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Psalm 25

<3 me, Krystal Leigh

Your Great Name, Jesus.

My Abba. My Bridegroom. My Comforter. My Counselor. My Deliverer. My Faithful Truth. My Guide. My Hope. My Leader. My Advocate. My Living Water. My Love. My Mediator. My Prince of Peace. My Refiner's Fire. My Teacher. My Source. My True Light. My Author of my Life. My Bread of Life. My Bright Morning Star.

My Advocate.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the rightous. 1 John 2:1.

Mighty Malachi's Message

Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend.~Corey Ford

I have been wanting to find a place to volunteer Malachi as a therapy dog. This has been laid upon my heart for many months. We plan on going to our training later this month. I have decided to go through Delta Society. I am excited to find, yet another way to witness how Christ is living in me by dedicating my time, not only to an animal, but allowing Malachi to bring comfort to people who are hurting.

We adopted "Elmo", now Malachi, as a puppy from Doberman Rescue of North Texas in September 2009. I appreciated the process of the program choosing me, rather than me choosing Malachi. They required an application and Sunday visits to ensure that we were the best match for Malachi.

Malachi, being a Doberman, sometimes receives a bad reputation. Watch the media and children's movies. Which dog is on the bad side usually? Which was ironic to see in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", because we also have a Chihuahua,Smarshmellow, that runs the house.

Being the parent of a small child and owning a small dog, it was important to find the right Doberman with the right personality.

Malachi is a gentle dog that only wants to cuddle with everyone. Even his little big Chihuahua sister. He is an intelligent and obedient dog that catches on to new tricks all of the time. His recall is phenomenal and we never have to worry about him leaving our side. He does have a watchful eye, as he protects his family, but he is loving to all.

I am blessed to call Mallie mine.

Click on the following links for helpful resources

Doberman Rescue of North Texas

Delta Society

Doberman Information

Real Talk

My students were in awe when I used the term "real talk", which was a time when I was wanting to really get down to the truth of a matter. Real talk. This is the talk where respect is maintained, but nothing is sugar coated or danced around. It is real.

And this is how I talk to to God. Sometimes there is nothing beautiful about what I say. Sometimes I beg. Sometimes I am angry. Sometimes I yell. Sometimes I cry.

But it is in my brokenness, that God still knows my heart.

When I am broken, I will cry out to God, and in all of my imperfections, I will still give Him the glory.

No matter what happens to me, I will cry out "Hallelujah!!"

Daring To Dream Motivates Me To Move

I teach Leadership. And one of the concepts I teach my students is about gifts and talents. God gives each and every one of us different gifts. In order to pursue a dream, one must have the gift to do so in the first place.


It is a scary to think about the dream, I feel, God has placed inside of my heart and utilize my gift to "arise and be all that I dreamed." I feel God is leading me to sing in the church. I feel through my gift that God has given me, God will be able to move people towards Him. And I feel this is true for everyone. Everyone has different gifts.

Being that I am fearful of singing in front of a crowd, I cannot fathom God wanting me to sing in front a big group of people. So, being that I cannot fathom this, or understand it, I try to reason with God.


How in the world will I do such a thing? And who is to say I'm really THAT good or inspirational? Is this God speaking or is this all inside of my head? And seriously. Seriously? Seriously! However...



My faith IS growing. And people can SEE my growth. But I still question things I don't understand or know.



I DO know, everything has led me to this point. Everything had to happen this way so I could be led right here and right to this moment.




It is in the moments when I am on my 1 1/2 drive into work, that I sometimes hear the song "Arise" by Flyleaf. It truely motivates me to move from my comfortable expectations to higher expectations that will glorify God.








This song not only inspires us to be all that we dreamed, but to leave behind all of our fears and allow Christ to eliminate the demons in our heads. Eliminating the demons and fears will allow us to boldly follow Christ and become all that we have dreamed.




The "pages in the Book" could be the Bibical account of a man, who was possessed by demons, crosses paths with Jesus. As Jesus is about to cast the demons out of the man, the demons beg Jesus to cast them into the swine they see nearby. Even the demons acknowledge the power of God and beg for his mercy. The swine, then filled with the demon spirits, run into the water and drown. Instead of the people being gracious that the demons had been cast away from this man, they were angry because of losing a herd of swine, which was thier income.




Even after we are rescued, we still want what was left behind. We battle between our old and new self. Am I ready to let go of materialistic or earthly things to follow Christ? To follow HIS dream and plan for my life? Or will I allow the battles and the demons behind the battles to defeat me?




The battles can make us weary. And we want to hear songs about the end of the world because it is only then, the "hammer and needles for You" will end. The suffering will end. We believe, and "there is hope left in us yet" that Christ WILL return again. And it is this HOPE that allows us to endure the suffering. So as a Believer, it is my obligation to "arise and be all that I dreamed", because it is through me and my gifts that God will tell people, "Stand in the sun, we'll dry your eyes. Hold on to the world we are fighting for, there is hope left in us yet. Arise and be all that you dreamed."

I can only be all that I am supposed to be by allowing God to save me from myself. We have to let go of our demons and fears. Let them go. Let them rest in swine. If we don't allow God to rescue us, we will miss oppurtunities to utilize our inner gifts.


This will take Time. This will take courage. Strength. Faith. It is scary to leave behind what we know to be comfortable expectations for ourselves.


This also reminds me of the Biblical account of the man lying on his mat because he was paralyzed. It is frightning to think if he hadn't risen to walk when Jesus told him to, he would have never known what he was capable of doing for Christ.



Change is scary. But NOT changing is paralyzing.


So I arise. I am becoming all that I dreamed.

Reference:

Luke 8:33~Then the demons came out of the man and into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.




Mark 5:11-14




Matthew 8:28-32




Mark 3:11

BE a lighthouse by shining the radiance of God FOR the ocean of LOST SOULS.

Kayleigh is an avid Kasey Kahne fan!He is the one that saves ... on Twitpic

Kayleigh is an avid Kasey Kahne fan! He is the one that saves ... on Twitpic

Be Still

As much as I love to analyze stories and songs, sometimes my mind OVER analyzes situations. I sometimes make things more difficult than they have to be. I listen to these lyrics as if it is what God would say to me when I am in the midst of chaos and on the brink of giving up.

"Even our painful realizations of sinfulness are to mortify us into new life." ~Beth Moore

I have heard "What do I know of Holy" by Addison Road many times before and I can never sing it without crying. I read the lyrics today and it is amazing how the words have paralleled my faith.

"I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all"

The lyrics above burn in my mind a recent and very important, very intense conversation about God. The conversation was with someone I have loved, continue to love, and will always love.

The conversation was about God and Christians being hypocrites. Of me being a hypocrite. Of me being a sinner. And this was just a snapshot of all the opportunities I passed up by not living out my beliefs.

I have known WHAT I wanted my faith to look like. However, I didn't know HOW to surrender. Instead of surrendering, I medicated my fear with unholy things and thoughts. I couldn't handle my fears. Fear of not being loved. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of being abandoned. And the Holy Spirit as been at war with my flesh and with Satan for many years. Satan, who is the power of darkness and father of lies. I have been unholy.

I did not feel the weight of this truth about myself until yesterday and it has caused me unbearable pain. The unbearable pain of knowing I haven't always been a good witness. It has brought me down to my knees in shame.

The more I know Him, the more I surrender, the more I let go of my violent and self destructing fear, the more I am able to draw close to Him. I am able to draw close enough to see myself, and sometimes that is more than one would want to see. It takes courage. It takes courage to look at yourself. It takes courage to be helpless. Defenseless. When life has trained you to be the opposite. Defensive. Intimidating. But that isn't who I am meant to be.

So, what do I know of holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:8-9

"For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:4-5

I know the truth. My unholiness has caused me to surrender and begin the holiness of God in me. God has already saved me. I have accepted His gift of salvation. I accept His mercy and grace. I will strive to be more like Him everyday because I believe. I believe Jesus died for my sins.

Jesus answered, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Please forgive me for not always shining His light through my actions and in my words. I am set free. I will shine this little light of mine. :)

Know although people make mistakes, God does not. He is infinite in wisdom and far above our understanding. Everything has, does, and will continue to work according to His plan.

The following is a great article on hypocrisy in the Church.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Christians-hypocrites.html