ripe

i had a post with the same title last week, but then it didn't seem right then, so i deleted it.

as God brings us down this journey, i think it is amazing how He is preparing us. me in particular, as i seek His face, he continually reveals areas in my heart of bitterness and anger, and i continually have no choice but to give them over to Him. 

no choice?

nope. not from where i stand. see, i have been down that road before, and know exactly what kind of place that ends up, what kind of fruit that bears. i want nothing to do with it.

see i desire to be, like caleb in joshua (Old Testament), a wholehearted follower of God. to "bear fruit" that is pleasing.

here is the flipside though: a few chapters later, joshua addresses isreal and gives the famous "choose you now this day whom you will serve..." but that isn't the whole story. when the leaders of isreal say that they too will serve the Lord, joshua warns them that if they commit to following the Lord, that He will hold them to it, and He is a jealous God, desiring all of who they are. that there are stiff consequences and responsibilities to committing to follow the Lord.

so this following comes at a price, but the reward?

i make my stand, i give up my heart (daily, sometimes hourly) and desire the ripest of fruit God can offer in my life.

clean

"wash me and i will be whiter than snow."

it is amazing how dirty our hearts can be. i have found, and keep finding areas within me that are just plain bitter, mean, and angry. just when i give something over to God to cleanse and make whole, another area reveals itself.

but what is amazing is that God just keeps taking it, when I give it up to Him, he washes me and makes that part new. 

so as i wait for this whole thing to do what God wants it to, i keep getting cleansed, i keep getting  reminded why it is so important for people to share God's story in their lives. 

when we tell of God's forgiveness, His power, we are giving Him glory. and that is what we were created for. we weren't created for us, we were created for Him.

that is what excites me about this whole thing.

launched

a temporary website has been launched. it is tied in with my business site.

you can see it here:

www.phillippalacios.com/a_bold_stand.html

please all continue to pray that more and more people would feel led to do this thing.

and that God's timing would prevail.

i feel the urge to tell everyone about it, but i then feel that "not yet" within me. like this thing has to grow on it's on accord, not on mine.