Parting is such sweet sorrow....

Its time for me to pass along our Scarf Sister's Bible. I knew this day would come but that doesn't mean I have to like it. ;) Here are a couple of pics of the "loot". :)
...and me adding a piece or two of my own.

I am pointing to Gal.4:22-31... :)

Until we are all together again...
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" Eph 1:3

A Traveling Sister

Did you all know that we have a Scarf Sister traveling in Israel?  If you want to see what sights and holy places she's been to with her hubby, check out Linda at A Pair Of Brown Shoes.  Shalom

Thanks Jadi Gigi For All Your Encouragement

My immovables cont.

My time with the Sister's Bible is coming to a close and I wanted to make sure I included the two other basic realities that the Lord has planted in my life, the immovable foundation upon which I live and my entire existence revolves around.

3. the 3rd reality He has given me is Freedom and I don't mean freedom from sin although there is that. I mean real freedom in Christ....to live, to love, to BE!

condensing and paraphrasing

Gals. 4:22-31 - Abraham had two sons, one by a bondmaid and the other by a freewoman....but he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise....which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants...one which genders bondage..and one which is free....now we are the children of promise. Cast out the bondwoman and her son for the son of the bondwoman SHALL NOT be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then Sisters.....we are NOT children of the bondwoman...but of the FREE!

He has shown me a teeny picture of just how great that freedom is. So many of His children are living as though they are children of the flesh and of bondage and not of the promise..they are still His, but they are not enjoying the great liberty that comes from being born of the freewoman. His liberty is SO much greater than I ever imagined.....it is the freedom to love and try and fail and not try and be angry and misunderstand and mis-communicate and fall down and get up and live and grow and on and on inside of HIM...until we are translated from this realm to the next. In God there is such great freedom.... to grow and learn and go higher and deeper into Him. Everything else is bondage...and I am not living there anymore, I will never be a child of the bondwoman again...it is not even really a choice on my part...it is simply His enabling to live His life....in liberty!
He has made me free like He is free! I am no longer in bondage to days and times and ceremonies and religion and what men may think or even what I may think of myself or what I believe to be the requirements of this life. I am a child of the freewoman...born of the spirit...living inside of GOD HIMSELF! There is nothing in this life freer than that and you are too!
All that is required of me, of us, is LOVE....Love for Him, love for others, and maybe the harder requirement...love of ourselves as He sees us....Wow! I am SO glad!! Again...GOOD NEWS!!

4. He is Redeemer!

Col.1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Roms. 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
The last thing I would share is this....God is BIG...SO BIG! I don't remember when He became so big in my estimation or how I came to see Him this way, but I do and that is all that matters. Everything is in Him and He has reconciled ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF. He redeems...it is not just what He does...it is Who He IS! He is big enough to redeem ANYTHING and He has! Your past, your future....good decisions, bad decisions, all are redeemed in Him. Failure and success are the same in Christ...they simply add up to more Christ if you live inside of Him.
He has a Master plan and ALL things are working for good and His great purpose! It surely allows me to relax and not feel as if I am trying to hold it all together, because He is already doing that. It kind of all comes back round to the point of being hidden in Christ...I am in Him and He is in control....and He is really BIG! No wonder they called it GOOD NEWS!

I am so thrilled to be able to share with you a few of the bedrocks that He has built into my life. I pray a little more light shines in your spirit and on some level you are encouraged and uplifted...I also hope you "get" me a little bit more. :) I know, I'm a weird one. ;) but God loves me anyway. :)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" Eph 1:3

My Immovables

I wanted to write a bit about some of the scripture that has impacted my life. I could give my testimony, I suppose...you know, the story of how I met Jesus and got saved and such.... but you can read the basics of it here if you'd like. Yes, I dug through my old blog posts just for you. :)

Instead I want to share a few things that have changed me...I mean REALLY changed me and created in me the NEW man I had heretofore only read about but never really seen in myself or others for that matter. What I call my immovables all became real to me After my official "testimony". :) I consider them to be foundational bedrocks in my spiritual life ....the scriptures I will mark in the Sisters Bible....

1. The very first thing the Holy Spirit showed me during this REALLY changing phase of life after my "testimony"....beware... this may sound heretical.... :)

Everything is about HIM and His relationship with the Father....nothing is about me.

....paraphrasing and condensing....

Col. 1:17-20 ...He is before all things and by Him all things consist...He is the head to the body..who is the beginning...that in all things He might have the preeminence....for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell...by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself...

Jn 5:19 The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do.
Jn 8:29...I do always those things that please the Father....

I suddenly saw that JESUS CHRIST is the pivitol point...throughout all of time and space..history and eternity...It is ALL about Him...and His Father
This is not about me...it never has been about me...

There...I've said it. Go ahead and freak out...Now isn't that liberating?!?

It certainly was for me!

2. The second bedrock that the Holy Spirit planted in me was equally as earth shattering:

I was chosen...from the beginning...I am hidden in Christ, I am holy and blameless because He is holy and blameless and nothing can separate me from Him.

....paraphrasing and condensing....

Eph 1:13 & Cols 3:3....I am and have always been hidden in Christ, marked out in Him....
Eph 1:4....chosen by Him.... from before the foundations of the earth....
Because I am IN Him...I am, right now, in right standing; blameless, holy, beloved by the Father AND
Roms 8:39...nothing shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus!

Whoa! Could all that really be true? These truths were totally foreign to me...I had been brought up on the bread and butter of repenting and working hard to do right and get things right...and now to discover that He had already done the work?! All I had to do was to reside IN...to BE IN HIM! This was too easy! and Completely shocking to me.... Now we were talking GOOD NEWS! I can't tell you how liberating this revelation was for me and has continued to be as time has gone by....

Liberating!
Shocking!
Simple!
Easy!
How awesome is that?! His yoke is EASY!! Suddenly being a Christian became the most normal thing in the world....I belong to Him and I live accordingly.... It is second nature...no wait...it is FIRST nature....HIS nature....in me.

More later....

Remember His Words

Since I have received the Scarf Sisters Bible I have been enjoying reading through the verses that the sisters have each marked...trying to decide what verses have impacted my life the most and what I should share.
Anyway..in my regular devotions I have been reading some in the NT each day...no real pattern or set verses...just reading along and I have come to the place in Luke where the women go to the tomb and find it empty...Luke 24. These verses have not particularly impacted my life so I decided instead to think back through my Christian experience to determine which ones have and re-read them a bit so I could share them with you. It wasn't working...there was no spark...no sense of life other than what normally comes from scripture. Blah...

That may come in a day or two...but today the Lord whispered to me to read the section of Luke that I had coming up next...I somehow felt that I would find direction there for this post....and guess what I read?!
"remember how He spoke to you while He was yet in Galilee.....and they remembered His words..."
I was so struck that tears come to my eyes...here I was ...holding in my hands...the very Words that He has already spoken...to you...each of you who have marked pages and verses in the Sisters' bible...Life already given...
Its amazing actually...there are themes for almost every sister...the stories of who He is to you and the amazing ways He has made Himself known to you and in you....knowing parts of your stories, its easy to see the patterns.

So here is what we will do today...we will remember His words...the ones He has already spoken to us when He met us where we live. Let us rehearse them in our hearts and minds so that we are reminded of His great compassion toward us...of the miracles He has done in us.
So much Truth has been imparted to us already that if we never saw another bible we could be fed for life off of what we have already been given.

Margie - For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height not depth not any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus! God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind.

Felisol- Thou shall have no other gods before me....and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. The Lord is thy keeper and thy shade upon thy right hand. I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight...and I will give thee treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places...

Felisol's mom - and of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace

Sherri -Now these are the commandments ....which the Lord commanded to teach you that ye might do them in the land ye go to possess....hear and observe that it may be well with thee ....the Lord our God is one Lord...thou shall love the Lord with all thine heart, with all thine soul and with all they might....and thou shall teach them unto they children and shall talk of them in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up...

Donna-For I know the thoughts I think towards you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you ..And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all your heart.
I will be found by you says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity .

Cyndi-And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive and her father's household and all that she had and she dwelt in Israel even unto this day because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

Saija - entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee for whither thou goest i will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge they people shall be my people and they God my God. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest...take my yoke upon you and learn of me...my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Pat - Samuel said "Hath the Lord as great delight in offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams." The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children.

Terri - Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. He brought me to his banqueting table, His banner over me is love. When I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold the time was the time of love....I sware unto thee and entered into a covenant with the, saith the Lord God and thou became mine.

Linda- In the day of my trouble I will call on thee for thou will answer me. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Bear ye one another's burdens....Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for....

Ms Mac- Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse.

Connie- And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten ...and it shall come to pass...that i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.....and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.

Diane-Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn, and he will heal us, he hath smitten and he will bind us up. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines....yet will I rejoice in the Lord, i will joy in the God of my salvation. the Lord is my strength and he will make my feet like hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon high places. ...walk in love as Christ also hath loved us...

Linda J.- the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and and is safe. For I know the thoughts I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil...Blessed be God. the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort...who comforteth us in all our tribulation.

Julie- Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse...and prove me now ...if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son...but my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Becky-And when Solomon had made an end of praying...he blessed the congregation with a loud voice saying....The Lord be with us as he was with our father...let these my words be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night...that all the people of the earth may know the the Lord is God and there is none else. Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Deb- Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart...He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.How precious also are they thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum...Yea I have loved thee with a perfect love...with loving kindness have I drawn thee.

Sandy-I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice...thous has possessed my reins; thous hast covered me in my mother's womb. ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart...and I will be found of you, saith the Lord. Behold I come quickly, blessed is he that keepeth the sayings... of this book.

Of course there is much more...but these are the words that spoke to me of your lives in Him...take a moment...and REMEMBER His Words....

The Circle Unbroken

"For prayers answered, for sisters gathered, for the circle unbroken."...."the blessing of the sisters"...Felisol and Amrita have nailed it!

Sisters, we are blessed indeed to have each other and this lovely fellowship of hearts! God has been so good to me. He has given me all of you to fill a void that was so deep and dark that it seemed a bottomless pit....yet looking back over the years that we have been the Scarf Sisters...and even before...I can see His hand at work...ministering to me in ways I never imagined, ways that I never knew I needed....even before I could see Him at work...He was there....and you were there... Working your way into my heart and spirit ...into my life.....I cannot go even one day nowadays without thinking of one or more of you, praying for you...sharing one of our "conversations" with a friend or family member...funny how very critical you have become...especially to be invisible. ;)

I am very busy this week and next....little time to myself at all....but this morning I began to look over our little Scarf Bible and low and behold...There you were! You came right into my kitchen and had a time of fellowship with me! So many of the sisters have shared their hearts and the scriptures that have moved their lives...and many of them I could tell right away, even if the names were not printed on the flags...they are yours... your story within His Story...the Words He has spoken into your spirits when you were at your lowest or most desperate, the comfort He has brought you in time of need .....it is all there in the verses you have labeled and I have come to know so many of you well enough to see it...His Life flowing out to you and in return flowing back through you and His Word... to me...and to anyone fortunate enough to be able to hold the Scarf Bible in their hands and see your notations.
A warm feeling washed over me as I read this morning....an enlightening in my spirit as I ate the bread of Life you had spread before me. Scriptures I haven't read in years but so familiar...stories I had almost but not completely forgotten... bringing life to my spirit and health to my bones. He refreshed me this morning, my sisters....through you....again... :)

I look forward to whatever it is the Lord has in mind for me during this time that I hold this tangible reminder of our sisterhood in my hands.....He doesn't need much time to get His point across, does He? It was So good to "see" you all there this morning!! Pray for me,...I can't wait to see what else is in store. Love you, Sisters!

Guess What

Something came in the mail for me today! ;)

Finally! She is back on track!

What Faith Can Do.....

I feel as though I have been missing in action for about as long as the Sister's Bible.

Yesterday I made the decision to de-activate my facebook page....haven't done it completely yet; waiting to hear back from a couple people for email addresses.

I opened a new blog a month or so ago which Mrs. Mac has listed on the side bar. Praying for a fresh start in many areas of  my life....yet trying desperately not to get ahead of God with so much still to put to rest and final stamp upon.

This song has been on my heart for the past few days and thought I would stop over and put it on the blog here; I know not everyone gets around to visiting each personal blog, but I am making it my goal to visit each of you and re-kindle what has been neglected by me for quite some time.





I'VE SEEN DREAMS THAT MOVE THE MOUNTAINS, HOPE THAT DOESN'T EVER END EVEN WHEN THE SKY IS FALLING. IVE SEEN MIRACLES JUST HAPPEN SILENT PRAYERS GET ANSWERED, BROKEN HEARTS BECOME BRAND NEW....THAT'S WHAT FAITH CAN DO !!!!

Blessings on your day!

In Transit

The Bible is in transit :)