James 5:13-16
"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in FAITH will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE."

- the word speaks for itself. It doesnt need my thoughts to go along with it. Praise God for His words and thoughts written to us.
- more later. If you read this post please pray for a friend's dad's healing. God is sovereign in all things. Praise the Lord for His is the glory and the power Forever!

Breathless with praise, prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
Kate
(Phil. 4:6-7)

Its not about me.

Hey there, it’s been a few weeks. Summer has officially began for me! PRAISE THE LORD! I want to begin this post with a quote that I think is incredible.

"The Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you- your personality, your willpower, your gifts, your talent, your money, your courage, your wisdom, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything-then although you may have the 'Christian life', you aren't yet living it."- Ian Thomas.

-If your life isn't 100% completely and solely centered on Christ, if He isn’t your everything, the One you run to when times are bad, the One you rejoice with when times are good, and the One you talk to til’ you're blue in the face when there's a lot on your mind- then you're missing it, you're missing Him.
-We can say all the right things, we can do all the right things, but the ONLY thing that matters is Jesus Christ. He's it. He’s the only reason you’re even here. To know Him and to make Him known.
He's our everlasting hope, and our ever present help in times of trouble.
Do you know Jesus? Have you met Him?
He is powerful.
He is the ultimate healer.
He is in control.
He is abounding in love for you.
He is honorable and full of integrity.
He is forgiving and merciful.
He is full of grace.
Jesus is the ultimate rescuer.
He is the Prince of Peace.

Jesus, my God, my Savior, my Father, my Best Friend; He is all that and more, more than I can even comprehend. In the following weeks to come, I want to study the nature of our Savior. Who He is, in depth and up close. I want to know more about the man who sacrificed Himself- bloodied and ripped to shreds, to die for me and for my sins; all for the sake of the most perfect love relationship I have ever experienced, or will.
Don't you agree that this beyond our comprehension love from this man, the Son of God, deserves more than just a passing acknowledgement on Christmas and Easter when we tell His story? And I'm not even just talking about hanging out in the gospels- although they are a great place to start, knowledge of our Savior, the Holy Spirit, and God our Father- the Trinity, is found throughout the Bible. Jesus is the physical representation we are given here of God on Earth- He’s His Son.
Anyways, I want to end this post with a story I read about a week ago. It’s about Elijah.
"Elijah went before the people of Israel and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing." 1 Kings 18:21

-No one I know of worships Baal anymore these days, but what if we replaced the word "Baal" with the word "you." Then the verse would read, "If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if you are God, follow him."---take a look at your life today. Would you find yourself standing in front of Elijah in silence? Is your relationship with Christ centered on you? or on Him? Are you daily dying to yourself, to your wants, to your fears, and dropping everything in favor of His presence and His abundant grace and love? It’s time we stop wavering between the two options, we don’t have real true life to the fullest without Christ pumping through our hearts and our thoughts moment by moment, every day.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:19-21

"If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5


It’s all about Him- and not about me,
Kate

P.S. If you don’t know how the story with Elijah and the people of Israel ends, you should check it out. I mean we’re talking straight fire raining down from heaven, aka = stinkin’ awesome God smack down over His people. Get it!

Facebook Fast

Hey friends! I just thought I'd tell y'all, I'm fasting from facebook for the next few days...a week to be exact. I hadn't planned on it until I got home tonight and God just struck me with this umm call? I guess you could say. How many times do we get on facebook or maybe some other site to just "check" it but end up spending hours engrossed in "stalking" and the like, dont deny it- we've all done it.
God struck me with this thought- and I use the term "struck" because God literally stopped me in my tracks- but I thought, "What would my life look like if I took all the times I looked at facebook and instead, spent time with Jesus?" -I'm not a big "stalker" and I dont spend hours on facebook in one sitting, but I do check it frequently and I bet if I added up all the little times I checked it- it would be an hour or so.
Also though, a second thought I had was, does facebook encourage me with Christ? You know, God can and does use social networking sites for His glory- I 100% beleive that, BUT currently, for me, I just dont feel as if its encouraging me enough- if at all, to keep me from this fast, that God has called me to in the first place.
Anyways, I wanted to tell y'all whats up.
Oh, and can I tell y'all one last thing? Maybe this will be a bit of encouragement to some of you out there, and it ties into this "fast" I'm embarking on because God's timing is always perfect, but let me just tell y'all this last thing God spoke to me tonight.
GOD IS ON THE MOVE!! HE IS AT WORK IN THE HEAVENLIES RIGHT NOW AND HE IS ON THE RISE!! GOD IS KING OVER ALL AND NO ONE CAN MATCH HIS MIGHTY POWER AND STRENGTH!!!! CHRIST IS SHINING HIS LIGHT IN THE DARK PLACES OF THIS WORLD AND IS EXPOSING THE EVIL THAT HAS ENSLAVED MANY OF US. HIS WILL AND PURPOSE WILL NOT BE HINDERED! HE WILL LEAD AND GUARD HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR TRIALS AND CAST OFF ALL EVIL THAT TRIES TO BLIND OUR EYES AND DEAFEN OUR EARS TO HIM!!!!! BE ON YOUR GUARD, KEEP WATCH AND STAND READY FOR HIS COMMAND!- HE IS SPEAKING TO EACH OF YOU- HE IS HEARING EACH OF YOUR PRAYERS, HE IS READY TO MOVE AND HE IS ABOUT TO SHAKE THIS WORLD WITH HIS GLORY!!!
PRAISE HIM! HE IS LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS!

"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

I encourage all who read this to take a few minutes and read Isaiah 40 today. God is the ultimate encourager.


Boycotting Facebook for the next 168 hours haha! =)
Kate

Jumbled lines of Poetry

So.....I write a little poetry here and there- its never planned and ALWAYS impromptu/ and I'd like to think, lead by the Spirit, and well, I felt as if I should blog tonight but the words just wouldnt come. So this is what I ended up writing. Think of this as a blog post in poem form.....with each stanza representing a thought/paragraph I was going to write about. :)
If anyone is reading this blog for the first time, please refer back to older posts...I promise I'm not a weirdo.


My heart is full
My life is free
He reached into my world and carried me.

When my world was threatening to crash around me
while gripping to all those fears
I clung to His promises, knowing He'd never leave me here.

I may think my problems are big
I may think I'm broken beyond repair
but Jesus is the ultimate healer and all my burdens, He'll bare.

Though life gets tough and heavy
though life feels like more than we can take
We can hold fast to His purposes because He died for our sake.

God is who He says He is
but satan will try to hide
every light that shines before him
be it ever bright.

Yet, Jesus is my redeemer, my Father, my best friend
No one can shut Him out of this world
He'll be here til the end.

Next time you hear that threatening voice
you know, the one that brings you down
bring it into submission, remembering the One who wears the Crown.


Thats all I have. No, this is not a regular thing.
Goodnight.

Not a poetry slammer,
Kate :)


**Note: Poetry Slam= a place/time where people read their poetry to one another.
Also, I'm not hatin' on anyone who likes to write/read poetry, Beth Moore writes poetry. "Further Still" is book of poetry she's written...for anyone who wants to know.

Selfish Christianity

A last thought of the weekend before the work week offically begins tomorrow. Really, I guess I'd call it a warning and a call to action to all followers of Christ.
-Selfishness. We know all about it. We've been told that its bad and wrong and that the world doesnt revolve around us since most of were about two years old, but theres a new concept I've recently learned about and its called 'selfish Christianity'.
The definition, as explained to me, of 'selfish Christianity' is to use God as our own personal source of good fortune and in your relationship with Him- its very one sided/all about number 1 with the person treating God more like a genie than God. I beleive this is something every Christian fights daily- because of our inherent fleshly nature. But let me sound the alarm now, this way of thinking and interacting with Christ is wholly unrighteous of us- as real Christians seeking to constantly be more like Him, we need to rexamine the very nature of our Savior. He was the most unselfish human to ever walk this Earth. He bled and died for us, yet do you know who He was praying for as He hung upon that cross? Amist all His pain-which is usually when we are the most selfish- He prayed for us. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they have done." Luke 23:34
*disclaimer: Jesus does care about us and what is going on in our hearts and lives, I'm not saying to not talk and pray to Him about yourself. I'm saying Jesus doesnt want ourselves be our only focus- He can handle our problems, and other people's too. :) *
However, the most important point I want to make tonight is that I think this form of "selfish Christianity" is yet another scheme used by Satan to blind us to other hurting people. You see, his plan is brilliant, because we never have to take our focus off ourselves and yet we can rationalize our self-centered perspective by throwing God in the mix. You see, when praying for only ourselves and praying for others in ways that benefit us we end up taking ourselves out of the fight and off the battle ground of the war against satan. There are injustices occuring around the world right now that must be stopped, but the powers of darkness wont vanquish themselves- we must come together as Christ's church, raising up our hearts and our prayers and calling and crying out on the behalf of the oppressed to the One who covets our prayers and can destroy satan with the stroke of his finger. Dear reader, whoever you are, Jesus is pleading for us to follow in His footsteps to stand in the gap for the sex-trafficked, the hungry, the lonely, the hurting, the dying, the violent, the abandoned, THE LOST.
They are all around us, the battle is all around us. You have a choice reader, no longer allow yourself to be taken out of the battle- we cant act as if there aren't millions of people who need Christ with every fiber of their being. We have righteous and powerful prayers that the Father can barely wait to answer on their behalf- the same love abundant love that He has for us, He is yearning to pour over the wounds of the millions of other lost on this Earth. And dont let the vast need for Christ discourage some of you, our Savior has OVERCOME THE WORLD (John 16:33)- no we personally cant reach every person on the planet, but Christ can- a million times over, and the best part is, HE's DYING TO DO IT! Your prayers are urgently needed.-if I knew a more desperate term for "need" I would use it.- Have you seen the state this world is in?! THE WORLD NEEDS JESUS AND WE'RE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN GIVE HIM TO THEM!
We must turn daily from our self seeking nature and pour our hearts out to the One who can bind up the wounds of the many victims of evil. Who are we church if we aren't loving others as Jesus loved us?

"By Our Love"- by Christy Nockels

Brothers, let us come together
Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done
We will come reaching, out from our comforts
And they will know us by our love

Sisters, we were made for kindness
We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us
We will come reaching, with a song of healing
And they will know us by our love!

The time is NOW
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love

Children, You are hope for justice,
Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above
You will be reaching, long after we’re gone,
And they will know you by your love!

"The prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective." James 5:16

Battling in prayer,
Kate

Trials, Faith, & Praise- You know, the Usual :)

OK- is anyone out there experiencing a time of waiting or just experiencing a time where you are in need of great faith in our Mighty Savior?! Is anyone else just crying out to the Lord for not just more of Him but for a Holy anointing of His presence to blanket you and fill your every thought!? Is there anyone else crying out for our Father to set you free of different strongholds in your life?! If so dear friends, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I'm with you 100%.
This song has been particularly on my heart and on my lips this past week.

"You'll Come" by Hillsong

I have decided I have resolved
To wait upon you Lord
My rock and redeemer shall not be moved
I?ll wait upon you Lord
As surely as the sun (or Son) will rise
You'll come to us
As certain as the dawn appears
You'll come let your glory fall
As you respond to us
Spirit reign flood our hearts
With holy fire again
We are not shaken we are not moved
We wait upon you Lord
Our Mighty deliverer my triumph and truth
I'll wait upon you Lord
Chains be broken
Lives be healed
Eyes be opened
Christ is revealed

-I am praying that everyone who reads this blog post is filled with divinely righteous faith and trust in our Savior to heal, to move, to be in control and to consume each and every one of you. We need it. Our city needs it. I have always felt that the best place to be in my relationship with the Lord is smack-dab on my face in desperate need of Him. I never want to forget the depth of my need for Him and to never stop crying out to Him with my whole heart. Forget being in control, forget walking through the valleys of life, I prefer to be ever climbing the mountain and praising Him for every big and small step He fills me with strength to take. I hope this post is meeting some of you where you're at right now and I want to tell you- I'm there with you friend. This is the place you want to be, this is the place where Jesus is refining you into the man/woman He desires you to be, to look a little more like Him and to give you faith to walk out on the water before you.
You know the "mustard seed" parable? Well, the Holy Spirit keeps replaying this verse over and over again in my mind for the past few days. "He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20
And then it hit me, I want that mountain MOVED! No more talking about it, as we have for the past few DECADES- lets put some action to our worn out words and MOVE IT! But where is this faith that can move mountains? Well, its right in the palm of Jesus' hand- waiting, just waiting for us to humble ourselves and ask for it. He's the best sharer. I'll leave you with Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
- I think God is most pleased when our prayers match up with His desires and often I pray that if my prayers and my desires aren't matching His- that He would change me to desire what He does. As I've been praying this- faith has been a huge topic on my heart, and my friends- He will give you the amount of faith you ask Him for. It most certainly pleases Him that you are praying for more faith and trust. He's in total control and He would love for you to realize it and stop trying to do things your own way. HE IS IN CONTROL. HE CAN MOVE THE MOUNTAINS WITH ONE BREATH. IF YOU DESIRE TO GLORIFY HIM AND YOU ASK HIM FOR MORE FAITH, EVEN FAITH THAT WILL MOVE MOUNTAINS- HE WILL TURN YOUR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN AND DO IT!
Praise the Father who desires us to be more like Him! Praise Him for always being in control- even when we feel like everything is in utter chaos! Praise Him for moving mountains in our lives EVERY DAY! Praise Him for listening to our prayers and loving us above our understanding! He is the God of the universe! He holds every star in His hands, in fact- He's named them all, He doesn't need us, but He sure does want us. PRAISE HIM!
Praying for everyone who reads this blog. Let us all just take a second and PRAISE HIM today, in this very moment, HE IS SO WORTHY OF AFFECTION!- I can barely stand it!

Breathless with Praise for our Magnificent Savior,
Kate

Praying Lyrics

Just a thought this evening.
Praying scripture is a must. Ever thought about praying song lyrics? No they're not the inerrant word of God, but if they describe what you are sincerely wanting to say to Jesus, I dont think He minds if we offer up someone else's words as our own. It doesn't make them any less your words if that's truly what your heart is wanting to say to Christ.- someone else just beat you to the punch line and wrote them down first :)
Maybe you do this already. But I don't want to just sing a song during church, I want to make the words my own and cry them out to the One who so desperately wants to hear us sing them to Him. He doesnt need our praise to feed His Holiness, but He so desperately wants to see and hear His sons and daughters loving Him back.
Here are five songs I've prayed numerous times to Jesus; hopefully they'll clarify what I mean.

1.) Desert Song -by Hillsong
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God You're a God who provides
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God You're my victory and He You are here
And this is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow

2.)
Worthy of Affection - by Shane and Shane
Deliverer you brought me out of the miry clay
You set my feet upon a rock and you made me say
Holy is the Lord
I would declare your thoughts about me one by one
It'd be too many to count so I simply come
And sing of your great love
So I sing..I lift my hands and sing!
You are worthy of affection
Your the radiance of all of His glory
Let adoration fill this place
You hold everything together
By the word of your immovable power,
I sing a song of praise!
I am the broken down and I am the beaten up
But what could stop me from a song of unending love?
Holy are you lord
You are a treasure, the hope, the bright and morning star
You are the lover of our soul and you've won my heart
I sing of your great love
So I sing
I lift my hands and sing!
Worthy are you Lord
Worthy are you Lord
O worthy are you Lord
Of all Praise
All Glory to you Lord
All Glory to you Lord
All Glory to you Lord
Forever More
Forever More

3.) Still by Hillsong
Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand
When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know that you are God
Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

4.) Everything Falls by Fee
You said You’d never leave or forsake me, when You said this life is shake me. You said this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul. This I know.
When everything falls apart, Your arms hold me together. When everything falls apart You’re the only hope for this heart. When everything falls apart and my strength is gone, I find You mighty and strong. You keep holding on, You keep holding on.
When I see darkness all around me, when I see tragedy has found me, I still believe. Your faithful arms will never let me go. Still I know
When everything falls apart, Your arms hold me together. When everything falls apart You’re the only hope for this heart. When everything falls apart and my strength is gone, I find You mighty and strong. You keep holding on, You keep holding on.
Sorrow will last for the night, but hope is rising with the sun, it’s rising with the sun. There will be storms in this life, but I know You have overcome, You have overcome
When everything falls apart, Your arms hold me together. When everything falls apart You’re the only hope for this heart. When everything falls apart and my strength is gone, I find You mighty and strong. You keep holding on
When everything falls apart, Your arms hold me together. When everything falls apart You’re the only hope for this heart. When everything falls apart and my strength is gone, I find You mighty and strong. You keep holding on, You keep holding on.

5.) Reign in Us by Starfield
You thought of me before the world began to breathe
And you knew my name before I came to be
You saw the very day I'd fall away from you
And how desperately I need to be redeemed
Lord Jesus come lead me
I'm desperate for your touch
Oh Great and Mighty One, with one desire I come
That you would reign, that you would reign in me
I'm offering up my life, a living sacrifice
That you would reign, that you would reign in me
Spirit of the Living God fall fresh again
Come search my heart and purify my life
I need your perfect love
I need your discipline
I'm lost unless you guide me with your light
I'm desperate for your touch
I cry out for your love to refine me, I cry out
For your love to define me, I cry out
For your mercy to keep me blameless until you return
That you will reign in me
So reign, please reign in me
Come purify my heart I need your touch
Come cleanse me like a flood and send me out
So the world may know you reign, you reign in me.

-This is specifically the prayer of my heart today, tonight, tomorrow, forever, for so many reasons.
Goodnight all.

Desperate that He would reign in me,
Kate