Battle of The Will's

Hello my friends,
It seems as if it has been a lifetime since blogging however only merely short of a month........I was on a little break to focus on cleansing my heart out yet again and was not planning on blogging this soon however the Lord had a bit of a different plan. I have to say I battle with a strong will inside more than I care to admit and as I heard Pastor say in a sermon recently about when left to ourselves, "if we are left undone even for a moment we are misrable human beings wicked to the very core"; wow not a sight I want to envision. Let me explain I have been in a season of forgetfulness and had taken my eyes off the Lord and onto self for a short time in which also seemed like a lifetime I'd say for about 2 months now in which I was in a wicked state. I had taken eyes off the Lord and onto a couple of my life circumstances and because of that not truly having that real fellowship with the Lord and it was a dangerous place to be in. The Lord over this weekend through a sis in Christ as well as hours in His word, has shown me many things almost to the point of being overwhelmed .....however He does only allow what we can handle so I know it was just what I needed at the time. FIRST He showed me I had been lying to myself this whole time about dealing with a serious issue in my life and in order for Him to use me in the mighty way The very way I had been praying to be used this would HAVE TO BE DEALT WITH I however had been in denial for sometime now. He had sent sister's in my path to speak to me about it and used other circumstances and everytime I said it was all good and it really wasn't or I would put a wall of protection around me in fear of being judged or admitting I was a mess how can I be used if I am in a mess??? The real truth though is we are "ALL" a mess if left to ourselves and take our focus off of the Lord Jesus you see HE IS STRENGTHENED IN OUR WEAKNESSES so the fact that we are weak shows our very need for Jesus in our day to day lives. I had needed (as we all do) to fix my eyes and hope upon Jesus no matter what or how hard the circumstances ,
life has purpose and meaning yet only in Christ not in my flesh. The Lord has promised to keep watch on us always as a shepherd cares for his sheep(Matt.28:20;John 10:14) Through our troubled times by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT these circumstances become opportunities
to learn more about God's faithfulness, draw on His strength, and experience personal growth woohoo.......
I want all those things. Here is the big one we need to resist our former lifestyle, when trouble comes it is tempting to revert to ungodly habits or to take up new ones (in which was my case)
In these seasons of life , Satan will encourage us to pursue any path that leads away from the Lord in my case it was denial of the real matter at hand. I needed to remember I am a NEW CREATION whose lifestyle is to match my position as a child of God not of this world. Next thing
that has been revealed to me over this weekend is that we need (starting with myself) to make holiness our main goal, being "holy" or set apart begins with :
GIVING UP CONTROL OVER THINGS IN OUR LIVES AND ALLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GUIDE AND DIRECT OUR PATHS IN EVERY AREA OF OUR LIVES NOT MOST,
WE MUST SUBMIT TO HIM AND WITH ABSOLUTELY NO CONDITIONS. NOW this one knocked me back a few feet .....you see for the most part I have been pretty obedient in most areas of my life wow that is what I was getting tripped up on God wants every area to be given to Him and I up until now wasnt willing I held on to an area where I thought I could control it and the other circumstance being in my marriage I was being soooooo VERY SELFISH and doing things out of expectance and with conditions scary place to be trust me I just have learned this lesson THE VERY HARD WAY . Taking control of what is God's (which is my very life and all within it) and not my own is sin it had me focusing on self which is idolatry YIKES. We all want the FULLNESS of what the Lord has for us and unless we focus always upon Him we will not be blessed with that fullness and then we are robbed of our true joy in which is found in Christ alone. As I am coming out of this season in which has been very difficult I KNOW I HAVE BEEN RESTORED back to the Lord I have been so blessed that we serve a God who if He sees fit will bring us out of our trials just as soon as we put our focus back where it belongs. You see my friends He has given us free will and we wake up daily and it is up to us to choose whom we will serve will it be PICKING UP OUR CROSSES AND FOLLOWING AFTER HIM OR will it be to choose self and the things of this world which in essence following Satan????? I dont know about you but as for me and my house we shall choose this day and every day here after to Follow the Lord I WILL NO LONGER SERVE MY FLESH may I decrease that He may increase..........

If we are given to the Lord with the right heart , willingly and cheerfully, the results will be that we will always have everything we need. we will have all sufficiency in ALL THINGS.
words by: Chuck Smith off of the verse 2 cor.9:8

we need to trust in God alone ......trusting in ourselves is an invitation to have Satan enter in and start to destroy our lives and once we allow this it is a very fast downward spiral to destruction in all areas of life our own lives,those around us such as family, friends, our ministries the very things God has blessed us with and I know for me personally I dont want that to even be an option so I choose Jesus. I am thankful for the body of Christ and for the wonderful sister's the Lord has placed in my life to love me, befriend me, listen to me, iron in which to sharpen my iron, to rebuke me when needed in love, to be about their Father's business THANK YOU you know whom you are and your prayers and encouragement and love and rebukes have meant so much to me and am so blessed we serve together in a church where restoration is a priority.

I DO ASK YOU TO ALL PRAY EVEN THOUGH I KNOW I HAVE BEEN RESTORED , I ALSO KNOW THE ENEMY WANTS TO STOP THAT ....... WHILE STRUGGLES AND TRIALS WILL INDEED STILL COME MY WAY AS THEY ARE APART OF EVERYDAY LIFE I KNOW I AM NOT TO BE OVERCOME BY THEM AND NOT TO LOOSE SIGHT AND KEEP FOCUSED REMAINING ON CHRIST ALONE TO SEE ME THROUGH THEM ONE DAY AT A TIME.
MAY WE FIND HOPE IN OUR LORD THIS DAY AND AS THE THRU THE WORD SAID TODAY IN CHAPTER 10:5 b may we "bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" as hard as our days may seem may we daily hour by hour minute by minute hold every thought captive and choose to pick up our crosses and follow hard after Him and not the things of this world in which are but only for a moment. God bless you all

Until Next Time,
Your Sis in Christ,
Cindy