Cha Cha Cha Changes!!!!!

 It is rapidly changing seasons. I can see it all around me

The leaves are changing colors.
The kids are back in school.
The nights are cooler.
The pumpkins, straw, and scarecrows are replacing bright flowers in everyone's yard.

And things in my life are changing too.
I am serving the community around me with a new group of awesome women.
My family dynamics are changing with the arrival of my mother-in-love who is joining our family home permanently.
I am teaching and speaking again after a healing hiatus.

I am encouraged and excited for all the new CHANGES in my life.

My favorite quote is:
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." -Author Unknown

I am ready to have the things in my life that need to change to fall out of my life like the leaves are falling off the trees.
I don't just want what I've always gotten. I want BETTER!

To be more effective for God's Kingdom.
To be a better friend.
To use God's resources in a way that glorifies Him.

I want to be the woman God has called me to be!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
-2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

What Do You Love?

As I begin my walk through this New Year, I have decided that I needed to see WHAT GOD DESIRED for me. The last two blogs started this journey, and I encourage you to read them. Requirements For The New Year

Just, Justly , Justice-How Do We Act?

Today, I will look at my heart and see what I love. I must. Going back to Micah 6:8;

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God. 

 

The last time time, I discovered God has desired me to act justly. To treat all people the same, and to desire the very best for them. Like one of my dear friends Sandy reminded me; We all want justice but it is hard to give it, like God does.

As I have meditated on this verse in Micah, and read other verses in the Word, I have come to the next thing God wants from me this year. 

To Love Mercy.

Interestingly enough, to love mercy, is the only way I can act justly.

The two go hand in hand.

 Over and over again throughout Scripture we see God described as merciful. As a matter of fact, our salvation vs our damnation is the perfect example of that. We deserved to be separated eternally from Him. We deserved to die. We still do.

But, because God is BOTH just and merciful, He chose to pay for our sins Himself, through His Son, Jesus, so we wouldn't have to.

Stop right there. Just think on that for a moment.
Right now you should LOVE mercy.

Now it gets a little more difficult. This is where I must allow God to change my heart, to be like His.

Romans 12:1-2

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

In view of WHAT?

God's mercy.

I am to do WHAT?

Offer my body as a living sacrifice.

HOW do I do that?

Be transformed by the renewing of my mind.

WHAT will that do?

I will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For me.
And I will have a heart more like God's.
I will not only love mercy when it is shown to me, but,
I will love mercy so much, it will become part of my character,
and I will desire to show it, to whomever God puts in my path.
Regardless of:
Who they are.
What they have done to me or others.
Whether they are friends or self-proclaimed enemies.

With that changed mind set, I will will always act justly,
because I LOVE MERCY!

How does this look?

I think for me, and just quite possibly for you, it means:

When I am responding or reaching out to someone,

MERCY not RETRIBUTION,

will be the FIRST thing that I think of.

Today I pray O Lord, that You conform my mind, and my will to Yours. I desire to merciful like You are. Please change my heart!

Next time, what it takes to allow God to change our hearts!

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Requirements for the New Year!

The New Year is here. 2011. I keep reading about resolutions. Plans for this year. Changes people want to make in themselves.

Why do we do this? Why do we choose the first of the year to decide to make a change? 

People, myself included, tend to resist change. It is not comfortable, and yet, change is necessary for a healthy life. Your child's doctor always does a check on height, weight, and skill changes when you take your child to see them. If there are no changes then there is a problem.

We are either growing and changing, or we are dying. 

This relates both to our physical life and our spiritual life.

Since it seems that people from all over the world are deciding it is safe to make changes it is easy to jump on the band wagon. 

It's "ok" to make a change since "everyone else is doing it"!
This is also the very reason so many fail at keep New Year resolutions. They are made for the wrong reason, at the wrong time. A clear set up for failure.

I have spent the last two days pondering this very thought. There are many things I want to change and do for myself and my family. 

I want to make changes because it is God's will for me to do so. This verse spoke to the very core of what I have been searching my heart and pleading to God for insight to, the last few days.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” - Micah 6:8

The very question, "What does the Lord require of you, (ME)?" is answered so clearly here. 

No "maybe". 

No "if".

No "when".

No doubt, what God wants me to do.

No doubt why God wants me to do it.

God truly has shown me what is good. 

His love.

My salvation.

His grace.

My response to those things?  My response is what God actually REQUIRES of me.

Act Justly.

Love Mercy.

Walk Humbly before Him.

 I need to know what it looks like to do those things. 

What I need to change , in my life, to do what is required of me, by God.

The next three blogs will cover those thoughts and searching of God's word, and my application to my heart and life.

You are invited to join me as I chase after God's heart this year!

Chasing After Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

My New Years Resolutions

These are my TOP TEN New Years Resolutions.  Take a peek.

10.
1Pe 4:7  The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray.
I will be self-controlled this year so that I am able to pray with a clear mind.

9.
1Pe 3:15  But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect. 
I will strive to make sure that every answer I give to all will be with gentleness and respect. I will never use the Word of God or the guise of truth to beat anyone up.

8.
Psa 119:30  I have chosen a life of faithfulness. I have set your regulations in front of me.
I will keep God's Word forefront in my mind. I will be faithful to Him in my words and deeds.

 
7.
Psa 27:13  I believe that I will see the goodness of the LORD in this world of the living. 
Instead of looking for the negative all around me,  I will choose to see the goodness of the Lord all around me.


6.
2Ti 2:1  My child, find your source of strength in the kindness of Christ Jesus
I will find my strength only in the kindness (grace) of Jesus. I will stop trying to find it within myself or others. 


5.
Pro 25:15  Patience and gentle talk can convince a ruler and overcome any problem.
 I will have more patience with people. A little time will help solve problems instead of demanding immediate changes from those around me.

4.
Psa 62:5  Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on him. 
If I want peace, I can only get it from God. There are no worldly circumstances that  can produce the peace I am craving.

3.
1Th 2:20  You alone are our glory and joy! 
Only God can be what I glory in and what I can have true joy from. Nothing I can do or experience aside from Him can truly be glorious or joyful.


2.
1Pe 4:8  Above all, continue to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. 
I will choose to love deeply. In choosing to love, I will be able to look past some sinful things to be able to show the love of Christ to those around me. And pray that others choose to view me through that same lens.



1.
2Co 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and-look!-all things have become new!

I will remember every moment of every day that I have been made new! I can live a new life for Christ. The old life with all of it's failures and pain and sorrow can be behind me. I AM A NEW CREATION!

Any of these sound like a resolution you need to make? You too can be new!

I also should add, out of total disclosure, I have resolved to lose 50lbs to be more healthy!

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson
www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
womanaftergod@gmail.com

Fall -A Time to Change

I know it is contrite, but fall seems to be the time of year I find it easiest to make changes in my life.  As I watch the leaves change color and give us a true pallet of beauty, I am inspired. Then, as the leaves change their location, from the branch to the ground, I realize, movement was meant to be.

So, I embrace change with a passion, and bravery like never before…

WHO AM I TRYING TO FOOL?

There are major changes going on in my life and I am scared to death! But I am inspired by my surroundings.

Let me share the “fall” of my life.

My oldest daughter is expecting her second child. We have already been blessed with a 16 mo. Granddaughter from her.  It should be a time of rejoicing. We are trying. You see, she has developed a subchorionic bleed. She is on bed rest, with a 16mo old that means Granny’s house. The change of having more people at our house is not a problem. The waiting and wondering if this bleed will end in a loss, premature labor or placental abruption is the change in my life that has me blowing around some days like the fall leaves.

My husband will also be having 2 surgeries over the next couple of months.  The first one is next week. It is a fairly complicated surgery requiring both a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon to complete it.  Suddenly, all my fall leaves seem to blowing in a crazy wind storm and I can’t seem to recognize where I am.

So, I am faced with caring for possible 30 more weeks my pregnant daughter and my recovering husband.

Oh, did I add that I home-school 3 other children still at home AND own a business?

Something needs to change. I may be Wonder Woman but I am not God.

So, I now find myself “falling” into some life changing decisions.

1^st- I must close my business. My family comes first. Always.

2^nd- I have 4 blogs and 2 books that need to be written. I keep complaining I don’t have time because of the time requirement of my business. 

Sometimes changes come about to help us reprioritize our lives.

This fall is my time to change.

I am “falling” into line with God’s will for me. Being a wife and mother are what I am called to be. Writing to encourage those other people God brings across my path can no longer be put on the shelf.

Here’s to change. It can actually be quite pretty, just look out your window…then into your heart.

What do you need to change this fall?

Chasing Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson