Holding on

It seems lately that I feel like I am holding on to what is occurring in my life right now. I recently heard 3 awesome points from a co-worker that he states, “ 1. God is in control and loves you. 2. Hard things, crazy things, happen 3. 1 &2 don’t contradict each other.” He stated very well. G-d is in control with everything in your life and he will love you no matter what happens good or bad. Some people blame G-d because of love one dying, a loss in a relationship or even loss of a job. When we go through hardest of life we need to hold on to the Lord with our dear life. This is a perfect example picture for you imagine. A little girl is in tears and in pain from being sick but she looks to her daddy for comfort. We should be the same way with the Lord and look to him as our daddy. Second quote, from my co-worker that he says, “ Hard things, crazy things, happen.” A famous quote that some say, “ Sh*t happens!” We are not in control of negative things occurring in life but we have to keep on going but not look at the negative but look to the positive of the situation. Third, 1 & 2 statements don’t contradict the statement but there is truth if you think deeply. G-d is in control and he loves you and hard thing, crazy things, happen. We don’t always have the answers with everything but to have faith in him and realize it is out of our hands. As I sit here and tell you that you to have faith in the Lord. The Lord has shown me in the last few weeks with people calling me up to give me this or ask me if I need help with anything. I have tears in my eyes because I know the Lord is faithful with everything he says from the beginning to the end.

Isleen

7 Minutes with G-d

7 Minutes with G-d

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. —Psalm 23:2

“The word connected captures our contemporary experience of life. Many people rarely go anywhere without a cell phone, iPod, laptop, or pager. We have become accessible 24 hours a day. Some psychologists see this craving to stay connected as an addiction. Yet a growing number of people are deliberately limiting their use of technology. Being a “tech-no” is their way of preserving times of quiet, while limiting the flow of information into their lives.

Many followers of Christ find that a daily time of Bible reading and prayer is essential in their walk of faith. This “quiet time” is a disconnection from external distractions in order to connect with God. The “green pastures” and “still waters” of Psalm 23:2 are more than an idyllic country scene. They speak of our communion with God whereby He restores our souls and leads us in His paths (v.3).
All of us can make time to meet with God, but do we? In Robert Foster’s booklet “7 Minutes With God,” he suggests a way to begin: Start with a brief prayer for guidance, then read the Bible for a few minutes, and close with a short time of prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication for others. It’s vital to take time today to connect with the Lord, who is our life.” —

David C. McCasland

We need to set aside the time
To read God’s Word and pray,
And listen for the Spirit’s voice

As I was reading today’s devoution, it made me think of all the times that I did not spend time with the Lord. The night before I was so tired from working all day and reading part of the night but there was one important thing forgot to do spend time with the Lord. The busier you are in your life the more distraction you receive in your everyday life. There are times when I have to lay down my cell phone in the purse and forget about it when I hangout with my boyfriend or my family. I want to give all the attention to my boyfriend or my family than my cell phone. I think the Lord wants part of our whole attention to focus on him instead of us being busy. Today, I challenge you to spend 7 minutes with the Lord each day. Can you meet up with the challenge? I am doing the same thing in my life from this day on.

Isleen

A Clear Picture of My Destiny

A Clear Picture of My Destiny


In my last entry was on News Years Day, I had said that I plan on going to school this semester but I was waiting an answer for my financial aid. If the financial aid was not to come by the start of the school year which was by Jan.19th, 2010 then I would not go to school until the summer. Well, I looked online for my financial aid and I received it on Jan.12, 2010. I was in shocked because it takes weeks, and weeks to wait for your financial aid. (Some of you guys know this if you are in school). My faith level is on high. There is more to this story as it continues………

This morning, I went to my master orientation meeting and I was a little nervous to walk in the room and fear what was going to happen next. There were few questions coming to my mind such as “Was this learning disability gal going to make it in the Master’s program?”, “Will my two jobs schedule will work with my new classes?” and “Was my degree plan going to work out with my adviser?” When the orientation meeting was over my adviser spoke with me about my degree plan and it took him about 10 minutes. Amazed I was but I knew that the Lord was on this. One of my classes will meet each month for 2 days and another class is online which starts in the middle of the semester. There will be no job conflicts with both of my jobs. Amazed I am..... When the Lord is working with your destiny there is no road blocks blocking in your path. As my day ends it gets brighter and brighter to where I am going to walk the next 2 and half years of my life. I will not look back of my past or at my weakness for having a learning disability. I will overcome my lack of trust. When my hope is gone I will move along, move along…. (As the song goes) I will move along to find the Lord in those rough times.

If you are feeling down remember that the Lord is with you when no matter what is going on in your life. If you are lost trying to find you’re your destiny just believe and have faith in the Lord. Give the Lord glory first before yourself. You will find that the Lord wants you to give him glory because your life will come clear to what you are suppose to do in your destiny.


Psalm 73:24:

“24 You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.”

Good Bye 2009 & Welcome 2010!

Good Bye 2009 & Welcome 2010!

You want to change your season that you are in but sometimes you can’t. I have learned to trust the Lord this year in my life. This year I wanted a new career and to move forward in my life but nothing was changing in my life. I started to see everyone else life change before my eyes including my own roommate. I started to see new marriages coming into place, my friends having babies, buying new houses, going to the mission field, and even getting new jobs. I wasn’t in their seasons. When I started to look at everyone else’s life then I started to question in my life. Where was my life going? What directions and where was I was going to be in the next four to five years of my life? It didn’t changed until one September late night when I talked to a good friend to help her in her life’s situation. The answer came to me when I woke up the next morning. I was going to make a stand in my life and I know the Lord help me give me confidence in myself. All year it seemed that I was living my daily life in a routine each day. I did my best to change my daily routine after work but nothing was working for me. I was trying too hard to change things for myself. Working out, going to community classes or even going to the library that it did not help me find my answer. Being single has it priced to pay because you are always searching to find what you need to do next in your life.

My goals didn’t happened until I went into prayer each morning or having late night prayers in my room without anyone around me. I was praying for change. You see G-d has always been my side in my life and even the small or the big struggles that I faced in my life. I am not perfect gal who has everything together. In my outside appearances I look like that I do but I really don’t have together. Some of us feel like as a woman we have to try to keep it together for yourself or our families. We all need have to stand in place as women of the Lord and ask the Lord to give us guidance in our lives.

My answer did not come to be until at the end of November. I had received a letter from the University of Arlington and I was not accepted because of my GPA from the last 60 hours in my undergrad program. I was feeling down but I was awaiting the answer from Dallas Baptist University. The answer came which was yes. I agree to get my Master in Liberal Arts this season in my life. I felt peace about my decision and the next step of where I was going in my life. A new place that I will move in at the end of February and new direction in 2010. Also, I will also be a new aunt to a new upcoming nephew from my little brother’s wife. I can’t wait!!! A new season will arrive very soon…. Look to the Lord and trust him.

Be Blessed
Isleen

Check out this verse that has helped me recently comes from Jeremiah 1:4-10 (Amazing verse in the Bible)

5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
9Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

How He Love Us

There was a time when I was on the mission field in Israel and I came down with a cold in the summer of 2001. (It was a bad cold and I could not get out of bed because I was feeling dizzy.) I was with a team of 10 people who went on a field trip to the city while I stayed alone in a room sick. In my room, I did not have a nice comfortable bed, a TV to waste the time away while I was sick, AC or any company. I was all alone accept only with my Bible. There was another point where I cried my self to sleep because I was in so much pain. I cried to the Lord with my Bible asking the Lord to heal me. At the end of the day, my friend Flori came to my rescue to give me some food to eat and to prayed with me. The next day, I received a call from my dad asked if I was ok which my friend told my dad that I was feeling under the weather. I was happy that my dad called to checked on me because I missed my dad while I was sick. As I reflect those moment which I will never forget when I was sick but I thought of this song as I was singing this morning call “How He Love US ”.

Be Blessed.
Isleen

http://johnmarkmcmillan.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-he-loves-david-crowder-and-sloppy.html

How He Loves US
Verse: 1
He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves.

Verse 2:
So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

He loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves


Pre-Chorus
Cause He loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

Chorus: 1
Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

You are the salt of the earth

Monday mornings are not my best days out of the week. I hate to see the weekend fly by me because I have short weekend. I work second job on the weekends to get by. When I heard a man on the radio station saying this verse it really touched me that morning but it really made me think deeply about my faith and how I was facing my trials in my life.

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?

We are all salts of the earth and the Lord made each one of us special in his eyes but as Christians are we strong inside? Can Christians stand their faith when they go through trials in their lives? Many of us go through trials but don’t turn to the Lord. Do we get on our knees? Do we read our Bibles? Do we talk to the Lord?

In trials, we sometimes don’t turn to the Lord but to things that are comfortable to us. I will be honest with many of you to say when I have trials in my life I look to TV as my friend instead of the Lord. TV helps me get away from the trials in my life that I am facing at that moment. I don’t want to face the reality of the trials in my life. Watching Ugly Betty will help me fulfilled the void that I have. When I get tired from TV and then I realize my issue of my trials then I turn to the Lord.
It is never easy to face trials in our life but the Lord can take our burden and make it light to give it up to him. Worship is the key to come to the Lord and give everything to the Lord. Sometimes I open my Bible to the book of Psalms.

According to this website the information Psalms:
The word psalm comes from the Greek word psalmos, which means a song sung while accompanied by a stringed instrument. The Hebrews referred to the psalms as songs of praise.

These beautiful verses express the full range of human emotions, but are mainly meant to show praise to the Creator, who, with unconditional love, provides all comfort and joy to religious believers.

Who Wrote the Psalms?

Many of the psalms are said to be written by King David, but he is not the only author. Long before King David, Moses wrote psalms.David’s son, Solomon, also wrote psalms.
http://biblestudies.suite101.com/article.cfm/facts_about_the_book_of_psalms_for_bible_study#ixzz0UUbjH2RZ

If you are going through trials look to the Lord for your answer and don’t turn to something that will fulfilled your comfortable zone.

Matthew 11:28-30
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Isleen

Journal Entry on September 13, 2009

Journal Entry on September 13, 2009


I sit in a plane looking outside of my window. I am looking down at the Grand Canyon and I am amazed by the Grand Canyon . I remembered the last time I went to the Grand Canyon when I was 7 years old in 1987. Time passes you quickly when you are not looking.

Going to my high school reunion was something I had looked forward for a long time and being caught up with each others lives. In high school, we were all young and immature and did not know too much outside of the high school. I remembered going to school @ 7am before school started @ 8:10am. I had spoken to my classmates at the lunch table about with the latest news, gossip, or what was happened in their lives. It seemed it was yesterday that I had sat at that lunch table with my classmates.

I went to my class reunion and I saw high school graduates who became mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, college students, college graduates, grads graduates, etc and to become something than just high school graduates. We all made our lives into a different picture than it was in the year of 1999.

I heard from my former classmates of their kids, job careers lessons, struggles in school, relationship issues, family members with cancer, working through school, and the lessons we had learned in life. The lessons we are still are still learning as an adult.

When I look back, I think of how I hated high school. I felt trapped inside of my high school wanted to get out. When I walked outside of high school, the world was a lot different. As I became older, I did not think about myself like I used but now I was thinking of other people who needed me to help them with their struggles, to be encouraged, loving them unconditional. I do not think I was the same person when I was in high school.

Isleen