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Well, here we are again, in another place and another point in time.
I am trying to figure out all this compurtor stuff...cyberspace...
be patient with me.
Anyway...today I have been thinking a lot about how important it is for us to "see" life, ourselves, and personal circumstances through Jesus' eyes and from His divine perspective. Oh, I know that can be hard, but it is possible. The more we seek Him...the closer we walk with Him...the more we study His Word and hide it in our hearts...the more we think like Him and talk like Him and love like Him and...yes, see things through His eyes.
I Matthew 10:8 the Bible reminds us that Jesus is able to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and even raise the dead. Therefore, even when we have a hard time seeing
the things that are going on around us...we can when we walk in His Spirit and put our absolute trust in Him.
What are you having a hard time "seeing" through Jesus' eyes. Pray. Ask Him to help you get out of the way...and the wait on Him. Life becomes somehow
clearer, simpler, even easier when we do.
Blessings and Love in Christ, P.C.

Merry Christmas! It is a most wonderful time of year. With all decorating and baking and
present giving...sometimes we forget to remember the reason why we celebrate the holiday.
Happy Birthday Jesus! It is all about You.
And as things wind down in 2009 it seems appropriate that we should spend some quality
time evaluating how we are doing in our relationship with Jesus. Are we as devoted as we could be? Do we want more God and less of this world? And....what are we willing to do to get
it. Keep in mind that Jesus is willing to fill you with the fullness ofHimself.
So...let me leave you with this thought....in 2010 what will you invest yourself in? Will you "Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth"? Will you devote yourself to
"Seek the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might?" Will cul-
tivating intimacy with Jesus be your number one priority? Questions to ponder certainly. But my prayer is that all of this will do more for you than make you think. My prayer...and hope...
is that these questions will fill you with divine dissatisfaction and turn your world of faith
upside down. I want you to want more of God next year. I want you to want only God next year.

"Whosoever, therefore, with a single heart shall direct his attention upwards to God, and purifyhimself from all inordinate love or dislike of anycreated thing, shall be the most fit to receive grace, and worshipof the gift of devotion." Matthew6:22

May Jesus bless you with much peace and hope and an expectancy that carries you into the New Year with great excitement.
Love in Christ, Patty Clark

Merry Christmas,

Sorry for the time delay. I haven't blogged for so so long. But the New Year...that is going to be a different story. For starters...I went to Europe with my Sister and granddaughter...pixs will be included. We were there for 6 weeks. Then I have had the good fortune to lead a women's Bible study at our local Naz church for the past 12 months. It's been incredibly exciting to see jesus at work in so many women's lives. We studied the subject of Gratitude. Great response and lives were changed. Yeah! Then we studied God's love, then His mercy, and finally His power. Most interesting to know that not only is God...well, God, but that He is willing to share all that He is and all that He has with us...even His power...now that really does provide us with hope for the New Year.

We are going to be exploring the subject of personal Transformation starting January 2010. I hope to give you some of the highlights from the study...it's all about becoming the women of faith God intended us to be. (The study is available at: living_ministries@yahoo.com)

Then we are going to examine the subject of Obedience. Oh I know...it's one of those...well,

intimidating subjects but...Obedience is the key to life so it must not be ignored. So...you can see that even though we took a rather lengthy sabatical...we are back in full force. I will be sending a new blog your way every week or every other week...depending on what comes from our studies and the conversations we have in class. Wish you could attend and we could get to know each other. Well, maybe we can.

More later...

Love in Christ, Patty Clark

Merry Christmas- Remember that the most important words this time of year are: Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us! Alleluia!

God is Personal

God is Personal "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'" Jeremiah 1:4-5 _____ In this passage God comes to Jeremiah because...because God has a job He wants Jeremiah to do. But I like the way, first, before getting into the details of Jeremiah's job description, Jehovah starts their conversation on a personal note, with a tender word of encouragement. Now I know that these words were originally spoken to Jeremiah thousands of years ago, but what they tell us about God...how He feels and how He deals with His children...these lessons are timeless and as applicable today as they were O-so long ago. Above and beyond anything else, miracle-of-miracles, God knew us before we were conceived or even born. He, personally, created us...and formed us in our mother's womb. Our birth was no accident anymore than our lives are a by-product of evolution. God decided He wanted us. God decided who and what we would be and personally hand-picked the talents, abilities, strengths and even the weaknesses that we would have and chose us...sanctified us...set us apart so that in the fullness of His time, by His grace, we would believe in His Son and belong to Him for all eternity. What's more He has a job for us to do, just like He had a job for Jeremiah to do. O we may not be prophets. We probably won't be, not in the Biblical sense. But God has prepared a good work for each one of us to do and has equipped us...given us everything we need to accomplish that task for His pleasure and glory (Ephesians 2:8-10). The point is...? God, our God, is a communicative God. He doesn't breath the breath of life into our nostrils and give us the precious gift of life and then turn away and leave us to go-it-alone. He doesn't save our souls...and after speaking the truth and filling us with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ...all of a sudden become disengaged, disinterested, and silent. Life is all about fellowship , sharing life with God, inter-course between God and you...and God and me, or at least it is supposed to be. You see God is ever-present and always will be with us. His Spirit dwells within all those who believe. You can't get any closer or more present and personal than that. It is totally illogical to think after learning all of that about Him, that, for some reason, in this particular dispensation, that He God, now chooses to be silent. If anything, given the personal and universal mess we're in as members of the human race, God's speaking words of truth into our minds, whispering words of light and life into our hearts...and speaking words of power and courage into our over-worked, overwhelmed, and oppressed souls...is more important now than ever before. God speaks! He has so many important truths He wants to tell us. But...the question is are we wise enough to listen to Him? Love in Christ, Patty Clark In all matters let us always turn to and listen to that One and only sacred source. fenelon

God is All Powerful

God Is All-Powerful

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"For He Spoke, and it was done;

He commanded, and it stood fast."

Psalm 33:9

***

God spoke the world into being. But did He speak in a...divine whisper? Or a reverberating shout? In the beginning there was nothing. Then the Lord uttered, "Let there be..." and, like the purest and most God-glorifying form of magic, there was a sun...the moon and the stars...the water and land and firmament...the birds in the air, fish in the sea, beasts in the fields...and Man! In the very first chapter of the Bible we learn that God communicates. He did. He does. And He always will. Don't let anyone, anywhere, tell you otherwise.

There is a lot to be said about the power of words, especially when those words originate with and come forth from the mind and heart of God. The Word of God carries with it the hope of glory and has the power to save a soul and set all who are held captive free. The Word of God tells us the truth about the holy One of Israel, our God. The Word encourages and unites, fills us with the riches of all wisdom and understanding and whether the Word is read...or It echoes down the corridors of our minds...or the Holy Spirit whispers it into the depth of our souls, communicating it is some personal and intimate way, after seeing it with our eyes, or reflecting on it with our midns, or embracing it in our hearts...we will know and understand Jesus better for having been touched by It. For it is in the Word of our God that the true treasures of life are found.

God can do more...accomplish in and through us more than we can ever imagine...via the supernatural and transforming power of His Word. From that one thing, God's Word, all things worth having come. I like what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20-21,

"Now to Him who is able to do

exceeding abundantly beyond all that

we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

to Him be the glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus to all generations

forever and ever. Amen."
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And it is the power of the Word, Jesus, who came to earth in human form...and the power of His Spirit working in us...taking the words of truth and teaching them to us and applying them in our lives...that is what transforms our lives into the miracle He intended them to be. It is not self-effort, it is God...as He communicates with us in tender and loving words of truth...that changes our minds, improves the condition of our hearts, and completely renovates the spirit within.

Happy indeed those ears that listen

not to the voice outside

but to the Truth inside.

Thomas a' Kempis

May God bless you until next time.

Love in Christ, Patty Clark

Give Thanks

Give Thanks

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"...in everyting give thanks;

for this is God's will for you

in Christ Jesus."

I Thessalonians 5:18

I got up earyly this morning, 3:30 a.m. to be precise, and was sipping my first cup of coffee when this verse in I Thessalonians came to mind. And as I sat there in my big over-stuffed chair I realized that I had so much to be grateful for:

-I am alive

-Jesus loves me

-My family is safe

-My life is full of purpose, i.e. to seek, know, love, and enjoy God,.

And of course the list goes on an on. The problem is we don't stop to think about how blessed and fortunate we are. It is so much easier to focus in on the negative that life throws at us, but...according to this verse...it is God's will that we give thanks. Because?

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift

is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights,

with whom there is no variation

of shifting shadow."

James 1:17

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Our lives may not be perfect. Whose is? But the point is...God has blessed all of us in one way or another to one degree or another. It is our privileged responsibility to appreciate, acknowledge, and express our gratitude to Him. Speak well of Him. Praise and thank Him for who He is...what He has given...and all the good things that He has done. He deserves not only our attention but our praise. Besides...there are all sorts of benefits that are derived from having a thankful heart.

-We are free to enjoy life

-Our circumstances seem brighter

-The burdens that we are carrying seem lighter

-We become more optimistic

-We realize that, indeed, there is hope

John Piper wrote,

How can we not be thankful when we owe everything to God?

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Spend time over the holidays looking for all the good that is in your life. Make a deliberate and conscious effort to be exceedingly glad and express your gratitude not only to God but also to others. You will be surprised at how infectious thanksgiving can be.

Love in Christ, Patty Clark

God is All-Power

"See now that I, I am He,

And there is no god besides Me;

It is I who put to death and give life.

I have wounded, and it is I who heal;

And there is no one who can deliver from My hand."

Deuteronomy 32:39

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The extent of God's all-powerfulness is extraordinary, incomprehensible, and...awe-inspiring.

All-powerful. In that small three letter word, "all," we see something about God that should stop us in our tracks and change our lives forever. From God's own lips we learn that His power is...the greatest power in heaven or on earth. There is no power like God's power. None! There never has been. There never will be. God is God, and His divine and sovereign power is one of a kind.

It is hard for us to imagine what the all-powerfulness of God means exactly. That is because we are so feeble and finite, especially in our thinking. We are human. That means that our minds, bodies, and even the resources that we do have to live life successfully are limited too. That's a hard concept to grasp, especially when the world we live in tells us that we can do anything, even becomes gods if we want to and are willing to work hard enough. That is why we need to focus-in-on the all-powerfulness of God and what that, potentially at least, means to us and what difference it could make in our lives. Because...? Because God can do anything.

That is one of the reasons why studying the nature of God is so important. What we learn about our God can change our lvies, for-the-better. That is why pursuing the person of God and learning the truth about Him is not a luxury. It is an absolute necessity if we want to live a truly abundant God-honoring life. We are weak. He is not. We are feeble. He is not. We are finite. He is not. God is all-powerful! That is why we so desperately need Him. Yes, we need God's loves. Absolutely. But we also need His supernatural strength and power to overcome our human deficiencies and live, if you will, supernatural lives for His purposes, pleasure, and glory.

The encouraging thing is...we don't have to fight the battles of life alone. We don't have to deal with the stresses and tension of our earthly existence armed only and merely with human logic, energy, and strength. There is a God and He chose you...and He chose me to be His own. We are His royal priests...His holy temples...and He has promised to supply all our needs, including His might. God's desire is to come into that special place that is our minds...our hearts

...our souls and share with us His supernatural power. Why? So we can excel and thrive...

perform all sorts-of signs and wonders and move mountains in His name for, of course, His glory.

Will you let Him share with you what you need the most...His infinite, supernatural, and timeless power? If not, why not? You know that you will never make it on your own.

Until next time...

Love in Christ, Patty Clark

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You were created to be filled with one thing...

God HImself.