EffectWomen Song for June

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Praying that God will set a fire down in our souls!

We need more of God in our lives!
Be bold!
Know Him!
Tell others!
Bring more to know Him!
He is Love!
He is Everything!
He is the air we breathe!

God is Waiting For You With Love

What brought me to Christ? God is always calling us. If you are still long enough and contemplate Him, you will feel this. If you look back on your life, you will see where He tried to reach you...through instances, people, words, signs..but your heart was not open. That is why He says to come as children. Hearts open to hear Him, with trust and love and exuberance and excitement to see and understand this gift we have freely been given. Children understand pure love, gifts and have not been burdened with the ways of this world yet. They are open to Christ (Matthew 14:19) The pastor who told me about this loving Father was Pastor Dick Reeve... and I experienced this message at a time when I was so very low, I could only see up... Yes, God had tried to reach me so many times before, but I would not listen. This one day I was open and finally heard. I was raw and open and I heard Him calling. This pastor gave me a visual that has been with me since the day I heard his sermon... of Abba Daddy... Who is this Father? Picture a father sitting in a large warm armchair, waiting, longing for His children to come to Him, just as an earthly Father who is grieving over a lost/stolen son or daughter is waiting to see them again. To hold them, to speak to them, to cup their face in His warm loving hands, waiting for His child to crawl onto and curl upon His lap. He will let His child know that he/she has been yearned for/missed and so unconditionally loved and accepted and that He is so overjoyed to have him/her back home, in His arms, yes home. Consider those arms that would strongly embrace this child (you) and hold you like you've never been held before. To feel a love and acceptance that you have never known. This is where we know/learn acceptance (maybe for the first time). This is when we "know" "realize" "accept" Him into our hearts because we become infused with His love. He has already accepted us. His love is constantly flowing. The journey and transformation begins at this point. Acceptance. We find Him and can't help but to desire to know more. We will forever want more. This love and desire starts to change us. We lose nothing. We only gain. If anything falls away, it was what was keeping us from His love and from truly knowing Him in the first place. We won't miss whatever falls away. We will only want more of Him. And then, when trials come, and they will, as they do for every human being, we will have those tremendous arms of His wrapped around us, and His heartbeat in rhythm with our own, and we will know...we are not alone. He is with us, He will not leave us or forsake us... We only need to crawl into His lap and rest in Him, and know that He has given us His Spirit, His Comforter (John 14:15-31) to guide us and lead us forward. We need only to ask...He will only move in us when we ask Him to. It is a relationship. It is personal. It is so very real. (Knowing Jesus)

And what about that word "repentance?" Repentance (Acts 3:19) is the act of turning from sin (sin is anything that keeps us from Him) and creates an innate need to asking for forgiveness, which I can say from my own experience, comes naturally. For me it came immediately. The love that grows is so strong and the journey we then begin fills us with a beauty that transforms "our will" to start to reflect "God's will" for us. Our hearts and minds will look upon times past and we will truly feel sorry for any hurt we have caused. Our heart syncs with God's and we no longer find old habits fun, needed, desirable...God knows our heart, then and now. Be assured, He knows when you are sorry. Now the relationship truly begins.. Talk to Him. Speak to Him. That is the simplicity and beauty of prayer. Our conversations, prayers, keep us connected and close to Him.

I hope this helps.... I see so many people who need Jesus. I know the simple way to reach Him. I know it sounds too simple... it is.. for a reason.. so you will come and know of Him. I know of that beauty and transformation that takes place with the life we find in Him. Christ wants this for every one. He does not want to lose a single one of you. (John 3:16) (John 6:39) If you do not know Him, and long for this life with Him... please just ask Him to fill you with His love. Ask Him for His transformative love and life in Him. If you know you can not go on the way you are living now, please tell Him this. Tell Him you need Him. This is the start of a beautiful love that you will not ever want to leave. Know that this is a "relationship" and that He is real. Speak to Him daily.

And, very important. Pick up a Bible. You can get one so easily. When you believe in Christ, His Word becomes alive. (Hebrews 4:12) Ask Him to speak to you through His Scripture. He will. Read it daily. Start with a little and you will soon want more. Ask Him to to fill you with His Spirit, Wisdom and Knowledge, and He will. Ask Him to show you His heart and His ways,. and He will. He is a loving Father. You are His amazing child. He wants you to know all that He is, Who He is, and who you are in Him. Will you start this journey with Him today? He will wait for you. But, please don't wait too long, because life on this planet is so much better with Him, and eternity with Him is yours if you only ask Him. He will not push you to accept Him. He will wait, with love. (Life with Christ) He is waiting for you to crawl upon His lap and longing to hold you in His arms. To speak peace into your heart and mind and to fill you with a freedom that this world does not know without Him. He invites you daily. He is yours, and you are His. May you know this love today.

Having a Soft Heart in a Cruel World

When my husband and I have a free night, which is rare, and we feel the need to just "be", we will find ourselves binge watching shows (just like everyone else).

Finding it harder and harder to find shows that we can watch! I do not consider myself a prude and I love many programs that are on today, but I am realizing that I am becoming sensitized to the program content. I feel that this is God working in my life as I spend more time with Him. Shows that I used to watch and had no trouble watching are no longer ok for me.

Language and content are becoming a filter for the shows we watch. Not just that, but I am shocked at what is deemed "acceptable" these days. I am told that this is just the way the world is today and I need to just flow with it, but I don't accept that, and I am calling on all soft hearts to band together and share what they find appropriate and share-worthy with the rest of us! Please!

Would love for you to share here or on my fb page https://www.facebook.com/mbrisbintheeffect

Soft Hearts are beautiful and we need to stick together!

Retreating in Place - Workshop

Going to a weekend retreat is a mainstay of religious practice, and more recently, taking up to a year off to live in a monastic community or ashram has become increasingly popular with people trying to establish an intentional spiritual practice. But as powerful as these timeout experiences can be, we don’t really have to go to the mountains or deserts to establish our spirituality, and unless a person is building his or her own personal structure within the program structure being provided, spiritual growth won’t be lasting.

This workshop will teach us how to build an ongoing retreat environment in the place where we actually live–between the raindrops of daily life. We’ll learn ways of creating the daily structure and discipline from the inside out that will take us where we really want to go.

Pastor Dave will be facilitating the group; for more information, please call 949-293-4259.

Reckless Love (ACOUSTIC VERSION) - Cory Asbury | Reckless Love

EffectWomen Song of the Month!!

That Second Half of Life Waves

I hit the age of 6 and Fifty this year. (For some reason it sounds more poetic that way :) ).  I've been leaning into our Lord ever so closely, as this time of life brings different types of trials than even 10 years ago did. This last year has brought miracles and loss, laughter and sadness, angst and peace in ways that has brought me to my knees and has helped me to shout praises too.

The scripture Joel 2:25 has been strong with me this past year. We watched our business go up and down... Our personal family history tells us now that we are strong even when the waves hit... and where we are today is better than where we were years past when we did not know how we would get through the months ahead... we know that God is always present. We are sure of it now. In the calm and in the storm, He is there. Many times we have been at the precipice and God has always met us in the 11th hour. Yes, not the 8th and not the 12th hour, but the 11th, is where He scooped us up before we fell. Experience. The past has shown us that we need not worry. That doesn't mean that we don't push forward and do what we can, it simply means that we keep pushing forward and the Lord will "meet us" along the way, as He always has, and now, we just know that with everything in us, He will meet us and our needs and sometimes exceed our expectations. If He can do this for us, He can do this for you.

(this post was started in January, hence "this past year" and was held onto as our journey kept us in waves, and continues to do so.... but we have a peace about us that I felt I should share and will continue to share. Many know we have move church locations in addition to the changes in our personal business too. The peace the I feel today is a beautiful gift from God.... as He shows me, even in the roughest of times, He will sustain us. God bless you... Know you are loved by an amazing Father Who wants the best for His children. Seek Him in all that you do and you will know Him and trust Him)