October 27, 2014

Discover What You Follow

There are so many things through out our lives which express everything God tells us to be looking for.  There are no new idea's under the sun, only things which we discover or see differently than before.

To want to lead something is a very precarious position.  In order to lead we must be able to put our own selfish ambitions down, or God himself will break us down.  The reason is to protect others from going into harms way.  Ultimately this also protects us from receiving the penalty for harming others.  But much of the time, unless stopped (as we discussed yesterday) we are oblivious of our own distorted striving.  We want our desires to be something special and helpful.  Thank God for intervention and the compassionate helpers He places along our paths. We all have them, and will continue to have them.  Will we take off our blinders and give thanks, even encourage them to continue .....maybe in time give back into the work God is doing, in some way?

I inserted this clip from the Andy Griffith Show for you to make your own observations.  See if you can relate it to another scene spoken about in the bible.

Many, many times we have discussed our own conflicts, resolutions and view points.  So we are not going there again today.  But I did want to share a view point from Doctors Henry Cloud and John Townsend, an excerpt from their book How People Grow.  It really does clearly state the goal we set forth in our work and personal journey.

If we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, all the things we are looking for will be provided.  But as we have also seen, this is not a one-step dance.  Seeking God first means that we know him as the God of grace who is for us.  He is the one who will provide what we need, and we must give up our own self-help programs.  But we can't just have him and have it all done.  We also have to be changed into people who can produce the fruit of the life we desire, and we do that by finding his ways and learning to live them.
God is not only a God of grace  He is also a God of truth.  And getting well means that we have to discover a lot of truth and follow it. Seeking righteousness truly does bring it full circle.  And that is not some sort of religious mumbo jumbo any more than to tell and airplane designer that he must seek the laws of physics.  If he does not know them and apply them to his work, the plane is going to crash.
Life and righteousness are exactly like that.  Life is designed with laws that govern relationships and success.  Laws govern healing and growth.  For those "planes" to fly, we have to learn the laws that govern them.  Seeking righteousness is not at all a religious trip.  It is about learning and becoming life itself, and in the end the "right" way is the only way.  ~ from How People Grow ©

If anyone ever needs to speak with us you may email us for the best time for us to contact you.  Also feel free to simply email us and I personally will respond.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep us in and through all our travels.

Kisses,
C

If anyone wants information or to purchase their book, I added the link below.

How People Grow - Cloud / Townsend book store link

© Candace Huffmaster 2014, All Copy Rights Reserved
Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc°

October 26, 2014

If You Want It.....



As I was studying both first and second Corinthians a Paul McCartney song kept coming to mind "Come and Get It".
 Fun fact the song was written for the British film "The Magic Christian".  There are probably many reason's this came to mind, however for time sake, I will stick to our topic.

We are taught from a very young age, if you want something go after it.  We all have heard positive thinking guru's saying some form of: You Can Have Whatever You Think You Can Have.  Parents even dangle tempting treats / toy before their toddlers and woo them to walk over and grab it.  While these "motivators" can be a useful tool to test our shaky legs from time to time, there is - or should be a definite STOP IT switch.  

Even God tells us to plan, count the costs, gather wise counsel and to follow.  (search the archives for other past discussions)  Think about how the various twists and turns which transpire before we actually reach something.  Many times by the time we get to something, we realize it is not even what we thought it would be.  Usually when we first glimpse something, we build an idea on a false reality, nothing is what it seems.  Many students attending college find this out upon graduation and beginning to work in their profession.  All this is leading to what I was reading in the letters Paul wrote.

For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.  
For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction but by way of equality.

God does not want anyone to be able to "have it all" or be a "self made man".  He does not want others to be hidden beneath the superior talents of another.  God demands that we give high regard to those who support the one who gets to be seen as "the talent".  If it were not for the others there would be no one at the top. No one can make it without a team.  NO ONE.  

If you want it, here it is come and get it.....you'd better hurry cause it's going fast.......

Fear is a motivator.  "I must make it, that will show them", If I can't stop, someone will steal it or get there first". What about these one: " If I had of tried harder, that could be me"  A few days ago we discussed Us, We, They and Them.  God is an all inclusive God.  He does not say only a few get to be used.  He also tells us to be one, to break down the dividing walls and work together in all things.  Love destroys fears ability to motivate, because it satisfies all needs; ergo you have no desire to move away.  Remember our study on 1 John: they go out from us to show they are not of us - but those with an anointing stay because they have something to share.      

Did I hear you say that there must be a catch.....will you walk away from a fool and his money......

Doesn't this lyric sound rather reminiscent of Satan dangling the motivator out there before Jesus: "All these things I will give you IF you will bow down and worship me." (find in Matthew chapter 4)  Christ did not fear that he was not going to get it.  And I know he wanted it.....but what HE wanted was his Father be glorified more than the superstar status.  

So it you want it....and you think it might be going fast. STOP...please just for a second.  Take a second glance and peer into what might really be there.  Paul warned us to learn from what happened to Moses in 1 Corinthians.  We are to express the will of God by doing the will of God. Not by knowing what the will of God is, even telling others what it is.  He has all things written down so that we all are warned in advance of temptations used against each of us.  We have the historical facts, the feelings, the knowledge of good and evil; but unless we are "willing" to conform (with his strength and our will) our corrupt nature to participate as a Godly influence, encouraging Christ himself to inspect and evaluate our motives / actions, then just like the Israelite's, the ancestors of our faith, we are being destroyed by the angel of death.  
Most of the time we chose satisfaction over sanctification because in and of our self we can only manifest satisfaction. Think about it.........

Abide in the highest calling....Love...because Christ embodies sanctity.

For the Love of the Father, in Christ,
Kisses,
Candace 



© Candace Huffmaster 2014, All Copy Rights Reserved
Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc°

October 24, 2014

Imperfect Indeed!

Like a child’s deep wish; a hope conceived in the heart

The request released, from trusting lips forming the sound

From the heart through the head, into the heavens received

Came the yearn of the soul, “Be freed in me…”

With a smile it was heard; and with joy it was done

At the very time they hoped, they also clearly heard

For your love is great and you’re troubled for me

Because I am not bound here, we both now are Free.

~Candace Huffmaster

It always amazes me when I stumble across  something that I do not remember writing.  That is to be expected, as I get older, I am told.  Also, I am constantly writing, reading, talking and attempting to comprehend things through God's perspective. As I have trusted Him and relied on His spirit to correct, conform and counsel me, I have watched myself evolve, change and alter my surroundings.  Not that every thing I propel is from a loving position, however my uncomely moments are far less frequent day by day.  

Today I was thinking about my children and remembered how terrified I was to bring them into such an imperfect world, with an imperfect mom. But because I trusted God, I did it anyway.  What I learned is that while it is true our world is imperfect, it has been perfect for helping us realize what each of us are capable of achieving and enduring as an individual.

 Success and  independence are very precarious things, if we alter who we are based on an imperfect world it will forever change us and keeps the course of the world heading south.  However, if we do not conform to the imperfect but allow it to train us up into a higher functioning form, we can do a world of good.  This is the reason I can say the greatest joy I have experience with my family has been our  growing perfection of interdependence upon each other and the celebration of God's power in and through all things.

The sounds of us all together thanking God, praising Him for all He has done and will accomplish in and around us is a little slice of heaven.  I can only pray that someday everyone that has not been caught up in a moment of perfection here, within this chaotic place, soon finds a respite of their own in His grace.

Kisses,
Candace

© Candace Huffmaster 2014, All Copy Rights Reserved
Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc°

October 17, 2014

IT Stops Here! No More!

Art Work by Candace Huffmaster ©



And I said to the sea, "Here you may come, but no farther and HERE is where your grand waves will crash to the shore." Job 38:11




Today I have been thinking about how exhausted God must be with us.  He has been speaking about it for so many thousands of years.  We take Him for granted.....how dare we condemn others for taking us for granted.  From now on, when I desire to throw up a wall and say "enough!! you can come to here but no farther", I am going to first consider how I might have offended the Holy One, my God.  After I have laid down my pride or any "integrity" that I may uphold, I will humbly walk before the Lord and request that my offender be securely kept under the mighty hand of God.  It is for their safety I ask; not for their condemnation.  My heart and soul attest to the difference, as all of us are able and do....I pray.

This is what poured out as I was journaling today.  May it speak volumes to each of us:

It is ENOUGH! IT IS TIME! .....it is time you stopped putting your wants before my ways - my child will seek to obey Me; to seek out and serve others needs.

If the priority of YOUR agenda is to schedule your own priorities:serving your self, allotting a moment to serve me in between.  I am no more than a servant of YOUR ego  - a healthy serving of your own pride to plump your riddled flesh.

STOP! Stop claiming I am your God and you serve ME. For all you do sings the praise of your goodness before man.  I will be second to no one; not even one who is as marvelous as you.  What you do is a stain on my image; a shadow on the brilliance of My name.

I love you....this is why I send correction; it is not to send shame but shelter you with truth.  For I know you would never choose to over take me; to challenge my throne or leave my grace.  I speak with the direct Love of a Father, to ensure you are certain to comprehend.  For your will has the freedom to usurp my Spirit and my Spirit has grieved long enough.

Now you know......you've been told and you can't deny it.  Here I am speaking directly to your rebel soul. I Am.....the strong man have no doubt about that.  So humble your frail form before your time ends.  I have been patient....do not push me and I have put a number on all rebels heads.


~~~ as for me, I demand that my soul give way to His spirit; I implore all His goodness to shod my feet step by step.  I pray that my ears listen for my Shepard and that my God fold me securely under His mighty wing.

Kisses,
C


© Candace Huffmaster 2014, All Copy Rights Reserved
Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc°

October 10, 2014

A Weary Illusion

Please click here to go to Creativity Speaks for the thoughts we are pondering today.

Wishing each of you a magnificent and colorful day,
Candace

October 8, 2014

Tell Me What You See....


When reading God's communication with man, in the bible, I am always so inspired by His great diplomacy and patience.  God cares enough to just ask, "Tell me what you see".  He then starts from that point and brings to light what might be missing from their view.  He also takes the journey with people; He does not write it down and say "You should be able to figure the rest out; good luck now."

This of course lead me back to Genesis to meditate on God's words, His thoughts, what He was / is attempting to articulate, that we might understand what caused Him to care about darkness.  Why did He care enough to make the situation "good".  Why wasn't dark good enough?  What did God devise in His heart? What was His intent?

Thoughtful questions, regarding another, are the way we engage;  how we get to know someone.  There must be a leaning in toward something, a curiosity to see if something more dynamic is at play, in order to have any deepening of a relationship.  If God kept me in the dark about all this, He could very well be mindful of all I am, but isn't that a bit creepy weird.  We would align that with characteristics of a stalker, wouldn't we?  By this we understand that no matter how closely He hovered over me, I probably would not be able to see or comprehend Him.  And in the end it would be no more than a fantasy relationship.

Yet, most of us speak of God as thought we know all about Him, We can even make it personal when challenged about "our God".  But is our god even real? Are we defending our religiosity, our ego, or God?   Here is how this ties together: experiencing things outside of ourselves stimulates our thoughts, long before we articulate one word. Consider an infant who takes in a tremendous amount of information prior to forming their first efforts of communicating with us verbally.  And that sound expresses a wider variety of things, most of which we will never know.  There are times when I am interacting with children, whether infant or young toddler, and have experienced their expression of this.  In my opinion, familiarity can actually diminish the grandeur of what is taking place; how cataclysmic the moment is.

When we read God's word, it is not enough to translate it into our language.  While it works to give us the Big Picture "of" God, we must use our language to come to know what His words mean to Him; as best we can with the help of His Spirit.  After all, this is the goal of His spirit within us.  God promises that His word will not return to Him void. Which means each of us desiring to lean in, as to inspect what's going on: who He is, what He desires, what causes Him to care, are sure to find out...if we really desire to know.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote to us for the sake of relational growth to God; James 1:5 from The Voice translation:

 If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey, then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking.

Several years ago we looked at why we ask;  Now I would like to ensure we comprehend what
God means when He says we can ask Him anything.  If we are really asking Him it will be more of a craving or begging.  As when a children is told that the object they are fixated on is not going to be given to them, ushering in the dreaded melted down.

Most parents, I'm assuming, would attempt to either speak with the child or divert their attention in some way.  When a parent does not allow the child to enter into each age appropriate experience, the child in many ways is separated from not only the individual maturation, but also from experiencing the growing bond and securing trust and mutual respect. 

God is a parent, and as a parent there are many things to consider before moving on:

  • How should we treat others questions? Especially our own children?
  • Do we childishly expect God to conform to our interpretation; shut down and melt down if God does not give us what we want?
  • Are we willing to seek till we understand: persevere and endure till He can finish explaining something and experience the joy that comes through it all - at that time? 
This is enough to ponder today.  Think about your life and ask God to show you how BIG your presence is in light of great love for you.  Tell Him what you see and let Him fill in the rest for you. 

Look at God through the eyes of someone who was not only know by God, but knew God also.

Psalms 104:30-33 When you send out Your breath, life is created, and the face of the earth is made beautiful and is renewed.  May the glorious presence of the Eternal linger among us forever. m And may He rejoice in the greatness of His own works- He, who rattles the earth with a glance: He who sets mountains to smoking with a touch.  I will sing to the Eternal all of my life.  I will call my God good as long as I live.

Sending Love and Grace in Christ,
Kisses,
Candace

© Candace Huffmaster 2014, All Copy Rights Reserved
Kaleidoscope Butterfly,