Wow!  It’s been a while since I’ve updated my page.  A LOT has happened since I blogged last.  For starters, Brian and I are now daddy & mommy to a beautiful baby boy.  Ezra David was born on November 28th last year, which means he’s almost 8 months old now.  How time flies!  He’s already eating solid foods, sitting up, crawling, pulling himself up to a standing position, and trying to walk.  He loves to jabber at us.  Today it was all “dadadada dada” which Brian LOVED. Ezra is such a happy baby who loves to smile and giggle.  I recently found his tickle spots and he can’t get enough.  It’s too cute.  He loves to play in his walker, specifically to taunt Maggie, our 8 year old miniature beagle.  Here’s the scenario: Maggie goes to eat her food or get a drink of water and Ezra charges at her, she backs up and he giggles and backs out of the way…repeat the process over and over.

I must say, we love being parents.  Ezra has changed our lives, and I can’t imagine life without him now.  Brian and I are happier and more in love now than ever.  Amazing what babies will do to you  I’ve been attending various mommy groups in the area so that I can meet other ladies and Ezra can have little ones to play with. They’re lots of fun and give me a reason to get out of the house! Brian and I have been learning to surf, so one day we can teach Ezra.  We live in SC, gotta learn!

We are still in Santa Cruz at the church (going on 2 years now), though we’ve relaunched as Crosspoint Foursquare Church with a focus on being the church for the unchurched in Santa Cruz County.  Our mission is simple: to bring hope, healing and restoration to the next generation in Santa Cruz County.  We’ve been blessed to be on this journey together.  There’s nothing like working with your best friend day in and day out.  We’ve got an awesome staff that God has arranged with us…and more are coming to partner in the ministry here.  It’s so exciting!  We’ve seen over 30 salvations since we launched on Easter Sunday.  God is faithful and is definitely moving here in Santa Cruz! I simply can’t wait to see where He’ll lead us as a church in the coming months and years!

Being that we’re a small church that is reaching out to the unchurched, there’s simply not enough income to support us as full-time pastors.  Thus, back to the workforce we go.  For me, it looks a bit different now that it did a few years ago.  Previously I owned and managed 2 Curves for a total of 8 years.  However, I now have a baby and the blessing of being a stay-at-home mommy to my Ezra!  So, I’m going to open up my home to another family’s kids during the week, and restart my Premier Designs business.  Honestly, I’m excited!  I love jewelry, and I love to put on jewelry parties.  We get to play dress up in the jewelry and have fun with a bunch of ladies.  Who doesn’t want that!!!

Brian is applying to various positions within the area, and is continuing his design business as usual.

I know that God has purpose in all of this.  I know that He will continue to provide for us everything that we have need of.  He always has!  And my prayer is that through this we will befriend more people here in Santa Cruz as we build our family, our life and God’s church together!

My daily devotions are something that I love!  I find strength for the day and hear God speak to me through his inspired word, the Bible.  This morning my husband and I went to Starbucks before work to enjoy a time of devotions together.  When we do devotions, we use the SOAP format:  we read Scripture

, write an Observation, Application &  Prayer.  Here’s my SOAP from this morning.

S:  Psalm 105:4 says:

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually

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O:  As a kid, I remember one of my favorite games was Hide and Seek.  The point of this game is that one person hides with the intention of NOT being found and the other person counts to 100 (without peeking) to allow the person to hide, and then begins an urgent and diligent search for the one that hid.  This means opening cupboards, checking beneath beds and behind doors, in the closets…for the hidden one has to be found before the game is over.  The one who is seeking to find the hidden person is doing so with all

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Just as the kids seek and search for the hidden one, so also we are instructed to seek the Lord, seek His strength, and seek his presence.  This means that we do so with all urgency and diligence.  The great difference between the kids game of “Hide and Seek” and us seeking the Lord is that He will make Himself to be found.  He wants to be found by us!  We see so many references to this in the Bible. One of them is found in Jesus’ words:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

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For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds , and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

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But you may ask, what does it really mean to seek the Lord?  Seeking the Lord is simple: it’s both a desire and an intentional step of walking in cadence with His will for your life. When we seek the Lord, we seek what it is that He wants for us.  When we seek his strength, it’s because we acknowledge our weakness and inability to do anything in and of ourselves.  When we seek His presence, it’s an intentional choice to live our lives for Christ and die to the struggles and desires of our flesh.

Moreover, Psalm 105:4 ends with the word continually.  We are instructed to do these things on a continual basis.  This means that we don’t make one decision to seek him, seek his strength or presence, but that we make continual decisions to seek for these things and to walk in step with where he is taking us.

A:  What does this mean for my life?  I acknowledge that of late I am worn down by some things that have taken place in my life and ministry.  I acknowledge my weariness and weakness.  Yet I also acknowledge my calling in life and ministry.  I MUST be intentional.  I MUST urgently and diligently search for the Lord, for his strength and for his presence in my life.  Moreover, I MUST choose to walk in cadence with His will for my life – that I would continually walk in the light of His presence.

P:  Father, I thank you for this reminder of where my strength must come from.  I am nothing without you o God.  I can do nothing without you.  I seek you o Lord.  Strengthen me to stand, that I may continue in the life and ministry to which you have called me.  Help me to walk in cadence with your Spirit, continually.  In Jesus’ mighty name ~ Amen.

My SOAP from Saturday is below.  SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer.

S:  John 17:15,18

“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one…As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

O: This Jesus’ prayer to the Father regarding those who are his (his current disciples) and those who will believe upon Him (vs20).  Just as there was purpose in Jesus coming to the world, through He was not of it…so also there is purpose in Him sending us into the world: to be His representatives, displaying His likeness, His love, His power and authority.  He prays to the Father for us, not that we would be taken from the world to which He has sent us, but that God would keep us from the evil one while we are here.  There is a real enemy of our souls; one that is in dominion over this world for now, and he desires to grasp onto us and snatch us from God that we would no longer be a threat to him.  For our enemy knows that Jesus overcame and gives us the power to overcome as well!

There is significance in this:  Jesus prayed this prayer for us.

A: Jesus says He sent me into the world. He has established purpose for my life.  He has placed me exactly where He wants me in time and location.  I am called and appointed, as a child of God, to be His representative to a world in desperate need of a savior, my savior Jesus Christ.  I must live my life with this in mind, this thought always before me.  And I must daily allow God’s inspired God-Breathed Word (2 Tim 3:16-17) to sanctify me through and through, that I would be strengthened in resolve to STAND against the enemy of my soul.

P: Father, thank you for giving me understanding of your scripture.  To know that Jesus prayed for me, to know that you are keeping me from the evil one and sanctifying me through your word – I am humbled.  Father, mold me into the likeness of you son, that the world may see Jesus.

~ Rebecca

These past weeks have been filled with many highs and lows, with a sense of hope and a sense of desperation.  I have a business that I have put my life into.  This business was not just any business, but a ministry to so many lost, hurting and broken women in our community.  Women would come with the intent of physical health, and would also receive spiritual and emotional health.  I can’t even begin to count the number of times I was able to pray with hurting women, give a word of encouragement or exhortation, and lead someone to the loving arms of the Savior Jesus.  Many of the members here consider this place a refuge amidst the storms of their life.  (Not my words, but theirs).  This business has existed solely to minister to the needs of women in this community and lead them to Jesus.  

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However, my husband and I moved away almost one year ago.  We tried to sell the business with no luck.  We tried to hang onto it hoping that it could still be a blessing to women in this community, but we were no longer able to sustain it.  About a month ago, my husband and I prayerfully made the decision to close the business.  That decision was met with what I feel is the favor of the Lord.   I alerted my landlord of our decision, and he released me of all future financial obligations – I’d call that favor!   Since the decision was made, we have begun the process of closing our business, as well as making a final attempt to give away our business to someone who can run with it and make it a successful venture for themselves, carrying on the vision of making women healthy spirit, soul and body.  

We are in the final stretch of closing our business this Friday, yet I have women that are seriously considering the take-over of my business.  This is a time where my trust has to be in the Lord.  This is a time where I feel burdened, but my hope must be in the Lord.  He must remain on the throne of my heart, even in the midst of trial.  

As I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across a Psalm that seemed to speak to me where I’m at- Psalm 55.  I was specifically struck by what this verse says:  

Cast your burden on the Lord , and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.   –  Psalm 55:22

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Right now, I feel the burden of being in limbo.  I don’t know if in fact I am closing my business on Friday or if it will be transferring to a new owner.   It is an emotional roller coaster.  Yet I am encouraged.  It is so wonderful to know that I can cast my burden on the Lord and He will sustain me through this.  I don’t have to go it alone.  Even  more, he doesn’t want me to go it alone.   What a great God!

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As of now I don’t know if we will close or transfer, but I do know the one who does.  I don’t know wether to prepare for closure or prepare to walk away at the end of this week, but I will cast my burden on the one who does, and he will sustain me.  Either way, God is still my provider.  Either way, God will remain on the throne of my heart.

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As I was in my quiet time with the Lord, I came upon this verse: Psalm 27:8.  The psalmist David writes

You have said, ‘Seek my face.’

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My heart says to you,  ’Your face, Lord, do I seek.’”  (ESV)

Another translation says it this way:

My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’
   And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming.’”   (NLT)

This is the state of a heart that is open to God.  Open to his great love, open to his mercy, open to his discipline, open to his refining, open to his shaping.  This is the state that I desire for my heart at all times.  

So often, we get inundated with the noise of life.  For me, it’s things like twitter, facebook, emails, business, church, etc.  I’ve noticed a trend lately: when I arise in the morning, I find myself checking my emails, facebook and twitter to see what I’ve missed.  When I go to bed at night, again I am checking these applications to make sure I didn’t miss anything throughout the day.  But God would say to me “Come and talk with me; seek my face.”  Don’t get me wrong, I do spend time in His Word on a daily basis.  I even spend time in prayer; yet I need to adjust my priorities.  The first and last thing I do during the day should not reflect a love for this world, rather should be to spend time with the one who loved me first, my Lord and Savior.   

The Psalmist says in verse 4 “One thing have I asked of the Lord

, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”  David had it right: his intent was to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his temple.  In the Old Covenant, the temple was the place that housed the glory of the Lord, the shekinah presence.  So David was saying, my desire is to constantly be in the presence of the Lord, to never leave it, to sit in awe of His presence and to seek His counsel at all times.  

What’s so amazing about God is that He wants us to be in His presence at all times, He even invites us to be enter into His presence.  He made available the way for us to have access to Himself by the ransom of His only son Jesus who paid the price for our sins and paved the way to restored relationship with Father God.  It is because of His Great Love for us that Jesus came, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again to defeat death, hell and the grave.  He did this so we could be restored to God and have relationship in His presence.  

So what does all of this mean?  It’s simple:  I resolve to keep God on the throne of my heart.  As He calls to me and says “Seek my face”  my heart will respond “Your face Lord do I seek” and my actions will reflect this heartfelt response.

These past few days, I have been overwhelmed by God’s grace.  As I think upon my life thus far, it is clear that I truly have been blessed by God’s grace.  By grace, I simply mean the undeserved favor of the Lord.  Let me explain.  

I’m only 28 years old, yet I have had the experience of someone much older than myself.  I have been happily married to the love of my life for almost 8 years, faced my husband’s battle with and victory over cancer when we were married only months, owned and sold a home, owned 3 businesses (two of which were franchises), sold a business, completed a college degree in Theology, been licensed as a Foursquare Pastor, served numerous volunteer hours as an assistant pastor doing everything from the books to running the youth and college ministries, and now I serve as the Co-Pastor alongside my husband at Lighthouse Foursquare Church in Santa Cruz.  

I have experienced the ups and downs of self employment.  I have experienced the prosperous mountaintops and the valleys of lack. I have often worked 60+ hour work-weeks, without pay… and even paid to do it since the business was lacking the finances to pay the bills on its own accord.  Yet through it all, God has been faithful!  His grace has been evident in my life.  I have experienced His undeserved favor time and again.   These testimonies…I want to share.  

I never wanted to own a business. I never saw myself as an entrepreneur.  Yet God did.  I bought my first business as a resale at the age of 23.  I saw it as an opportunity to run with the passion God had given me: ministering to women of all ages, sharing with them the hope I have in God.  2 years later, my husband and I sold our home to move to Fairfield so we could volunteer our time at New Community Church in order to serve and gain ministry experience.  Upon doing so, we were blessed with opening a second business in Fairfield.  I remember opening week…and every week thereafter…I got to minister to ladies one after another.  I was honored to pray with them, laugh with them and cry with them.  I was blessed to be in such a position of influence over the lives of so many ladies who were broken and in need of a Savior.  

What’s so funny is that during this time God taught me to rely on Him for my provision, not the businesses He’d provided me with.  He taught me the difference between His economy and the world’s economy; the difference between success in His eyes and success in the world’s eyes.  You see, if the world were to look at my life and business ventures they would say they were failures; yet in God’s eyes, they were great successes and investments in His Kingdom economy.  Women who were lost and broken came to the knowledge of a Savior.  Hurting children of God were restored.  The purpose was simply that women would be made whole: spirit soul and body.  And in many, this took place.

During the valleys of which there were many, God provided day by day.  Some examples of His provision:

• A beautiful car was given to me, with only 3000 miles on it…no strings attached.
• Though my husband took a huge pay cut to follow the Lord’s will in His career path, we were able to pay our bills, though on paper it would seem impossible.
• My husband was granted, without knowledge, stock back in 2001.  And this was made known to us when he left the company.  God’s provision for such a time as we needed it. 
• We sold a business when it was desperately needed. 
• We were forgiven a debt.
• And just a few months ago, we had no money to purchase replacement tires for our truck, yet someone anonymously donated the money for that specific purpose. 

I could go on and on about the grace and provision of God.  But there is one more I want to share:  Just yesterday, my husband and I decided that we will close our business in Fairfield.  This was the toughest decision I have ever had to make.  I simply couldn’t pay the rent and could barely make payroll.  So, I emailed my landlord and prayed for God’s favor.  The response of my landlord blew me away.  God’s grace was evident, His favor undeniable.  With the blessing of my landlord, I am able to stay in business a couple more months – rent free.  This allows me time to (a) transfer ownership of the business should someone want to purchase it or (b) close it in the proper manner, with integrity toward the membership.  Moreover, the landlord stated that he will forgive my debt of the remaining contract should I need to close after such time.  WOW!  Talk about undeserved favor of the Lord.  This was undeniably God’s grace at work.

Truly, everything I have is a gift from the Lord.  A loving and gracious husband, countless blessings, every possession, every debt forgiven…absolutely everything is a gift from God.  I am simply a gracious recipient of His undeserved grace.  Proverbs 10:22 says ”The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.”  In the eyes of this world, I may not be rich, but even better…I am rich in His kingdom for I store my treasures in heaven.  This world and all that is in it is passing away, but God remains.  And in addition, I have complete joy and peace that God will continue to provide for me as I follow and serve Him faithfully.  After all, what a privilege it is to serve Almighty God.

My husband just introduced me to a really creative website: wordle.net. Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

As many of you know, I SOAP on a daily basis. This means that I open God’s Word, the Bible, and as I am reading I take note of a scripture (S) that stands out to me. I then make observations (O) about that specific verse. After observing the scripture in it’s context, I then apply it to my life by writing an application (A). Lastly, I write a prayer (P) asking the Lord to help me apply His Word to my life. Thus SOAP. I title each one of my SOAP’s in order to help me clarify the topic.

So, I put all of my titles in from January until now.  Here is my word cloud of what God has been showing me in His inspired Word, the Bible. You can click on it to open the link.

As I was reading in Mark recently, I was struck by one verse: Mark 5:27(ESV).

She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.

In this passage, Mark writes about a woman who had been sick with a specific issue for 12 years. In that time, she had spent all that she had in order to try to remedy the issue. She sought the help of multiple physicians, yet grew worse rather than better. This woman was at her last straw. She most likely was hopeless, believing she’d live with this condition for the rest of her life. Yet the Word states so simply “she heard the reports about Jesus.” Those reports are what we call testimonies. A testimony is an assertion offering firsthand authentication of a fact, or a first-hand report. It doesn’t say that she heard the (singular) report, or a couple reports, but she heard the reports about Jesus. This implies many. And it brings up a significant factor. People were telling their friends and family of their first-hand encounters with Jesus, the Christ. People who had encountered Jesus were changed. Some were healed, others were relieved of oppression, still others were called to follow him. These people knew they had encountered someone special because their lives were transformed, and they shared this good news of Jesus with everyone they knew. Those are the reports she had been hearing. And it was by the hearing of those reports that she was given a glimmer of hope. For this woman, broken in her body – she thought that just maybe if Jesus could do that for them, he can heal me of my sickness. You see, the reports that she had heard bore witness in her heart. Despite her circumstance, despite the fact that she’d been plagued with this illness for 12 years, despite all of her doctor visits and worsening of her symptoms…she had hope because of the reports. And the Word says she came up behind him and touched his garment, and was healed of her sickness.

I think we Christians in America don’t understand the importance and even necessity of testimonies. If you are a Christian walking with God, you are bound to have numerous testimonies of God’s hand at work in your life. I know I do, too many to count. And here’s my question:

What would the world look like if every Christian testified continually of God’s hand in their life? What would our world look like? What would our church look like?

As Christians, we know the creator. We have a relationship with Almighty God. We have received hope for our lives, healing of our brokenness and restoration to God the Father. The very message of the gospel is hope to the hurting, healing to the broken and restoration to God the Father. My point is this: EVERY testimony is indispensable

. For one report may not convince the woman she has worth in the eyes of God, two reports may not convice the addict he can be free from his addiction…but where multiple testimonies are heard, the hopeless will seek Hope in God, the broken will seek healing in God, and the lost will be restored to God who is Love. Testimonies are great in church, but they’re necessary and effective outside the walls of the church, for that is where the hopeless and broken live. Let’s seek opportunities to share testimonies of God’s hand in our lives. Let’s not be silent, but speak freely of God’s goodness in our lives!

I went to the dentist yesterday for the first time in a while. I had a regular checkup. During these visits, the dentist examines your teeth with a full set of x-rays as well as dental instruments. He probes into your teeth and gums to determine their health. It got me to thinking, we spiritually need to check ourselves on a regular basis; a heart check so to speak. So please, read on and go in for a checkup…

Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed… – Mark 4:3-4a(ESV)

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Jesus is speaking to a crowd gathered on the shore. Often when He spoke, he used parables to bring understanding to those who had ears to hear, spiritually

. The first thing to notice about this passage is the emphatic Listen! You can bet that when Jesus uses such strong language, we’d better pay attention. He goes on to describe one seed and 4 ways of the ground receiving the seed.

1. The first is seed that fell along the path. This means there’s little to no soil. Jesus says this path represents the heart of people who are not receptive. He says satan immediately steals the seed away.

2. The second is seed that fell on rocky ground. Rocky ground has soil, but there is nothing by which to take root. Jesus says that this soil represents the hearts of people who receive the Word of God with joy, and even endure for a while, but fall away due to tribulation and persecution because there was no root.

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3. The third is seed that fell among the thorns. Thorns grow amid the soil and will choke the life of anything in their vicinity. And of this type of soil, Jesus says that it represents the hearts of people who hear the Word, but allow the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of money and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, thus bearing no fruit.

4. The fourth is seed that fell on good soil. This soil was fertile, and produced good fruit. And of this soil, Jesus said that it represents the hearts of people who hear the Word, and accept it, and bear fruit. He goes on to say that these people will multiply their fruit-bearing thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

I propose this question: What is the soil of your heart?

Which does it represent: the path, the rocky ground, the soil amid the thorns or the fertile soil?

We must ensure that the soil of our hearts is fertile, ready for the seed, the Word of God. Every time we come to the Bible – God’s living, breathing, active Word – wether in church or in our own quiet time, we MUST prepare our hearts to receive in such a way as to hear the Word, accept it and bear fruit according to it. This is called transformational growth. We are called to not only be hearers of the Word, but doers also (James 1:22). We are called to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). This is our heart check- what measure of fruit is produced in you? Do you hear the Word? Do you accept it? More importantly, do you do it?

Okay, so this subject of tithe is one that many of us don’t like to acknowledge, as there are many misinterpretations and negative connotations associated with it. However, I’d like to discuss this in light of what the text actually порно нимфетки ру

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“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 3:10-11(ESV)

There are numerous passages that speak about the meaning and importance of the tithe. We can observe from this passage the gravity of this subject. In the eyes of God, the tithe is non-negotiable. We see in verse 8 of this same passage that God accuses His people of robbing Him in the tithes and contributions (offering). It’s a statute that He set early on in the Old Testament and he expects that His children would honor it.

Tithe literally means 10%. God’s Word is clear that the first 10% of our earnings are to be given back to Him through the tithe. The purpose of it is made clear in this passage: that there may be food in my house. You see, the tithe is meant to support those shepherding the flock and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. (You can read about it in Numbers 18 or Nehemiah 10, 12).

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God’s promise of provision is given in the form of a challenge. He says “put me to the test…if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need”. It’s so contradictory to our human perspective. God says give me 10% and I will meet all of your needs. 10% is hard if you don’t believe that God is your provider. 10% is difficult to give if you trust more in money than in God. Don’t you know, God can do more with your 10% than you can do with 100%. Afterall, He IS Almighty God.

God’s promise contains not only provision, but also protection. He says “I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear”. These are written in the context of farming, as that was a common trade for the time period that Malachi was written. To clarify in modern terms, fruits of your soil implies protection of what you already have and the vine not failing to bear implies protection of future earnings.

So what does this mean for us? This promise of provision comes with parameters. We must abide within those parameters is we want to see God’s hand of provision in our lives. This means that we must be faithful to give God our firstfruits, the first 10% of our earnings – our Tithe. And we can be confident that as we continually abide within the parameters of His promise, all of our needs will be met. He say’s it another way in the New Testament:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

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Despite these economic times, let’s trust in God’s economy. It does not shift like ours. His economy does not change, and it yields lasting rewards. Let’s seek His Kingdom first by bringing the full tithe to Him and watch as He provides for our needs and protects us from this economy. I believe it! Do you?