"THE SIGN DIDN'T SAY IT WAS A DEAD END"

I wrote this as I have been thinking about and praying for a Sister church. I want to describe it respectfully. It had lost direction and its light had grown dim, tired and discouraged as had many of the people in the surrounding area. I believe its light needed and desired to be remembered and encouraged to shine again. It is indeed the people that need hope so that they can be that renewed light. With Gods hand upon this vision there is new life. As we reach out and extend an invitation to welcome eachother we will make a difference. I believe all of us do at times find ourselves at a point where we reflect and ponder our personal history. For some.............. the joy and pain are not respectful of the other.

"The Sign Didn't Say It Was a Dead End"

So where are you today?

If only you had chosen right instead of left in your road of life.
If only you would have chosen right instead of wrong, and
If only you knew the difference.
If only you had one more chance.
If only you would have done this instead of that.
If only you would have listened.
If only you had given in.
If only you had more time.
If only they knew...........
If only they hadn't given up on you.
If only you had not given up on them.
If only the hurt wasn't so bad.
If only you believed you could have.
If only you could forget.
If only you didn't hate.

If only you had known what to do with the pain.
If only you knew how to find joy.
If only you could take it back.
If only you could have known the outcome.
If only you could have worked harder.
If only you could have forgiven.
If only you belonged.
If only you were loved.
If only you understood what pride does.
If only you knew how to really love.
If only you knew how to set yourself apart from harmful things.
If only you were encouraged by those that said they loved you.
If only you had a future to look to.
If only your life were different.
If only.................

Jesus is the author of dead end streets.
and that might sound odd.

Let's look at it from a different prospective......,
than the one you might have right now.

First of all, because He is your only hope when you get there......,
your ONLY hope.

He has allowed you to reach this place
and He is meeting you there.

He has brought you to an end so that you can find a new beginning,
so that you can find life...........at the impossible dead end street.

It's still a place for YOU to choose which way you will turn.
Look around and consider your next move
and your innermost thoughts.

This is not about anyone else right now.

Choosing Him you will experience the embrace
of the One there is no equal to.

He will take the remnant of you
and begin to transform and restore you.......fully.

No, the sign didn't say it was a dead end.
That was then and this is now.

Where are you today?

He is your rescue.
Jesus.......IS your rescue.


Denise Sherriff
3-30-11

"TWISTED AND TWEAKED, YOU ARE HIS VERY OWN"

I have been thinking a lot lately about why people think the grass is always greener on the other side. It isn't. We don't know what the "behind the scene" looks like in another persons life. When I think I've have got it soooo bad and I think life stinks, all I have to do is look around. Some body's probably got me beat. I don't mean to disrespect or diminish any sincerely difficult trial anyone is having. I just know that when I am going through a difficult time and it's just awful, I am made aware of another person's trial that is waaaaaaaay worse than mine. Unimaginable even. Like I really had no idea! Sooooo, try to get what He wants you to get out of a particular season so you can move on and not go there again. The grass really wasn't greener when you got there was it?

"TWISTED AND TWEAKED, YOU ARE HIS VERY OWN"

God will put a twist to your life.

He will take your life to a new level.

He will take you out to bring you in,

He will give you boundaries to set you free,

He will close your eyes so you can see,

He will challenge you to strengthen you,

He will set you apart to include you,

He will make the old like new again,

He will cause you to hear what is silent,

He will be your breath when you can't remember to breathe,

He will show you life out of death,

He will unlock creativity when you can't find the key,

He will make the hard thing to do, the best thing to do.

He will make a stranger your friend

and He will show you what you have not seen.

Another term is "tweak" your life.

He will give you that "edge".

He will SET you on edge even.

When he is finished with you, your tag (your life) will not say

made in Japan or Made in Taiwan,

it won't even say made in USA.

It will say made in Heaven by God.

Think about that.

You were made in heaven by the hand of God.

When you receive Jesus Christ as your savior

and when all is said and done,

you will return to spend eternity in your original home.

Where you were made, is the place you will return.

You were birthed from the bosom of God

and you will return to the bosom of God, your father.

Often we are taken back to the book of Genesis,

the beginning.

It's a way of getting a grip on reality.

It will help you to see what has hindered you

from living your life the way God intended you to live it.

What God's Word said in the beginning is true forever.

The lies of the enemy throughout your days

will distract from God's intention for you.

But God is an event-full God, meaning he loves events.

He loves your life.

That's why he will not leave you

to live out your adventure alone and without intervention.

He will cause you to remember who you were created to be.

If you really don't know,

He will bring to life that which he birthed in you.

He will uncover that which is deep in your heart.

He will breathe life into you.

So in getting to know, trust and love your father,

get ready for a wild ride.

Embrace the twists and turns, the mountains and valleys,

the storms and events that enable you to live

on purpose and for a purpose.

Let the God given dynamics of your life explode

here on this earth, right now, right where you are.

If you are a "label" person,

please let it be the Label of God you wear.

Twisted and Tweaked,

You are His very own.

Denise Sherriff

4-1-11