A Light in the Darkness

I am constantly getting reminders from God of His goodness and also how large and in charge He is.  Tonight I had more amazing proof and I hope I can convey His goodness in the depth I was shown.

The "lost" have been on my mind a lot lately and more specifically the "lost" who serve our military.  Tonight I was reading Revelation as I sat outside of a local restaurant.  I had half my mind on scripture but the other half of my mind was listening to people's conversations as they passed by.  I heard some really mean conversations bashing other people.  So immediately I was hurt by the fact that these people were ripping down others.  Was I being judgmental towards these people??  Of course I was.  I was deeply saddened by the words that were being spoken.  I asked God are there any good people left in the world who seek God and encourage others??  It is sad to me to see outright rejection being spoken to one another when we should be uplifting one another with encouragement.

It was not 60 seconds later a man on his cell phone approached the restaurant and finished his conversation before going inside.  He was saying that he was talking to a soldier who is currently serving in Afghanistan and was hesitant in asking him if he had been saved.  The solider was interested in learning how to become saved and wanted to know more about God.  So this guy prayed with this Soldier and is ministering to him on a regular basis.  Hello answered prayer!!  I was floored I did not hear just half the conversation but it was like I was watching a movie seeing all these conversations one at a time.  God literally placed these very special conversations before me for a very special reason.  I wanted to say something to this guy but I was so speechless I could not think of words to say.  I just prayed and thanked God and of course I told Him, "ok I will shut up and stop complaining now".  Not only did God answer my prayer for evidence of seeing people loving one another but it was a situation that God knows would touch my heart so intensely I was speechless.

Whether you are a believer or not I think we all want to see God's goodness.  We want that physical proof that God is who He says He is.  It is great to read about it in The Bible but to experience it like I did tonight...well there are no words that can describe the depth of God's love for us.

I am reminded of Luke 18:  Jesus Tells the Parable of the Persistent Widow.  It reminds me to be persistent in my own prayers.  I know God hears my prayers the very first time I make my requests known to Him.  However, how good would it be to me, His child, if He, my Heavenly Father, granted every request at the very moment I asked it of Him?

John 3:30:  He must become greater; I must become less.

War is hell

Today I heard one of the saddest news reports I've heard in while.  A soldier opened fire on some civilians in Afghanistan.  As if what he did was not horrible enough I was even more heartbroken after reading about his personal trauma.  He suffered a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) a few years ago and his family life is a "struggle".

This is a news report that I feel God is truly breaking my heart possibly to make others aware of.  One subject I never wrote about on my other blog (http://thelifeofausmcwife.blogspot.com/) but I will be doing on this one is about combat PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

PTSD has severely changed my life at a very deep level I can't quite put it into words for people to grasp the depth.  Now, I am not a Dr. and I am not saying this soldier has PTSD however he did have a TBI and depending on the severity of his injury it is sad he was given a "fit for duty" status as a sniper so soon.

My question is what is it going to take for our military and really all Americans to realize how serious issues like PTSD and TBI's are??  We can't expect our military to be "super soldiers" especially if our government isn't going to provide the care they need.  War is hell!!  The war does not stay in Afghanistan or Iraq or wherever the deployment occurs.  This war comes home and it effects our military members and their families.

City on a Hill

I am not sure if you have days and weeks like I do.  I have these supernatural experiences of hearing about a particular subject over and over.  It gets to the point where I have to drop what I am doing and just start writing.
This week and especially today I kept hearing lyrics and phrases and even speakers of "City on a Hill".  Then I kept reading about these cities of ruin versus cities on a hill in the book of Isaiah.  Honestly I just thought it was a made up phrase by Christians.  Not that that is bad, just interesting to me.  

Then I did some further digging to what this city on a hill was all about.

In Matthew 5:14, he tells his listeners, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

One of the more recent references I could find was from President Ronald Regan:

President Ronald Reagan used the image as well, in his 1984 acceptance of the Republican Party nomination^[3] and in his January 11, 1989, farewell speech to the nation:

...I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still....^[4]

My question is are you the "city on the hill" or are you apart of the "city of Ruin" mentioned in Isaiah 25?

I'm wrecked

I hear the term "I'm so wrecked" by a lot of Christians after hearing a powerful sermon or testimony.  My question is how do you define wrecked?  Is it something that just makes you emotional one day and the next day you are back to your old self.  Or is it such a powerful wrecking of the soul that you are never again the same?

I hope you experience such an intense wrecked feeling that it changes you forever.  As The Bible is written with many powerful words and tones it is not meant for it to only affect you for a short time.  The Bible was written in a very specific way to wreck you to your core.  Why else would God put such intense examples if it would not give us a "heart attack" so to speak.

I recently wrote a paper about my Theistic Worldview as a Christian.  I was lead to one of my favorite author's quotes on pain:

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”  -C.S. Lewis (Weight of Glory)

After reading that I felt God was showing me the purpose of pain.  Pain that we experience has to be so heart shocking that it causes us to desire a new heart.  

Take for instance the process of defibillation.  This process is used to restore the heartbeat and allows to shock the dead heart back into life.  How often do we need God to do this to our own heart?

To be honest I've been wrecked in the past but tonight I was really wrecked....no joke.  I will never be the same thanks to the The Holy Spirit coming alive in us.  The Holy Spirit can transform you in such a supernatural way that can only be described by God.

Are you ready to fully accept what He has for you??  I don't know about you but I am ready to give up whatever I have to in order to live with The Holy Spirit.  No holding back!!!