JEWELS IN THE MUD

Hello everyone! It's been a ridiculously long time since I've posted anything on here and for my followers (those of you who have endured...and waited...and then waited some more....), I want to extend my apologies. I'm sorry! ;) Thank you for your patience and for believing that someday I would actually post something again!

So much has been going on in my life since the last time I posted on my blog. Music, music, music as always...something Charles and I both love doing...and we are so blessed to be able to perform often. Thank You, Lord! Our marriage is only growing stronger with each passing day and our love is deeper than ever. Again, I must say,'Thank You, Lord!' Bijou the cat is now four years old, which I understand to mean is really 32 or 34 in human years, according to a new 'study' or whatever it's called. She is as sassy and particular and devoted as ever and I love her to pieces!

One huge new thing that the Lord is doing is related to the picture at the top of this post. For 14 years, GOD has been giving me different experiences ~ whether dreams or visions or just talking to me directly or through others ~ all the while getting me ready for a new thing He planned to do in my life. (By the way, I love the verse in the Bible that talks about Him saying, "Behold, I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it?" I love that about Him! He is always doing a new thing! He IS GOD, after all...and His creativity just POURS out of Him!)

Anyway, as I was saying before, He's been preparing me for this new venture, entitled JEWELS IN THE MUD (JEWELS... for short) and I'm having a blast with it all. I'll try to explain a bit of what it's about, but I've got to tell you that I already know that I don't know what it's going to end up looking like when all is said and done.

I think an easy way for me to explain it is to simply post something here that I wrote about four or five years ago. At the time it was written, I had no idea that it was going to end up being used for JEWELS..., since it didn't even exist then. Just for brief clarification, let me say that we are the jewels that our Savior Jesus Christ ~ YeshuaHa'Maschiach ~ will come to take to heaven one day. To our Lord, we are more precious than the most beautiful diamonds ever created. It gives Him great joy to see us 'sparkle' in the world in which we live ~ loving GOD and loving others as we go through life ~ drawing people to HIM and doing it with joyful thankful hearts.

We are made from the dust of the earth (mud), according to scripture. GOD promises us that He knows our frame and He remembers that we are dust (mud). Circumstances that are not necessarily pleasant sometimes get all over us (more mud) and oftentimes cover the beauty that GOD intended for us to emanate from the very beginning. So many women on the earth have no idea about how precious they are in GOD's sight. Those difficult experiences we endure can mislead us into believing that we have no or very little worth, and we may potentially become buried under the oppressive burden of all the mud of life that gets thrown on us. Eventually, the sparkle leaves our eyes and our hearts and we are left to try to make our way without completely giving up. So we are GOD's precious jewels, living in the circumstances of life (mud), on the earth (mud) and in bodies made from the dust of the earth (more mud!) :D

Anyway, before I get too confusing, I'll just post the purpose of JEWELS...

'The work of Jesus Christ on the cross is evidence that love is much more than just a feeling. His love for God and for humanity propelled our Lord to that cross. By His example, Jesus taught us that real love is selfless action and oftentimes hard work. Love is helping others find real freedom from brokenness, addiction, pornography, abuse, prostitution and anything else that keeps them from realizing their true purpose in this world. Love is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the widows, caring for the homeless, the rejected and the unlovable. Love is just as concerned about the impoverished as it is about the wealthy. Love has a heart for the strippers, alcoholics and drug addicts, as well as the people sitting in the pews at church or in synagogue. Love has a heart for the disenfranchised, the forgotten, the lonely and for the famous. Love has no end. By His actions, Jesus taught us how to love the lovely and the unlovable. Walking in love is what JEWELS IN THE MUD is all about...'

The Lord gave me a beautiful dream about this work recently. In the dream, there were women coming from all across the nation, bringing their suitcases with them and very excited about whatever it was that was about to happen. (I don't think this means that women will actually move here for JEWELS IN THE MUD ~ but hey, what do I know? I think it's more of a symbolic thing.)

I'm not going to go into all the details of the dream here. But I do want to tell you that JEWELS is for women, by women and about women and their relationships with GOD and with people. It is about healing broken hearts, filling needs, laughter, mentoring, joy and connecting with other women. It's about networking, sharing ideas, information, lessons learned and whatever else! Women of all ages will be involved in this! It's about businesses and homemaking. It's about Bible studies and Prayer Warriors. It's women meeting together (we call the meetings Mud Puddles), whether in homes, restaurants, on the golf course, at the mall ~ wherever ~ to do whatever they are being called to do, utilizing gifts and talents given to them by GOD. It's about reaching out to other hidden or mud-covered jewels and blessing them to find the sparkle of GOD's love in their own lives. It's about Mud Puddles all over the city joining together in one giant Puddle to rejoice, fellowship, learn, worship and even bring their tables of wares to help expand their business contacts or sell their products to other Jewels who may be interested in those products. It's about anything and everything that has to do with being a woman in today's world.

It's way bigger than I can explain here and much more than I know! It's women helping women, strengthening, encouraging, loving and caring for women. It's about developing a relationship with GOD through Jesus Christ, going deeper and deeper into the love and covenant of love we have with HIM. It's about being the Bride to Jesus Christ ~ our Bridegroom. It's about fulfilling His call to go into all the world and tell others about the One Who gave His life for them. It's a powerful and beautiful work and I am completely excited to be blessed to be the Director of it.

That brings me to the gal I call my 'Right Hand Jewel'. She is a beautiful young woman by the name of Heather Angst, who serves as the Associate Director for JEWELS...and is also our Marketing Director. Talk about a beautiful jewel! She is on fire for Jesus and her testimony is powerful. You can friend her on Facebook if you would like to! She loves GOD, loves people, loves the ministry and loves JEWELS.

So, after all of that information (something I'm obviously not shy about sharing), I just want to encourage you if you are a woman and think you might be interested in this venture to send me an email. The address is Vicky@jewelsinthemud.com. The website is still under construction (pray for me...I don't know how to build it and am trying to learn as I go!), but the email address is good. Hopefully, it will be up in the near future.

Blessings to all of you! And guys, please pass this info along to that gal you are thinking of right now who may love being involved. I know schedules are tight, but this may be just the right thing for that woman ~ young or older and everything in-between!

I'll post again soon! Thanks for reading!!!

Vicky

Change

Hello, Dear Readers!

Wow... Long time no write, huh? Well, it's probably due in part to the fact that I don't like to write only for the sake of writing. I want to have something that is going to pique the interest of those who visit this blog. I don't know that the words I pen actually do that, but that is the goal!I'm sitting here reflecting on how much things can change in such a short amount of time. For example, seven months ago on December 19th, I got married. The picture you see here is of my husband and me. We're also entertainers and this is one of our publicity shots. Just wanted to share it with you! Funny, it seems as though our wedding was just yesterday and at the same time, as though we've been married forever. That's good. I pray that for everyone who marries...that you will find your mate and rest in the love that you enjoy with one another for all your days.

This isn't my first marriage...but it is my last. And for those of you who have been or are married, I don't need to tell you that marriage cannot succeed without change... No longer are you an entity unto yourself once you marry someone (praise God!), but you are part of a union that requires you to stretch and grow in ways you may never have imagined you would. Sometimes the stretching is painful...learning to sacrifice your 'all about me and what I want to do' ways for the 'how can I bless this union so that we become truly ONE' attitude. Lofty thought, but sometimes not so easy to do! But then, I have learned that if you truly truly truly love someone, the sacrifices aren't so difficult to make at all.

Of course, for those of you who follow this blog, you know I'm going to relate this to our relationship with the Lord. As we learn more about Him and grow more deeply in love with Yeshua/Jesus, we find it less and less difficult to sacrifice our selfish desires in exchange for pleasing Him. And we do it because of the love that we have for Him...love that can only increase each day as we more fully surrender ourselves, our plans and everything we have to Him. Drawing closer to Him, we can see more clearly how He is busily at work in our lives, being faithful to His word and opening new doors into our futures with Him. And we begin to SEE and KNOW His love for us.

Yeshua/Jesus is a loving, generous, powerful, tender, wise and fiercely passionate husband. He is faithful beyond measure - never taking His bride for granted, but rather always inviting her to come closer to Him. HE wants her to catch the vision He has for the marriage, to learn more about the Father and to grow ever more confident and powerful in her love for Him. He is always inviting His bride to walk forward with full purpose of heart, knowing that He is the Ever Faithful and True King of Kings and He has chosen and called her to a destiny that she cannot possibly achieve on her own... He invites His bride to lay down her own selfish desires and to take up a cross and sword, to walk beside Him in the strength that only He can provide as she submits her life to His plans. He proves His love for her every day and calls her beautiful...the most beautiful bride in the world. He arms her with His strength as she rests in Him and He surrounds her with angelic hosts who protect and defend her - who minister to her because she is His bride - an heir of salvation - one who will inherit the kingdom of heaven and rule and reign beside her Husband/King. He equips her with wisdom and covers her with His glory as she surrenders herself to Him. And He becomes One with her, even as He is ONE with the Father. It's the most beautiful marriage in the world - and in the universe. And the Bridegroom - Yeshua/Jesus - is the One who asked for her hand - your hand - my hand - in this most beautiful marriage of all time and all eternity.

So, when you consider what it is like to be truly married - truly one with your spouse - remember this: the decisions you make every single day of your life are a reflection of what kind of bride you will be for your King. Learn submission in right ways... Seek His heart to find out where there is division between you and your earthly spouse... Ask Him where there is strife in your marriage and then get rid of it! Even if you are not married, you need to evaluate yourself in regard to your relationships with others. Ask Him to show you your own pride and when He does, lay it down and walk away from it. Your beauty isn't found in your appearance, intelligence, abilities or anything human. Your beauty is found in HIM. You are beautiful - gloriously beautiful - when you surrender yourself to your Bridegroom. Ask Him to show you how you can be a more submissive partner (remember, the Bible says that we are to submit to one another...not just women to men, but to each other). Ask Him to show you how to prefer your spouse over yourself. Ask Him to teach you how to be patient, to be humble, to surrender your will so that you walk in obedience to the desires of His heart. Obedience is just another word for love. 1 John 5:3 says, "This is love for God - that you obey His commands.

Ask Him to show you every little thing you do that brings division between you and your spouse. You don't need Him to show you what is wrong with your spouse - although you may need to ask Him what you can do to bless your spouse in areas where he/she is weak, whether in the relationship with you, with God or with others. Ask the Lord to make you the 'bride' He wants you to be. I know there are men reading this blog. The bride of Christ is made up of men and women... So if you belong to Him and have given Him your life, you are His bride - no matter what your gender may be. This isn't about gender. It's about our spirits - our real selves. Remember, God is Spirit and those who worship Him must do so spirit and in truth. Let's trust Him to work out all the details and just learn to submit to and love Him!

Ask Him to do the work in you that only He is able to accomplish. And then, beloved, let go and allow it to happen. Don't try to orchestrate that work. You can't. Don't try to figure it all out so that you can do it on your own. Again...you can't. Just let Him take you by the hand and lead you into His chambers of love. Go there willingly. Surrender yourself to His love and His leadership. His banner over you is love. His plan for you is love. His heart for you is love. You were created to be one on whom He can pour His overflowing, sacrificial, passionate love. You were created to share His glorious kingdom with Him. You were created because He loved you before He even formed you in your mother's womb. You are the longing of His heart - you are His bride...if you surrender yourself to His will and His ways. He will take you into heaven one day and you will sit at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb...as His bride. He will present you to His Father and you will be more deliriously happy than you or I can possibly imagine.

But it all starts with change. Change your mind and ways if you are being disobedient to Him. Change the ways you look at your relationships with everyone. Change how you respond to difficult circumstances, if your responses need to be changed. Change your attitude about submission to everyone around you. If you're constantly giving into Satan's plans, change your mind and your ways and give your full self to God. Change your heart. Change your direction. Change your mind. Change your plans. Give EVERYTHING to Yeshua/Jesus. Become ONE with Him.

Eternity is a really really really long time.... This life is our opportunity to learn how to be a righteous bride in Christ. I still have a long way to go, but I'm working on it... How about you?

Vicky

My Beloved - Part 6

(And so, it is time for the last portion of this message from God. I hope this has blessed you as you've read and considered the words in it. I have been blessed to read them, too. There is more to come, but for this day, this is enough. Have a wonderful day! And now, for the last part of this message...)

"Bring these words to Me, little one. The enemy will try to steal them from you, but I will confirm them to you daily as you come to Me. You will see your self-esteem, which is found in me, begin to grow as you take hold of My hand and learn from Me, leaning only on Me for the sufficiency and provision you need. Remember, what I open, no one can shut and what I shut, no one can open. Turn, turn, turn. This is the season for you to turn. Turn to Me. Turn away from the lies of the enemy. Turn away from a closed and wounded heart to an open and healed one. This will come to you as you take hold of My hand and turn to Me anew.

Treasure these words of Mine, beloved. Seek me often for the refreshing you need everyday. Remember that My mercies are new ever morning. Remember, I came so that you would have more abundant life. Do not waste the opportunity to enjoy your life abundantly on this side of Heaven by choosing to listen to the lies of the enemy or by living in the hurts and disappointments of the past.

Listen to Me. Follow Me and learn from Me. I will fill you days with wonder. And remember this - even as it is written in My word...

I AM with you always, even unto the ends of the earth."

From the Lord and Savior, Yeshua Ha'Maschiach...Jesus the Christ.

(Blessings to all of you. I have enjoyed sharing these words from our wonderful Savior. I hope you have listened with the ears of your spirit as you read them. Have a fantastic day! Vicky)