What do we do when we have all of this?

This morning our preacher had an awesome lesson for us today.  We talked about being filled with the spirit, and we had a lot of scriptures in Ephesians.  He started talking to us about God's power through us can only be limited by the Spirit's glory in your body.  I was curious about this sermon because at first I became confused about the beginning.  [but isn't that what makes you want to listen?]  When we read Ephesians 1:13 "...having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit" I began to process his thoughts and then it hit me that every believer has a "mark".

Our preacher decided to give us a "map" of how his brain began to process all of his thoughts into words from scriptures all throughout Ephesians.  He told us that there are internal and external things to this map, but that center circle, the middle thought was to "Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

The Internal things or thoughts he had were:
- Wisdom (Ephesians 1:17): To have the wisdom of the Spirit as in praying by yourself.   To have that control to pray for a long long time and to give yourself to the Lord in your prayers.
- Access (Ephesians 2:18, 6:18): We have that access to God that others might not have (as in atheists, or those whom don't pray to OUR God).  We should use that 'gift' we have, that 'access' we have to God...so use it!
- Awareness (Ephesians 3:5): We are aware of what we have with God, that maybe the younger generations don't understand yet.
- Protection (Ephesians 6:17): God has given us protection by other actions towards us.


Now: What do we do when we have all of this?

The External things or thoughts he had were:
- Intimacy (Ephesians 2:19-22): The way you show the external things to others, the way you let people in and out of your heart.
- Unity (Ephesians 4:3): The fact that you use those internal thoughts and emotions to other makes us come together as a unity of the Lord.
- Character (Ephesians 4:29-32): The person you become with the emotions and thoughts.
- Power (Ephesians 3:16): That power you are given to show everyone God and to use all of the internal characteristics.


I love the fact that these lessons are an amazing way for me to try and show other's about God!

Survivor: Whose out?

How many of you watch Survivor?


Well this is the last survivor for the season I believe and I completely overheard something I shouldn't have yet.  For those of you who haven't seen it yet... don't read this blog because I will be discussing who got put on the jury.






There were four on Redemption Island and three are now out of the game.  Matt, Mike and Grant were beaten by Andrea only because it was using a technique called 'balancing'.  Of course the only girl (who I personally didn't want to win) won this challenge and is now back in the game.  Are you kidding me?!??


Matt has been in this game since the beginning.  He was voted out to Redemption Island early on, beating every contestant that came his way to Redemption Island.  Matt is now out of the game and has become one of the members on the jury.  It amazed me to see how strong his faith was, even through the times when he wanted to give up.  He never stopped praying and letting God take control of every situation.  When he got out of the game he said something about how his God has taken him as far as He wanted him to go.  Matt's faith is very powerful to me... he IS my role model because what he has done to show his Christianity on Survivor.  I was rooting for Matt and hoped that he would win the whole thing.  Even though Matt seems disappointed that he is out of the game, he seems very content with how far he got.


My heart has gotten so much closer to God because of him... I would be absolutely blessed If I ever got the chance to meet him because he is my hero and role model!  That is my wish for today!

New "Business"

Hey everyone, I am just posting a little update for all my blog viewers to let them know about how I have expanded from AE Photography to AE Productions.  :)  My website was aephotography101.webs.com but now it is aeproductions101.webs.com!  Yes it's the same website but make sure you type it correctly!




This may get confusing because I changed all of my information on the website to say Productions but I am currently not using that website.  I will be changing it back to Photography so that can be linked back and forth between my productions and photography website... yes confusing I know, but in the end it will make sense.


Just bare with me while I figure out the "construction" of my websites.


Make sure you are going to the AE Productions website :). Thanks for your cooperation.

W.W.W.W.W.

WE WANT WHAT WE WANT can mean I, me, or myself.  Something that "we" want, "we" feel like "we" have to have it.  Everyone can be selfish, it's who we are or have made ourselves become.  Jesus' desire for His BODY is to be selfless but we sometimes are inadequate of that knowledge. "We" can always be swayed which makes us very weak or powerless of something that we "want". Jesus asked us to be a unity, ONE BODY, to live life through him.  We don't usually think about that in our daily lives.  We go about our day and whatever happens happens... forget about evening services, use foul language, actions that don't show Jesus to others.  We do those things because "We Want What We Want".

Two Sunday's ago our preacher did a sermon that made me think about all of this and I would like to share some of the notes we made during service:

1. Goal
His Note: Attitudes we should have about becoming a unity: Humility, Patience, Gentleness, Forebearing (Ephesians 4:2)
My Thoughts: I think that we should be all of the attitudes listed above, but I know that a lot of the time no one feels this way.  I can honestly say that I have very little patience and I personally need to work on it.  There's always room for improvement and time to ask God to help you.

2. We will we do as the body?

1. His Note: We will demonstrate oneness through His presence lived out in our midst. (John 14:16 & 20)

My Thoughts: We all need to live though his presence.  I have trouble doing that because I do what I want to do and I don't think about the say W.W.J.D. (What Would Jesus Do?) and I know that I need to work on that.

2. His Note: We will be a witness to the world. (John 17:21b, 23b)

My Thoughts: Being a witness to the world is one tough thing to do.  It is always easier said then done. Now I'm trying to think of something that I can do to be a witness for God! :)

3. His Note: We will reflect His glory! (John 17:22)

My Thoughts: Reflecting His glory?  I know I am no perfect Christian and I know I try everyday but don't you think it's a lot to ask from God to reflect something that's His?  I shouldn't even question what He asks us to do, but I don't even know where to begin to reflect His glory.  I guess I'll figure it out soon.

I hope that you can take this lesson I learned and take it to heart.  I may be confused but maybe you aren't about reflecting His glory.  Leave a comment to express your thoughts with me :).