Make-A-New-Friend Monday with Raquel Dunn

Yea! I love Make A New Friend Monday because I get to introduce you to some of my very wonderful friends. Today I have guest blogger, Raquel Dunn.

Raquel and I met when her husband taught at the school where I still teach third grade. Her little girl was 2 or 3 at the time and sometimes Raquel would come in to pick her up. She was always super friendly, but always "put together" and I so admired that about her. As time went on, they moved, but I continued to communicate with her periodically through facebook and I began to admire her beautiful heart even more. That is exactly what she's going to share with you in her post today. First, a little background . . .

A small town girl, with big city dreams, Raquel Dunn’s love for writing propelled her to leave her hometown of Coeburn, Virginia, to pursue a career in television news. After spending five years in various newsrooms, Raquel realized her true passion lie elsewhere and and set out to find a more creative outlet in television. In September 2006 she became a producer for The 700 Club, a truly fulfilling and rewarding career move. After two wonderful years there, her husband was called to be a pastor and she stepped down to follow God's direction for their family.

Raquel now resides in Knoxville, Tennessee where she stays at home with her two children and has now taken on the role of homeschooling her daughter. Since writing has always been a job for her, Raquel is excited to see where God will lead her as she allows Him to use her talent to share some of the amazing ways God has worked in her life. You can check out her blog to read more of her story. http://www.myjavawithjesus.blogspot.com/

Fill My Cup Lord

Cup...it's a simple word really with many definitions, but the first thing that come to mind is an object you pour a beverage into. Webster's defines a cup as, “a small vessel of capacity, used commonly to drink out of.” The phrase, “a small vessel of capacity” is a striking statement really because as we look at our own lives, that's exactly what we are...small vessel's of capacity. We are God's cups.

Jesus told told the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25,and 26, “Woe unto you...for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” David, the great king of Israel, who beautifully orchestrated so many of the Psalms, knew what it meant to be the Lord's cup. Three times in the Psalms, he alludes to the portion of a cup. In Psalm 11:6, “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Then in Psalm 16:5, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:”and finally the most famous Psalm of all...Psalm 23:5, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over.” Each and everyone of us is a small vessel, or cup, in which God wants to pour into, but that can only happen when we allow Him to do so. All too often, we choose to fill our own cups, never realizing what God is waiting to fill us with.

Examine what you fill your cup with and then think about what God wants to fill you with. Perhaps you find yourself in one of these categories.

• You worry, while God wants to fill you with peace.
• You choose resentment, but God wants to teach you how to love.

• You allow yourself to be overcome with greed as you try to keep up with “The Jones” but easily forget that God has supplied all your needs.

• Sometimes you allow anger to reign when God is asking you to forgive...because He first forgave you.

• Frustration boils over and you damage important relationships, but God wants to instill patience in you to endure those hardships.

• You busy yourself with work to avoid anymore heartaches, when God says rest and be still. It is then that you can know He is God.

• So many areas of your life are affected as bitterness spreads like a cancer within you, when if you just stopped focusing on your pain, you could see God's blessings as you walk with Him.

• There are days your cup is overrun with hopelessness, but God says He will give you hope and an expected end.

• Trials of life can bring so much sadness, but God is there asking you to let Him to restore the joy of His salvation.

None of us can ever be a completely empty vessel. We must be filled with something. It's our nature. It's how we function. Just like a car needs gas, oil and so many other parts to run...we need something to fill our hearts, minds and souls with. Think about it. Have you ever really been able to stop feeling or thinking or just being? Of course not!! God did not create us to be that way. He created us to be filled with His greatness.

So, How do we keep from filling our cups ourself? How do we allow God to pour His majesty into us? It's simple really. Where we allow our cups to be filled depends on where we go when life overwhelms us. Are we turning to the world? Finding our answers in magazines or horoscopes. Perhaps you look to Oprah or Dr. Phil, when the first place you should turn to is the Word. God breathed His Word into the pens of men so that you might find a way to fill your cup with something better than the world has to offer. He's there waiting to mold you and shape you. He is the potter and you are the clay...but what goes into your cup is up to you.

Just take a moment...maybe it's time to empty your cup with whatever you've allowed in and be filled with what God desires for you. Maybe your cup is like David's and overflowing. Wherever you find yourself today, let's just be still and know He is God.