Faith

Carlene Wooddell

Leaning In

Philippians 3:13-15New International Version

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

For the past year, I have not been as intentional in my prayer life as I should have been. It’s not that I don’t believe in the power of prayer, because I absolutely do and am in fact a person that was delivered through prayer to be cancer free.

As this year began, my church, as always does a series called 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer. You can choose to fast anything, in order to draw closer to God and grow spiritually. We are living expectantly this year, choosing to watch God move thru and in our lives. God can do anything for anyone.

I have decided to lean in to what God has for me. I am fasting mobile games. Little did I know that those mobile games that took up way too much time in my life, was holding me back from spending time with God. Being intentional has helped me to come back to Jesus and truly walk with Him daily. We started on January 2nd and six days in, I can already see how the 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer are changing me. It’s not about me, or my life, it’s all about Jesus.

I know from past experience, the more I lean into God and His Word, the better off life is for me. Jesus is my redeemer and my sustainer. He is my Peace. He can be yours too.

Getting up at 6:00 a.m.to join in morning devotions, sounded crazy, but it is wonderful! The short devotions and scripture shared with all of us daily through our online platform starts my day off just right. As I sit and follow along in the Bible or listen to it read to me, along with commentary, reminds me nothing is hopeless in this life. The scripture reminds me that God has always been for us; He will look for the one, and leave the 99, so no one will perish (see Matthew 18:10-14).

I want to be like Paul, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. And do this, we must live expectantly in all we do. Many times this may require us to wait, to be still, to hold unswervingly to our faith. To trust in the Father.

My new year looks promising as I press into the Lord. I spend time with Him reading my own devotions, praying and journaling. Every year, I start a journal, but never seem to keep it up. This time I am praying that when I come back to this post a year from now, my journal will be full of the wonders God has done in and thru my life and those I love.

So, I ask you, what are you leaning into this year?

Jesus can turn any mess in you life into a message. And any test in your life to a testimony! Jesus is our Hope. #HopeAlwaysHaveFaith

I encourage you to share what God is doing in your life. Let me know. I would love to pray with you!

Father in Heaven,

Today I give you all that I am. I invite you into the weak places in my life, so that you can turn them into strengths. I invite you into my heart and life, use me Lord to show others Who you are and give me eyes to see others as You see them and lead them to You. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen

Thanks for following along, much love and blessings~Carlene

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Featured Carlene Wooddell

Seasons Change

Just like fall brings the warmth of summer temps to a close; the fall colors in nature warm our hearts; seasons in our lives are ever changing.

For the past 5 months, I’ve been in a season of uncertainty and rest. Uncertainty of what medical testing would reveal but a season of rest and assurance that God loves me and knows every single detail of my life.

I’ve wanted to write and share my stories with you but God has shown me that rest requires more than just sleeping; it also requires my mind to be still and wait for Him. Being still has always been challenging for me. If anything needs done, I would figure a way to do it; even if it caused pain.

I’m no quitter.

In my Season of Rest, Jesus has taught me to rely on others, accepting help from people who genuinely care for me and want nothing in return. I am good at nurturing others, but have found it hard to accept that love from other people until recently.

Upon finding out I actually did have Endometrial cancer, part of me was relieved and part of me concerned. I’ve left it in God’s hands and am trusting He will continue to carry me and hold me always.

As Friday approaches, I will admit I’m.a little nervous. This IS major surgery. I will be intubated and I keep praying my lungs and their capacity to work correctly will not be hindered by my weight. If I was laying flat and not head angled down, I wouldn’t be as concerned. As always I am choosing to trust the Lord to be my strength thru it all.

Every medical obstacle that Satan has thrown at me; The Great Physician and Healer, Jesus Christ our Lord has seen me thru. Now will be no different.

I always remember the verse about even if my faith is the size of a mustard seed and I believe, it’s enough. My faith is much bigger than that because of all the things God has brought me thru, but even in the times in my life when my faith could be called mustard seed faith, it still carried me.

I guess what I am really trying to express is hold onto your faith, trust in the Hope Jesus can bring. Allow Him into your heart and life and He will take your messiness and turn it into a message and testimony giving Him all glory and honor and praise!

Jesus can turn any mess into a message and any test, trial and temptation into a testimony.

#HopeAlwaysHaveFaith

Blessings to all~Jesus Loves You!

Carlene Wooddell

Where He Leads

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As a parent myself, I find it quite ironic that when I try to teach my children and they don’t always listen or follow my lead, I feel disappointment and sadness that they don’t understand I am not trying to lead them down a path of regret and sorrow, but save them from making mistakes and trying to share with them lessons, I have learned over the years.

Now, I know that my Father In Heaven, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have never made mistakes, but I wonder how many times we grieve them when we choose to not follow their leading; but I am so ever thankful that because of their mercy and grace, I am given multiple chances to get it right.

John 10:2-5 New Living Translation (NLT)

2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

At the age of 11, I chose to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and to follow Him and wherever He leads me, I would go.  I love the fact that my parents chose to follow the Lord and gave me a great example of Godly Love-unconditional love-no strings attached kind of love-and rooted me with a strong foundation for my life. Gave me a rock to stand on and hang onto every day of my life. My daddy always use to say, “the Lord provides for us dummies”, no matter when times were tough and struggles were real, I always knew it would be okay, somehow. I trusted him to take care of me. He was my dad.  By my father modeling his life after the Lord, I came to know that Jesus is faithful to me and He is always with me and He only wants the very best for me.  He wants the only very best for you too!

When Jesus, Son of Man, walked among us, he told us (paraphrased), I have come so you may live life abundantly; you will have struggles, but I have already overcome anything you will face. Trust me. Follow me. Have Faith.

It is easy to say have faith and trust in the Lord, but I am sure you have heard or used the phrase, ‘easier said than done’; however, it really is easier and simpler than we think.  The problem that I encountered and maybe you have encountered the same problem is, change isn’t always easy. Sometimes changes mean a whole lot of new things, which leads us out of our comfort zones. Oh, we know that we need to move in different ways or areas of our lives, but we become complacent and stay stuck.  Sometimes, because staying stuck is better than the unknown, but if you remember that Jesus will never lead you astray and that HE is always with you, no matter where you are or where you go, would that make it even just a tiny bit easier.

A little over a year ago, I was stuck.  I was attending a church that had become my family; they had seen me through good times and a few too many hard times and I felt safe and secured and loved. But a few months before I left that church, I felt God telling me it was time for me to move on; He needed me elsewhere and I really struggled with that. I didn’t share the struggles with anyone, because I wasn’t sure why I was feeling these emotions I was having. Was I hearing God right? Did He really want me to leave and follow Him to another church? There was nothing wrong with the one I was at~but in order to grow me, grow my faith and use me as He wanted I had to be willing to trust Him and follow. Being obedient to the Lord is not always easy, but because I love Him so much, and because I knew that He wasn’t going to back down on this ONE subject-I prayed to Him, I talked to Him and I waited for a sign, any sign that would tell me that I was misunderstanding His leading-it never came. So in a bold step of Faith, I decided to visit this other church and see what is was all about.

From the moment, I stepped through the doors, through the announcements, worship and sermon, I knew that I had heard Him correctly. I could feel it in my soul. I was still sad though, because that would mean I wouldn’t see friends as often as I did, because of the move.  The next week, my husband suggested, we return to this other church and just make sure that we were hearing God right.  We were and we are still there today.

The best part is, being part of God’s Family, doesn’t matter where you decide to corporately worship and spend time with him, because I still have those deep relationships I had before I left my ‘old’ church, but now I have new relationships that are cultivated every day and I am growing in the Lord. And by my being willing to follow Where He Leads, and not left to my own devices, I know I am learning how to hear His voice more clearly.

 

Matthew 4:19 New Living Translation (NLT)

19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

Jesus loves you so much! He loves you right where you are, but He also has many places He wants to take you, if only you are willing to follow Where He Leads. May you be blessed in knowing that there is nothing you can do to earn this love, except accept His love, repent of your sins and ask Him into your heart. Let Him be your Lord and Savior, and He will take you places you would never have thought of on your own!

 

 

 

 

Carlene Wooddell

Out with the Old & In with the New

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But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.1 Peter 2:9 (MSG)

As I read this verse on my computer screen this evening, I realized how lucky we are that we are chosen by God, to be a holy people, to do his work, to spread the good news of the gospel and the Love HE has for each and every one of us. No matter where we are in life or how messy our lives out. HE LOVES us just the way we are and HE wants us to come to him, to accept Jesus Christ, His son, as our Personal Lord and Savior.  Accepting Jesus as my Savior, at the age of 11 was easy for me to do, because I had great role models in my life and knowing and believing I would have eternal life with God through Jesus Christ, was far greater a reward than I could ever hope or imagine.  However, I realize that there are many people who have never had someone teach them about Jesus Christ or how different your life not only will be once you accept Him as your Lord and Savior and build a relationship with HIM.  I know this, because somewhere along the journey I fell out of step with the Lord; and that is a very hard thing for me to admit.

When I was blessed enough to become a wife and a mother, I stopped talking and walking with Christ. Well, let me be a little more specific, I talked with Him occasionally, but not daily and not all day, like I do now. My spouse didn’t want to go to church with me and I somehow felt if I went alone, what would people think and that was my downfall.  I was so worried about what people would think, I didn’t give it much thought about what God or Jesus would think. Sad, I know. But for years, many years, I tried to do everything in my own strength, without the guidance of God or His Holy Word.

But God never gave up on me. Many times I felt drawn to Bible Study groups or churches, but the fear that I would be looked down upon, kept me away. Mostly the shame I felt, the enemy used that and that shame had such a grip on me, I just felt defeated. So, needless to say my children-our children, did not grow up grounded in the truth and their lives weren’t built on a strong rooted foundation as mine was, in Christ.  Oh, they knew that at Easter, Christ arose from the dead, but it really didn’t have much bearing on their lives. And they knew Christmas day was about celebrating God’s gift to the world, Baby Jesus; but they really didn’t grasp or care to grasp why God sent Jesus to earth in human form.

I would try to teach them about faith and what faith was and when they struggled, I would say you’ve got to have faith. If something isn’t working, you need to try harder; don’t give up; don’t quit, but I didn’t say let’s pray and ask Jesus for His help. Because I had fallen out of being instep with the Lord, I didn’t think to share the great message with my children. And, if you are a Christian and a believer, you know how easy it is to lapse. Miss a service here, don’t take time to pray or talk to God or get in the Word, and pretty soon, you feel so far way~much like the prodigal son did.

After years of struggles and disappointments, I realized that something had to change. Was it me, was I the problem? Why had life become so difficult? I fell to my knees and I cried out to God, where are you? I need you? Why aren’t you answering me? And when I sat there, in tears, that continued flowing and didn’t think they were ever gonna stop-I felt this tug in my spirit, this tiny whisper, I am here. I have always been here, I was just waiting for you to invite me back into your life.  What a powerful moment!

In God’s Word, he promises us that HE will never leave us or forsake us. THE MESSAGE TRANSLATION puts it like this:

Hebrews 13:  Message (MSG)

5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?

And so it began, a new chapter in my journey with the Lord. I returned to the fold and HE welcomed me with open arms. While being prayed over, by a woman I had never met, but who has since became a great friend, I felt such peace, that I knew from that moment, God was with me-had always been with me-I just hadn’t noticed because I was trying to do everything on my own, instead of doing it in HIS strength!

You see, because we are of the world, it is very easy to think we can do everything on our own, in our own ways and our own power, but in the WORD (Holy Bible), God reminds us in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ, He gives me strength.” God did not create us to do anything without Him. But he did give us free will to make our own decisions and choices.  If we choose to do it without Him, we are bound to make a mess of our lives. We may have small victories, every now and then, but we won’t have the JOY and PEACE in us, if we don’t have HIM in our hearts.

I started dragging my children to church with me as young teenagers. I tried to get them involved in the fabulous, energetic, passion, on fire youth group at the church I was attending; but they weren’t interested.  And by dragging, I mean sometimes they were actually kicking and screaming on the way in the door during weekly evening services. And I was quite embarrassed and shocked by their reactions. Mostly embarrassed. But one of the pastors told me not to worry about it. As a parent, it was my job to get them there and let God do His work.   Seemed simple enough, but it was the farthest thing from simple that I could imagine. But each week, I would take them. And each week, they sat there, irritated and aggravated they had to be there.

Our children our 19 and 21 now, and oh, how I wish I could say that they found the Lord and walk with Him, but they are still fighting the fact that they need Him now more than ever. But I continue to trust God that He is in Control; that He has a plan and the best I can do now, is what I have been doing-pray for them, love them, let them see God/Jesus in Me and leave the results up to Him.

My greatest fear, as a parent, is that they will die, never accepting Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But through a friend, God told me, years ago, I have a plan for your children. Trust Me. And I am trusting Him.

So, when you decide to truly follow Jesus and take up the cross and walk with Him, you let go of your old life and shrug off the old things that made you the person that was used to be condemned for your faults; but when you accept Jesus, the slate is wiped clean; because HE has already paid the price for your sins-all of them-and you become pure and righteous-not by anything you did-but everything HE did. And you become a Holy People.

It’s pretty cool, actually when you think about it.  I am Holy. I am also a mess at times; my life is utter chaos but I have the Holy Spirit within me. No matter where I am or what I am doing, HE is ALWAYS with me! I can choose to let the chaos rule me or I can let God’s Peace cover me and permeate my being and I can choose how I respond to whatever it may be-loving and kind or not so kind. I strive to be loving and kind. I don’t like to be the “not so kind” type of person, because then I am not a good representation of who Jesus is. And that is my goal. I want to be the person, that when people look at me, they want to know how can you be so calm in this storm?? AND then I can share JESUS with them. 

So, just remember this: no matter how far away you feel from Jesus; no matter if you have never even given Him a thought, HE CREATED YOU, HE LOVES YOU & HE WILL MEET YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!

May you be blessed! Thank you for reading this and please share if you feel led to do so.praise the lord