In My Tummy

Last night as we were driving home from the new house after our prayer time, I was pointing out the Christmas lights to Little A. She got so excited about them once I told her that they were special Birthday lights for Jesus.  " They are to remind us that Jesus' Birthday is coming, and that He is the light of the world."

The rest of the way home she would exclaim, " There's more birthday lights!" "Look more birthday lights for Jesus!"

It was so much fun. I love getting to share her joy in this season. She is still to young to really understand all the craziness that we all get sucked into with the gifts, the food, and the stress. To her this is just going to be a birthday party for Jesus. 

As we were nearing our home she said, " Jesus was in mommies tummy." She says things so matter-of-factly it is hard not to just laugh. 


Holding back a giggle I responded, "No honey, E was in mommies tummy. Jesus lives in my heart." 

"Oh?" she responded in a puzzled voice, "Baby Jesus lives in my tummy."

"No honey he doesn't live in your tummy. He used to be in his mommy Mary's tummy but then she had him and he was in the manger remember the story?"

"Yeah, he is a nice baby." she paused, " He is in mommies heart."

"Yes he is A. Mommy asked him to come and live in my heart and take away my sins and take me to heaven. We just have to ask him and he will live in our hearts."

"Look more birthday lights!" distracted little almost two year old replies. 

I was slightly surprised to be having that conversation with my child already. She is just a month away from being two. I really didn't expect to be trying to explain salvation to her yet. 

I think that she was mostly just intrigued with the whole idea of babies in bellies since I just had little E and she has seen her aunties and my friends that are expecting. She knows that babies come from bellies. That mommy had little E at the hospital ( a place that she liked only because she rode an elevator). She also knows that Jesus' mom was Mary and his dad is Joseph (she talks about how its Jesus birthday, her birthday and then Joseph's birthday) 

This morning she brought it up again as we were driving to the store.  " Jesus lives in my belly" 

"No honey, he doesn't live in your belly. You can ask him to live in your heart. Do you want to?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, pray with mommy then...."

She sat there staring at me in the rear view mirror as I prayed and then she said happily, "amen."

"Jesus lives in my heart mommy." Says the most adorable almost two year old in a very serious ernest voice as she makes her mommies eyes well up with tears. 



They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”  But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
John 2:20-22

Jesus was not talking of the temple but of his own physical body. 
Yesterday we asked the Lord Jesus to come and be in our new home. 
Today our daughter did the same. 
What we did to our physical home she did with her spiritual home.  


Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

Written in Our Home

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. 
Isaiah 11:2-3

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16:19

So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Isaiah 59:19

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
Isaiah 54:17


“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18:18-20

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:9-13

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:7-8

Have you figured out where my head is at today?

We are moving this weekend! I am so excited and stressed. And I am starting to think about how much I will miss the house we are in.  It is our first home, where our kids were brought home to, and so many firsts were done here. 

Anyway, tonight we are going over to the other house to pray over it before we move in.  We didn't do this before we moved in last time and I regretted it.  

We were talking last week to some good friends who have been dealing with "creepy" things happening in there home.  A man died in a fire there before they purchased it.  In the time that they have owned it they have dealt with odd happenings here and there. But recently their daughter woke up in the night afraid and was inconsolable. The next morning she asked her mommy, " who was the man in my room last night?"

I do not tell you this to bring you fear. I tell you this to bring awareness.  

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 (kjv)

Our friends had never prayed over their home. They had never claimed it as theirs and as the Lords. They had not yet stepped into their God given authority as owners of that home and given it over to God. This weekend they did pray over their home and have claimed it as theirs and as covered in the blood of the Lord. 

 There are powers of darkness that roam free in the world that we live in.  They have been sent by the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. 

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:11-13

Far too often we sit back and ignore the attacks of the enemy on our families. We allow the spirits of greed, hatred, selfishness, anxiety, depression, addiction,  ... , to attack and harm our families for generations.  We allow the attacks to come and come and we write them off as nightmares and accidents and try to make up any excuse we can to not face it head on. 

Our God has won this battle already. He has conquered the grave. 

 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 

Hebrews 2:14-15

 Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

Dueteronomy 7:21

It was not by their sword that they won the land,
    nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
    and the light of your face, for you loved them.

Psalm 44:3

We allow the attacks against us to bring us into fear and bondage.  We have been bought by the blood of Christ.  We are free.  

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

We are at fault for allowing the attacks to succeed. We allow them to continue. We bring things into our home everyday that should not be there.  We allow darkness to come in and we allow things to take root in our hearts that should not be there. 

Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Dueteronomy 7:26

Tonight we are going to write the words of the Lord our God in our new home. His word is truth (John 17:17)

We will pray over every room and leave behind scriptures written on the backs of the light switches and plug ins. It would have been nice to write them on the doorposts and in the walls but we are at the end of the projects and those have already been done and in for a while. 

 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Dueteronomy 6:5-9

I will post a list of the scriptures we have claimed over our home so that you too can write them around ( and pray them over) your homes if you so desire. 

EDIT:

You must know that we dont believe that there is any "special power" in writing the words around the home in hidden places.  It is just a proclamation of what we believe and our prayers over our home.
We need to build our homes on a strong foundation and that doesn't come from what we write down.

Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. 
Psalm 127:1

My Failing Patience

I am probably one of the least patient people I know.  I have always really struggled with being patient. 
My mom used to always sing me this horrible annoying song whenever I was getting impatient. 

I went searching for the full lyrics and found this clip of the song.  Enjoy. 



Be patient 
Be patient
Don't be in such a hurry. 
When you get impatient 
You only start to worry. 
Remember, 
Remember, 
That God is patient too
Well,
Think of all the times when 
Others have to wait for you. 


I walk fast and hate when I am stuck behind a "slow walker." (Hubby likes to saunter when we are walking, even when we are in a hurry, he takes it easy) 
Hubby is totally laid back and relaxed most of the time, I am not. I have a plan and an agenda. Things need to get done in a certain amount of time and my way.  ( I blame part of this on being a mom. You kinda learn to hurry when you have to fit things into a small amount of time between naps and feedings) 

I really have been trying to be more patient.  I do fairly well most of the time with having patience for my children. I am not easily thrown by the slow walking of a child, or by the need to stop and look at the scenery and pick up rocks.  But adults, thats a whole different story.  

This weekend I totally failed at being patient. A few horrible examples for you ( they probably dont seem that horrible to you, but it was honestly an epic fail) 

- I took my mom and pregnant sister to the store for some groceries. I stated before hand, this needs to be quick, there is only so much time before E wakes up and starts screaming for his grandpa. ( We had stuff to do at the new house after the groceries were purchased)  Shopping with them completely frazzled me. They walk slow, take their time looking at things, and basically just went a whole lot slower than I thought we should go. I have to admit there was a small part of me that wished that the cart was bigger so I could just stick them both in and speed through the store. 
I was grouchy and frustrated by the third isle.  Not the enjoyable little outing with my mom and sister, that I had expected.  And it was totally my failure to be patient that wrecked it for me, and probably for them. 

- We are in the process of finishing touches of the new house. We had originally planned to be in by this weekend but it took a little longer to get the carpet installers in. So we have had to push things back. This ended up being a great thing since we wouldn't have been ready to move in this weekend anyway. There have been a lot of hold ups and things are behind schedule.   There are always little things that end up taking more time than expected, when doing a whole home reno. 
Anyway, this weekend my parents were here to help so that we could get everything washed up and vacuumed and ready to move in. But the carpet ended up taking longer than expected and me being the impatient person that I am, then began to try to push and force things to happen at my pace.  This is not a good thing when, really, nothing is in my control. So being my impatient self caused more stress for me, my husband, and our friends who are installing the carpet. 

Impatience never helps anything.  It just causes problems for yourself and those around you. 

I have to say, I am actually surprised my mom didn't start singing that song to me today.  Probably was a good thing though, since at the time I probably would have just gotten more angry.  Once removed from the situation, I am normally able to look back and realize my fault. Its hard to see in the heat of the moment though.  So to them, if they are reading this,  I apologize, I am so sorry that I did not respond and show patience and love towards you. My prayer is that next time I will walk in the Spirit and show you what he is doing in me. 

God has called us to be patient.  He calls us to "walk by the Spirit" and one of the fruit of the Spirit is patience.  So if I am walking in the Spirit, I have patience.  Well I am sure I have it, I just choose not to use it and that is not what I am called to do. 



You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself." If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

Galations 5:13-26 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

Colossians 1:9-14

 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad reportand good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

2 Corinthians 6:4-10

1 Timothy 1:15-17

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patienceas an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. 

Amen.