prayer, I lifted my head and went to grab my cup of coffee and this is what I saw:
In case you need an interpreter for this photo, that's our puppy, Jitter-bug, with a "monkey on his back!" No joke, he really came inside and started to play while I was praying, and somehow the velcro of the monkey and the velcro of his lil' coat connected. I burst into laughter at first, thinking how cute and took a photo. Then it hit me, my dog has a "monkey on his back," what "monkeys on my back" am I carrying around that just "kinda adhere and stick to me?" As I think more about this, I think of leeches and bloodsuckers-at first not realizing they are there and then panicking (well I would!) that they are "stuck" to me.
So often in life, we don't even know it but "strongholds" start to stick to us--like "burs" and "thistles". They slowly creep there way in and before you know it, we are overtaken with it. It never just "BOOM!"-happens----it's always a little at a time, so subtly.
I took some time to ponder, what "monkeys were on my back" today that have adhered to me. The good news is that Jesus has told me and all of us whose eyes have been opened, 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

Shew! Fly Don't Bother Me....

A sweet friend of mine had her house "overtaken" by "FRUIT FLIES!" She said she tried everything to get rid of them-bleach, aerosols, you name it--she tried it. While chatting on-line w/her one evening (morning- uh hmm.) she exclaimed "A fruit fly just flew in my eye!" I remember bursting into laughter and began googling how to rid fruit flies so as to help her resolve her pesty problem. We chatted about how to get rid of them and then soon after I went on about my daily routine forgetting all about her new pets (no i didn't misspell pests--they had really taken over and became the house pets! LOL :-P).

As the story goes, I kept thinking about these fruit flies and began to wonder how do they even come about? I knew I had to get back onto google and learn more. I began researching the life of a fruit fly and it began to become a spiritual reality to me. Read on:

Fruit Flies begin their journey by attacking decaying organic matter and by surviving in decomposing fruit. They attack the fruit, infect it with bacterias causing further rotting and contamination. A fruit fly lays its eggs in the decaying fruit and within 30 HOURS (not days-HOURS) the larvae emerge. A female can lay up to 400-500 eggs at one time! Once the larvae emerge, they feed for six days on the fermented surface. They then turn into adult fruit flies and begin reproducing within 2 days repeating the aforesaid procedure. This means that one little fruit fly lays 400-500 eggs and then those little eggs become adults within 8 days and multiply again laying 400-500 eggs and then those 800-1000 little eggs- turned-flies continue laying more eggs and then those flies, in turn, lay more eggs and so on and so on; hence the home is overtaken by the infestation of fruit flies. "Once these little pests settle in, these uninvited guests know how to overstay their welcome!" They then begin to seek out tiny spaces and cracks which then harbor 1000's of larvae. The infestation cannot be eliminated without eliminating the source. The BEST way to avoid these pesty problems is to "eliminate the source of attraction."

So, I read all these articles about the scientific research of this bug and then it hits me--These pesty critters are just like "THOUGHTS!" Our mind, left unguarded and unprotected, allow one little thought to creep into it and within minutes, then hours, and days that single thought has the potential to mass-reproduce itself in our heads! In turn, the one thought becomes a race track of intertwining destruction. Again, once these "little pests" settle in, they overstay their welcome as well! The fleeting thoughts now are zooming one way and another finding all the cracks and crevices that they can destroy and harbor themselves in similar to the 1000's of larvae. The innocent thought of "I am not attractive enough...good enough...skinny enough...fat enough.....Godly enough...strong enough...smart enough....rich enough...successful enough" (fill in whatever your vice is) begins to attack on every area of our lives. OR it could be the fleeting innocent thought of the attractive person you just saw/met/used to date/yearn for which then begins to attack every area of your mind. We allow ourselves to be overtaken and defeated by these vicious, mental, unseen attacks. Hence, our fruit becomes infested and begins to decompose.

The infestation cannot be eliminated without eliminating the source. The BEST way to avoid these pesty problems is to "eliminate the source of attraction." The good news is that there are ways to be freed from these attacks. We first must eliminate the source for James 1:14-15 states the following: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. This tells us that these fleeting moments of temptations, whether they be physical or mental bring forth sin. Find the source that is tempting you and turn from it. Matthew 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Scripture there just told us to humble ourselves, pray, call on His (Jesus Christ's) name and turn from our wicked ways so that He can heal our land. The verse prior to that tells us to remove the offending part of our body and the following verse tells us how our mind ought to think: 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And then lastly, in Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. This means, to ward off the infestation of THOUGHTS that come into our minds causing fruit to decay, we must think in the aforesaid order. Every time a thought comes to visit your mind, before we decide to entertain it and allow the uninvited guest to stay, let's run it through the checklist that God gave us and see if it's even ALLOWED permission to have a second of our time for us to even ponder.

The song from 1869 goes like this "Shew! Fly Don't Bother Me. Shew! Fly Don't Bother Me. Shew! Fly Don't Bother Me... I belong to Company G!" Well, I belong to "Company G!" as well, I belong to God, and I won't allow flies to bother me or overtake my home or mind.

Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Proverbs 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Psalms 119:113 I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

My Little Sheep

One of the greatest lessons I have been taught by Pastor Grace is that "a person's perception is their reality." In order to understand what trust may mean to some, we would have to understand what their perception of the word's definition may be. Trust- How would you define it? To some they may define trust as the "ability to tell someone anything and know that it would be kept in strict confidence." To others it may be "to fully rely and depend on another." While the on-line dictionary defines it as "a firm belief in the integrity, ability, effectiveness, or genuineness of someone or something."

As the Lord has enabled me to journey thru this study, He has shown me that not only does He want me to Trust in Him but He entrusts in me. This idea blows my mind. How could a Perfect God trust in me, a human full of vile and wickedness? And if this thought is true, how exactly does He trust in me? The answer became clear on Tuesday as I reflected on this ridiculous idea. Enjoy the blurb--

Monday 5 pm-done for work for the day and I have tomorrow off to do anything or nothing at all. Then suddenly I lose my mind and decide to have a slumber party for ALL my nieces and nephews! If you don't know, I am the oldest girl of seven children which equals A LOT of nieces and nephews! Praise the Lord He is much wiser than my crazy head and prevented this from actually occurring! (Gotta love His Sovereignty!) My oldest nephew (Donovan) was already out for the night being summer and all. Two of my lil darling nieces, Azaylea (my very special girl!) and Adeana (the best little behaved girl ever), had returned home to their mom for visitation. Vincent, Aryianna and Jayden were already exhausted from the days events. So, I ended up with Xavion (who goes by the name "Zippy"), Sierrah Rain (who goes by "C-C") and Selena Raven (who is called "Lena") along with my little two rascals (Arielle and Cody J). Well, we ordered pizza and chicken wings, filled the fridge with soda, stocked up on M&M's and ice cream sandwiches and unpacked the game cubes, nintendo ds's, makeover party computer game, game boys, mp3's, ipods and only the Lord knows what other electronic devices these kids have today and decided to go for a walk!!! (I love that part--all that and we got right back to the basics of just simply enjoying one another!) It was great! We just walked and talked and giggled and ran and I just enjoyed each of their individual personalities that God created them to be!

Morning came and I shooed them all of to get dressed, eat and tidy up. As their little eyes glistened with anticipation one after another tried to guess what we would be doing and where we would be going! Boy, did they have big plans from Darien Lake to Niagra Falls, from Seabreeze to the Zoo--I was going to terribly disappoint these little children by just taking them to Hamlin Beach on a boring little picnic!

As we pulled into the park I heard the groans of dismay. And then I pulled up to a grassy patch and unloaded them. As we neared the woods, my children shouted w/glee that we were going to attempt another nature trail (more on how funny these can actually be on another post!) and my nieces and nephews stared blankly at me as if they had no idea what they were in for. I explained we were going on a hike and they still stared blankly as they expressed they had never done such a thing.

As we walked thru the winding trails without any maps (the map bin was empty!) we had to just vote on whether we would go left or right. They discovered moss on the ground and dead trees and fungi. They heard birds chirping and saw paw prints. They saw silent streams and muddy marshes. They saw beautiful Lake Ontario and the "flat rock" peninsula that was made to preserve the nature trails. They loved stopping at the scenic overlooks and random benches that were placed sporadically along the paths. And then the little sheep's eyes opened.

One stated that he wondered how all this stuff got here. Another piped in, "Who do you think made it all?" SILENCE!!! My kids stared at me--fully aware of the opportunity that had just been entrusted to us. And I swallowed and said, "God." Then it happened. "Whose God?," the little voice asked. My kids ogled me knowing that I would get in trouble from my family if I went too deep on the subject. And I explained He was the Creator. "Oh yeah, what did He create?" became the next question. "Ummmm..... the stars and the moon, the heavens and the earth, every living thing that ever existed," I replied. "Hmmm, Aunt Neena, how'd He do that?" began the next question. Followed by more silence. "Well, He spoke it into existence. He said let there be..... and there was. Isn't that awesome?" became my reply. "So is God a man?" another little voice asked. "Ummm....well He is God and He did become a man so that we could be forgiven of our sins, if that helps answer your question." More silence and walking occurred and then it was over--"Well, I really like all the different houses God makes!" And my kids and I burst into laughter and yet were sad at the same time.

My little sheep that God trusts me with. He has given me so many nieces and nephews so that I may glorify Him thru sharing time and creation with them. What an awesome responsibility. What an honor--to be used to for His glory. Pray for these little sheep who don't know Him. Pray that they will continue to adore their "favorite Aunt Neena" and see Jesus thru me. If trust means "the firm belief in the integrity of someone" and God has entrusted them to me, I will need all of your prayers.

Just an update....

To attempt to do a study in trusting God, one must fully prepare themself to go thru the fire via experiences instead of just trying to read books about it. One must also be willing to truly hang on to those teachable moment and cling to the Promises of the Word. One must believe in longsufferring and learn the art of patience. These are briefly some of the things I have learned while venturing out on the journey of learning to Trust God. This study has consumed me--So much that it has become my lifestyle and my way of life instead of a brief study. The posts have been few and far between but the lessons of trust are truly abundant.

It's been a long time...

Wow. It really has been a long time since I have blogged. I must tell you that it's not because my readers haven't harassed me enough. I can also tell you that it is not because God stopped speaking to me. It's just the opposite. I have been poked, prodded and pressured to write and have not been able to put into words all that I wish I could. Furthermore, God has spoken more to me and more clearly than ever before! I am in a transition. A great change and a period of fully trusting in Him.

Without going into all the details that bring us up to date (many of you know how the Lord has brought me to this point anyhow), I started this blog and studying trusting in God. I need to tell you, when you set out to do something as such--God does not just allow you to use books and His Word. He orchestrates God-perfect experiences in His perfect timing to teach all that you ask of Him.

With all that said, I do continue to do my studies and am learning more closely how to trust and abide in Him. I plan to compile a great post for you regarding all of this, but again, we must wait til the lesson is fully finished before I am willing to share. Anyhow, I thought I would put a little blurb out here saying thanks for your support, inquiries and continued checking for a post. This may not be what you are looking for--but at least it is something different-since November! LOL. :-)

Trust and Obey for there is no other way......