He is a light unto my path

I just wanted to pop in and give a praise report. The Lord is my light and my very present help. I want to thank Him for all that He is. This month is Thanksgiving  and in the spirit of said Holiday.. I thank you for the morning, I thank you for the sun, I thank you for your love and all that you have done. I thank you when I am steady, I thank you when I am weak, I thank you Lord for,  you are all I need. May all of my praise be lifted to you, May all of my praise arise anew, each day that I wake is a day to give praise, so today Lord, at this moment I offer up my praise to you. Blessings!

When the word becomes life

Have you ever been reading the Bible and all of a sudden the words seemed to leap off the page..they have just become life to you. The word is always true, however, when you spirit man latches onto it and it becomes real then it has truly become life. This life giving flood of light has happened to me more than once but I do recall one time in particular. The thing is it is still working in my life. I have not always handled this enlightenment well, I have to be honest with you about it. There are times this life giving word has spurred me to achievement but even when I was being less than stellar it is there in the background blinking away like a warning light or a reminder if you will. It happened in this manner( sorry I couldn't resist the phrasing of this,grin)- there was a young mother who wanted time to read the Word and the only time she was able to do this was when her little daughter laid down for her afternoon nap. Now this young mom, who was for lack of better words, in her own spiritual diapers, a toddler in the ways of God, had heard that EVERY thing you need can be found in the Bible. Now this young mom was a bit overweight and wanted to find what the word says was the solution to it.(Remember she was a baby in God herself), She searched and could find nothing. Knowing that nap time was quickly coming to the end  and if she didn't read something somewhere she was not going to have time to read anything. In frustration she said to herself," I am just going to throw the Bible open and where ever if falls is where I am going to read today. This is ridiculous." So throw open she did and this is the scripture it landed on...remember what she was originally looking for--Isaiah 55:1-3 'Ho everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters: and you who have no money, Come, buy and EAT. Yes come, buy wine and milk without price. WHY DO YOU SPEND MONEY FOR THAT WHICH IS NOT BREAD,AND YOUR WAGES FOR WHAT DOES NOT SATISFY? LISTEN CAREFULLY TO ME AND{EAT WHAT IS GOOD}, AND YOUR SOUL SHALL DELIGHT ITSELF IN ABUNDANCE( OR AS THE KJV SAYS-FATNESS)INCLINE YOUR EAR, AND COME TO ME. HEAR AND YOU SOUL SHALL LIVE;AND I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENAT WITH YOU- THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID.'
Now here I had spent time looking for the answer to my weight, for yes I was that young mom. These scriptures grabbed hold of my heart. Here is what The Lord was telling me. Come and eat from the Word and the Lord Jesus, He and His promise are sure, true and free. Why are you spending your money of junk food and your wages on things of life trying to fill what can only be filled by me. Listen, Pay attention-eat healthy food, live in me and your soul shall live. Get fat in the Spirit and you will live and be in covenant with me. I will give you the sure mercies of David... There I was with my jaw hanging...for God had found in the word what I was unable to find on my own. He hears ALL of our cares and Yes I will say every answer is in HIM.

been busy?

Been busy lately? I know I have and half the month has gone by and I had yet to post. My apologies for the lapse in time. God has been faithful and true during this last couple of weeks. I have been to see my weight doctor and got a good report. While I was there I saw the PT and nutritionist and all is well. Why the post about the mundane of my life? Well you see God cares about the small things as well as the big things that go on in our life. The word says He numbers the hairs on our heads. How interested is that? So many times we wait until we have a crisis to call out and talk( pray) to God. It is good to be able to do this but how much better if we realize He is there for us in the small things too and talk to Him everyday.(Casting our cares on Him for He cares for us!) As the weeks go onward toward the holidays and life ramps up to a frenzied pace...take time to talk to God. He cares that you are strung two ways to Sunday. He cares that the stuff is stacking up and if you will let Him He will walk you from the craziness to the other side, calm and peace. Now on a lighter note.... Saw on a church sign-
'There is something missing here, can us see it? C H - - CH!   Blessings!

Darkness

Everyone has been at the door of despair, dark times surrounding you. Weather it finances, health, relationships we all face rocky roads. Times of tribulation are common to man. I once heard a preacher say, " it isn't that you don't have problems, its that you don't let the problems have you." He is correct, however, when you are in the midst of troubles it is nice to hear but please, how do you implement it? You stand on the word of God! today's scripture is Micah 7:8- When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me. It is all about Jesus. HE is our salvation, HE is our restoration and HE is our light. When we try to do it ourselves we will find ourselves worn out and in despair. When we follow HIS light, for he directs our paths, we will come to the proverbial end of the tunnel. To many Christians believe that problems never come their way and when the do they end  up stumbling.( They must of believed wrong or confessed wrong.) That is not necessarily the case. the word tells us that in this life we will have many tribulations but to not fear, for HE has overcome the world. We stand in His joy, His peace, His light, His strength...and in doing so we find peace.

New every morning

Finances, broken friendships, health, sorrows and joys is what life brings. There are times when we as children of God get scared and unsure of what is coming next. We wait for the proverbial  straw that will break our backs to come. Have you ever felt this way too? We stumble and mess up, we repent and try again. Up/Down life is somewhat of a roller coaster for most of us. Now there are some who are really secure or mature who never, it seems lose sight of the Lord...but it is time to be honest, even the most mature in the Lord wobble once in awhile. It might be the loss of a loved one or a diagnosis of illness or the loss of something important to them but all humanity is built in frailty and without new mornings we would surely be given to despair. Lamentations 3:22-24- Through the LORD'S MERCIES we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are NEW EVERY MORNING; Great is your faithfulness."The Lord is my portion," says my soul, " Therefore I hope in Him." You see this scripture tells us allot in such a small space. It tell us that is because God has mercy and compassion(in the plural) that we are not consumed by the troubles of life. When we make God our portion, our defense we will find that we have hope. Not hope in solution of work but hope in Him to show us the way and make the path straight to it. We put our trust in HIM. Lamentations 3:25-26 goes on to further tell us a plan-The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and waith quietly for the salvation of the Lord.- I noticed that the scripture is not one of frantic and panic but peace and assiduity. So let us find peace and calmness in knowing what the scripture tell us. We who seek and wait  on Him do a good thing and can rest assured that the salvation/solution from the Lord is on its way.

I will when....

How many times have we said things like,' I will be happy when I ( fill in the blank) or I will do this or that once(?) or I wish this day would  be over.' We use it as a figure of speech to express where we are or what we are unhappy about in our lives. I know for many years I thought or said those things. What made these things come to mind is I overheard a mom saying she needed a break from her kids then when she got her wish missed them and posted her ambivalence about it. We spend our lives wishing for the future day,the time when or I will next Monday's. The word teaches us we are not guaranteed a tomorrow. We have today and its trouble is sufficient in and of itself. We spend so much time in our future that we completely miss the joys of our present.The other thing is getting stuck in our past. The word teaches us to let go of the past things and press on to the higher things of God.  Most know what that means in our spiritual lives, but, in our physical world it holds true too. We must let go and find forgiveness in Christ. You can not change the past and you have no promise of a tomorrow, you have today. So live today with joy, purpose and knowledge that Jesus is with you, live your life finding pleasure in small things and the big if you are blessed to have one of those that day. Is it improper to plan for a future date? No of course not but if you are missing living today on the possibility of a tomorrow you need to rethink, refocus and re-balance your life in the things of Christ. My small blessings at this moment are a cup of coffee at my side, my little chihuahua snoring in her kennel and being here with you. May God's grace shine on you today and may His love be one of your blessings today as it is mine.

Differences

Romans 10:12- there is no differences between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.-- We hear the word inclusive every time you turn around. We hear the word tolerance, acceptance ect. The world spouts it like it is a new concept.. It is not. Now understand I am not talking about being accepting of sin( for those of my readers who read more into a statement than is there.) For God in His word says NO SIN shall enter in. The ONLY door way is through Jesus Christ. But note the scripture at the beginning of this blog. Let me break it down..1) There are no difference between the races. 2) Jesus is Lord of everyone, kindred and tongue, the connection... is that He, Jesus is rich(kind, close, in relationship, accepting of ALL who call on Him. The uniting thing for us as believer is Jesus and being in relationship with Him. (Is HE Lord of your life or an after thought?) When He rules in your heart it will cause you to love all your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Today's blog isn't long but it was my daily devotional and I wanted to share it with you.Let me close with one of my favorite scriptures-- Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and know God, He that loves not, knows not God for God is Love. 1rst John 4:7-8.  So if you claim the name of Christ and you are prejudiced best be checking your heart. Spewing hate is not LOVE.( I was thinking about those who are protesting at funerals). God help us to be more like you.

Lametations 3 says it best

Money, Money, fear and dread;
Earth's a shaking, hundreds dead.
Famine, floods, wars and more,
madness knocking at every door.  
What can we  do? How can we be,
 Free from all the insanity?
 Lamentations 3:21-26 says it best,
 It tells how we can have mental rest,
 Free from worry, free from stress,        
 The Lord is compassionate, kind and true
and His mercies each morning are new for you. crr

Do you wonder?

Do you wonder if you died today if your life would have amounted to anything? What made me think on this is the comments I see on a certain social site.So many time I see @^&* my life or I give up. I think in everyone's life there comes a time when we ask ourselves, " Have I made an impact anywhere or on anyone? Have I lived to only realize I am invisible?" In Ecclesiastes the  writer says all is vanity. So I guess it is safe to say we all get there at some time or 'ta other...
Many times we try to fit with the 'in' crowd, we try to draw attention to ourselves with flashy dress, loud behavior ect. We often base our worth not on who we are but what we make, where we live or what we drive. The sad truth is for the most part we will never be a "star", a household name or famous.
Is 58:10 states-If you pour out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall rise in obscurity. Isn't funny that the way man looks to it that we need to be our own cheerleaders, put ourselves out there, push to get ahead and Gods way is to minister to others needs, get outside ourselves; in other words polar opposite of man's way..Let me pose a question in closing. Would you rather be a star that fades and by the next generation the question of "who?" comes up or would you rather affect someones life and while your name may not be any more memorable than that faded star your legacy goes on to generation after generation? For you see when you affect change in one person, give them a hand up so to speak , and the instead of wallowing in sin and grief they blossom into children of God who then affects not only those around them but those who follow them one generation after the other. Famous or life changing? Hmmm I know which  I would choose. You?

I can do it!

We are an independent lot on the whole, us humans. We like to feel that we can handle all that needs to be handled without help, thank you very much. From the time we are very little toddlers we state, "I do it!".:)
However there comes a time in each and every life that we realize we have hit a brick wall. Some of us hit more than one. We toss, we turn, we make this plan and that plan and on the whole end up in a royal mess. There is one who grieves with you. There is one who sees the pain of your finances, health, marriage, life... He waits to help us but  we tie His hands because of 'I do it!' Is. 58:9 states,' then shall you call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry and He will say, Here I am." He is ready, willing and able to help his children. Those blood bought, redeemed children who cry out to their Heavenly Father and His precious son. So my fellow followers of Christ don't reside in confusion, despair and pain. Call out to your Heavenly Father to come and the answer-'Here I  am.'

Oh did I say that...

It has been a week since I last posted on the blog page. I don't want to to just post anything so I can say I posted something. So if it seems that some times I post less often or more often that is why.crr


OH did I say that!
 Have you ever had cross words with someone and wish you had just kept your mouth shut? I know I have. Have you ever tried to reason with someone and end up in a verbal war? Again, I know I have. What is the solution. For years I feared being taken advantage of, of someone getting one up on me and this lead to some rather heated confrontations.  I have learn a thing or two and although I still forget myself, as the saying goes, once in awhile I have discovered a thing or two. One thing I have learned is if you have boundaries and are consistent in keeping them, then people are less likely to cross them. If you are consistent they learn that you really don't appreciate behaviors and if they are right minded and not just out to trouble any and or everyone they will respect those boundaries. This can be done without being a hard case yourself.(more later.) But you always run into those who are full of anger, pain, hurt or hate if not all of the above and reason does not work with such as those. What to do? That is one of the second lessons I have learned. Both lessons are based on a scripture in Proverbs. Proverbs 15:1- A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
About the first lesson I have learned. If you are dealing with someone who is a reasonable person you will be able to say in a kind way, " I am uncomfortable with x,yz"  and if needed explain why. First you are not accusing them of wrong doing(even if they are line crossing.) You are taking responsibility by saying." I am". This does not work with an enraged person. Many times when some acts ugly we want to respond in kind. Just say to yourself," SOFT ANSWER< SOFT ANSWER"..lol.  It is not always easy but sometimes an, " I am sorry you feel that way or I am not going to argue about this,' Then walk away.  I  remember a time when my husband and I had went to a new store and shopped. We had just finished unloading our shopping cart. We had run into one of my husbands cousins and were standing around visiting with him.Before I go any farther, we really should have put our cart up for someone else to use, but be that as it may, IT WAS OUR CART,anyway, this woman comes out of her car with a toddler in her arms and began to swear at us. " I need that GD cart!" at the top of her voice. Well in times past I wouldn't have been balanced. However when God does a work he does it well. I and my husband while shocked and the anger and  hate pouring off this woman, were able BY THE GRACE OF GOD to respond with a soft answer. "OH, I am sorry here let us help you get the baby in the seat." Did we owe her help? no, Did we owe her an apology? No but the result is she literally stuttered to a stop and conviction fell and you could see it in her face.The icing, tee hee, was when I was able to say with peace in my heart, "God bless you , you have a good day now." If you could have seen her face you would never doubt the scripture again."A soft answer turns away wrath."

God alone

God alone is worthy of Praise. God alone is the way. He sent His Son to make a way for us to reconciled to Him. He has loved us and wooed us with a love divine. He is beauty personified. I want to take a moment today not to preach but to praise. I love Him and He is worthy. Holy is His name. Won't you come and join with me thanking God alone for all He has done? His Son paid a price to make us one with God and Son. He paid the price for sin and made a way for us to have access to the most wonderful Father.  He supplies our needs by his riches and gives us a life of abundance. HE is all in all. I want to thank you Father for you are worthy of praise. I want to thank You Father for you have made the way, I want to thank you Father for you are ...I love you.

July 4th

Today is the celebration of our nation and freedom. Many of us have the day off from work, picnics , fireworks and as the saying goes,'plenty of sun and fun.' Freedom what a wonderful thing. Being as this is a holiday I will keep this short and sweet. We want, need and desire freedom. We many times feel like a slave in life. Even when we have things going our way we really, if we are honest are waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. But there is a freedom that is guaranteed it is promised in John 8:36-Therefore if th Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Freedom from sin! Free to recieve the love of God..Let freedom ring.

LOVE IS....

LOVE IS---Life 
                   On the
                    Vine
                    Eternally...(Jesus said, " I AM the vine , ye are the branches)

                 ARE YOU TAPPED INTO THE VINE?

Firecracker or Dud

Apostle Paul makes a point in 1Cor. 15:31 that he dies daily. Dies daily you question? What does that mean to die daily? Rest assured he is not talking suicide. Apostle Paul was referring to that part of us that wants our way, when we want it, how we want it and NOW, our will. That flesh part of us, the old man wants his way but we need to be conformed to God's way and that requires some death of a sort. We have in the recent past seen WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) and death to self is choosing the WWJD way over your own fleshly desires.To get here we must first acknowledge we need a savior, if we haven't already accepted Jesus as Lord. Sometimes a religious background can hinder us from a personal salvation experience with the Lord. Being raised in church can gives a head knowledge, and intellectual knowing of God without us ever experiencing Him in our hearts. Some people even serve in the ministry without being born again. A friend of mine named Connie told me of a youth minister that she knew who led many people to the Lord. She had all the right words, was charismatic, a real soul winner. They went on many mission trips together and they knew each other well, or so Connie thought. A time came when Connie was unable to go due to time constraints and the missionaries had to go without her. She awaited eagerly for a phone call to tell her how things were going. The phone call finally came and she was astounded by what she heard. It seems that when the alter call came her friend and fellow soul winner had went forward to receive salvation. She later said, ' I was raised in church so I thought that made me a christian. I just realized tonight that I didn't know the Lord...'She had recognized that she had a need for a personal savior. You cannot see the kingdom unless you are born again. Not one of us is without sin. We all have fallen short and failed to live up to to God's requirements of holiness. Without Jesus we are sentenced to death, but because of Jesus sacrifice, God's free gift and the Holy Spirits work in us we can receive eternal life in place of the death we all deserve.
You must act on your conviction. This awakening I am talking about can not be just a mental acknowledgement   or assent. You must repent, recognize that without a personal relationship with Jesus you are undone. You must acknowledge him as Savior. He is the way, the truth and the life, no man can come to GOD but through Him.  Now that you have acknowledged your sin and Christ's standing as the only way you have to act on it,  Receive it as it were. Remember, it is not just head knowledge. James 2:19 tells us the demons believe and tremble and we know where they are. SO if we know we are lost and Jesus is our only hope and fail to act on it we are like a patient who went to the doctor, got a prescription and failed to have it filled. The prescription for sin sickness is Repentance. Repentance is ongoing and involves change. Change includes turning away from those things that stands between you and the Father. Its is through repentance and the renewing of the mind from being washed in the blood of the Lamb  that we become new creatures. God planned it, Jesus paid for it, and the Holy Spirit calls..and we must respond.  You are born into the family of God through faith. By faith you believe God to honor His word, that if we believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths  that Jesus  is Lord we Shall be saved.Then again maybe you are one who accepted the gift of Salvation years ago and to you I ask firecracker or dud? I title this blogg this because it is coming up to the 4th of July and as most Americans our minds stray toward fire works.. Nothing is more thrilling that lighting a fuse of a firework component and seeing the bright colors and the loud bang and nothing is more pitiful than the phizzt of a dud. What has it got  to do with is blogg you ask.. well Let me ask you, have you drifted, grown cold or plain ole backslid or have your grown weary? God as provided for you also. GO back to your first works...repent,confess to you the Lord, spend time in His presence and ask Him to renew your zeal. Open up your heart and walk daily with the Lord.Are you content with a lukewarm, sameo,sameo walk with God? Or are you ready to be a front line, on fire, Spirit walking, Spirit talking, firecracker for God? Firecracker or phizzt(dud)? Let freedom ring!

But you don't know how bad I've been!

I am not good enough. You don't know how bad I have been. I have sinned to much! Have you ever heard this statement or might you have said it yourself at one time or the other? Do I have good news for you! You are right, you are not good enough, you have been bad and you have sinned. You are not alone so are the Pastor,Deacon, Teacher, Prophet and every person in the congregation. Romans 3:10 tells us, 'there is none righteous, no not one. This scripture led me to one in the Old Testament that confirms the New Testament scripture.<Ecclesiastes 7: 20> For there is not a just man on the earth who does good and does not sin. When I first read this scripture  I misunderstood it and thought 'there are many people who do good works.' But then I reread it and understood that it was saying there are good people who do good works but they still sin. So good behavior and good deeds does not make us good enough for God. <Romans 3:23> says for ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
  This being the case how do we get good enough to make Heaven our home? <Romans 3:23> tells us we are justified freely by His grace, through redemption that is in JESUS CHRIST. It is only through Him, Jesus, that we are made right. Not our own works, not are cleaning ourselves up  are we made right but through Jesus. We feel like that if we grit our teeth and follow rules that we will be good enough. The only problem with that is we can only be 'good' so long and then it blows up in our face and then we are no longer good. Gal. 2:21 states, ' I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through law(following rules in the flesh) then Christ died in vain.' It is very clear that we are all, NOT good enough. It is only through the grace of God through Jesus Christ that we are made acceptable. <John 1:12> Tells us how we are made acceptable- But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the RIGHT to become children of God, to those who believe on His name. It becomes quite clear that when we make Jesus our savior and Lord we are made good and acceptable. But I have sinned so much, I have done to much-<Is.1 :18>" Come now,and let us reason together," says the Lord, " though you sin are like scarlet, they SHALL be white as snow"
  SO the truth of the matter is this-we in and of ourselves can NEVER be good enough. BUT, In Jesus we are made pure and clean.  In closing, WE CAN NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH TO OBTAIN GOD BUT, WHEN WE OBTAIN JESUS AND HIS GRACE WE BECOME GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE THROUGH, BY AND IN HIM.

Running in circles

As I sit here today my heart is overwhelmed with emotion. I have people I know whose life is a life of circles. Some are broke, some are drunks, some are lonely to the point of desperation,ect. Their minds whirl with pain, confusion and hopelessness. My heart cries out to you O Lord on their behalf. There are tears in my eyes as I sense their pain. They run in circles trying this and trying that trying to find peace. They run in circles trying to keep disaster from their doors. Is there no solution? Isaiah 26:3-4 says there is. It states,"You will him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You( Jesus). Trust in the Lord forever, For YAH, the Lord is everlasting strength." We can search the nooks and crannies, we can run in circles and in our own power we will not find peace. We may if we are very lucky find temporary solutions to the craziness we call our lives. The problem is that we have an enemy, the devil, Satan himself who would like nothing better than to destroy all that God has created. Eventually the circling starts again for old slew foot takes pleasure in confusion.  The word of God tells us  how to have peace, strength and stability. We who put our trust in the Lord find  the things we need to have abundant life. God our Father teaches us how to be at peace. He strengthens us when we have a battle to face. Please, Please, turn your eyes and heart to the creator of all things, the Great I AM and His Son. Repent and join yourself to them in the most loving relationship there is and find peace. My prayer today is this--Father God, touch my friends, family and all who read this. Draw them to you and woo them until they come into salvation. Bring, my King, peace where there is no peace, Joy where there is no Joy and hope where there is no hope. Turn them to you O God and let them have the life your word says we can have. amen

show me how to love

I have come to know that in myself there is no good thing. That with out the Lord and the Holy Spirit that I can only love those who love me. I have been actively checking my heart and want to love the way the Father says to love. But how? By allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to me and CHOOSING to obey that still small voice. It is easy to love those who love you. It is easy to be kind to those who are kind; but, what do you do when someone is just plain old ugly to you? Be honest with yourself like I have been. Believe me it can be pretty scary. To be honest if I let the 'flesh' rule I would cut their guts open with  a sharp quick tongue and leave them to die or heal as best they could. That was the younger me by the way. BUT Jesus! I am not saying the urge to verbally slash has not hit me because it does quite often. I am not saying I always succeed in controlling that unruly member(tongue) and living out a love walk. I am saying that through Jesus I can do all things. What do I mean by this introduction?  Love is not always a feeling. Love is sometimes doing the right thing, the right way even if we don't FEEL like it. Take your neighbors -- they have multiple cats that mess in your garden--flesh way--scoop the poop and place it on their deck..God's way--clean up the yard, pray for them and if and when God opens the door try to reason with them.Let God take care of the results. What about someone who digs at you for months on end..flesh way--tell them to shut their pie holes, Gods way..pray for them and wait for God to either take care of it or if it is your responsibility wait for Him to open the door to deal with it in a God like manner. I guess the newest one I have learned is when someone is way uncool and hurtful. Depend on the Holy Spirit to respond in a godly manner. Even if it means walking away and waiting until a cooler head prevails..That is love. It isn't always that ooowey gooey feeling but waiting and doing the right thing. Love means being willing to suffer loss if need be for peace. Love means letting God correct things. Love mean loving God. 1 John 4:7-8 states,' Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He that loves not does not know God, for God is love.' So my fellow followers of Christ. Is there someone you you be hatin' on? Take it to Jesus. Is there someone who you don't hate but grates..take it to Jesus. Some time love is just walking away and praying for them. Take it to Jesus and He will show you the way you are to go. Remember the word tells us to not only love but to also get along with people, but, it also says as much as it is in your power. Some people will not allow peace, like I said earlier for those, love is breaking away from and praying for God to restore them. It is all done in submitting our will to God's will, our ways to His ways, our human love{or the idea of it}to His Love. Remember "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me", even love the unlovely. IT IS ALL IN, THROUGH AND BY JESUS CHRIST. Lord, teach me to love.

How to soar!

In this life of trials and toil we must find strength and stamina to go on. For many years I thought waiting meant to sit around and wait. I sometimes wonder why it takes so long for prayers to be answered and dare I say sometimes it appears that my prayer is going as far a the ceiling of my house. I came across a scripture that I had heard many times before and all of a sudden a light bulb moment happened.  First let me share the scripture with you--Isaiah 40:31--'Those who wait upon the the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not be faint.' For many years I assumed it meant sitting and waiting in the traditional sense, and it can be taken that way but with your permission let me share my light bulb moment...Wait? What does a wait staff do when the serve you? They Wait on you, dare I say minister to your need for food. What was it called in the Old Testament when the priests went into the tabernacle? They were waiting and ministering to God. So these thoughts got me to thinking. How about instead of sitting and fretting I spent my time renewing my strength with praising and praying and ministering before the Lord God. Let me say it this way-'Those who worship, hope and praise before the Lord shall renew their strength,  they shall soar over the hardships on wings like eagles, they shall run with vigor and strength, they shall not faint(fall back in futility). Lord my prayer for myself and my friends is that you teach us to truly wait on you. To worship and praise you fully, in good times and bad. That you strengthen us as we minister before you in worship. Father teach us to fly!

No more tears

Life in its complexities can be very difficult at times. We have loved ones who die and leave us to go on without them. We have health issues that cause us to despair of ever being free of pain. We have major and minor difficulties that cause us to be sad, lonely and sorrowful. I think I am safe in saying we all have something in our lives that slots into ones of these areas. We want to be free of physical, mental and spiritual pain. I feel when we lose hope we become pained in our spirit also. There is hope! Rev.21:4 state,'And God will wipe away EVERY tear from their eyes; there shall be no sorrow or crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' We as born again believers have this as a promise. So when the things of life get a bit hectic comfort yourself with this word of the Lord.
               Joy unspeakable
               Essence of love
               Sweet peace unsearchable from
               Up above, this is our
               Savior and what he brings- We should praise Him for all these things.

Always there

Have you been at a place in your life where you wonder if God is there? If anyone truly sees and knows you for who you are? Have you ever been troubled and think is this going to matter 10 years from now? We humans face many complex situations in our lives some not so hard and others so complex we don't know if we will make it 10 minutes from now. Most things we bawl and crawl about are but temporary difficulties.. THIS TO SHALL PASS kind of situations. 1 John 2:17 tells us, ' The world is passing away and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. If you will allow me a little license with this scripture...' the world, trials, tribulation, pains, joys ect are here then gone but if you do it God's way you will still be standing..'  But you don't understand comes a wailing reply. I have been hurt, lied about, misunderstood, on and on the litany marches on and believe me  I have something going on in my life at the moment that I could join in that chorus, however, 'as for me I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud. And HE SHALL HEAR MY VOICE. He shall redeem my soul in peace from the battle that was against me. For there were many against me. {Ps 55:16-18}  God is always there! Children of the Most High when you are following His will for your life( His commandments) God in His word says HE HEARS  and HE WILL DELIVER  you. Is someone coming against you unjustly ? HE hears and will deliver. Have you made a wrong turn somewhere? Repent, cry out,  HE HEARS and HE DELIVERS. God our Father is always waiting to hear from His children and hurts when His children are hurting.  God knows us for who we are( His), how we are and who we will become(in Him). I know this has been a bit rambling but this is what has been on my heart for a couple of days now. MY CHOICE-and yours...Do we believe that the Bible is the word of God and if we do...DO WE CHOOSE TO BELIEVE AND STAND. I choose to believe and stand not wail and wallow..If you hear me wailing remind me of this declaration. lol. Have a wonderful day. Blessings.

What to do? What to do?

Have you ever come to a place in your life where you didn't not where to go or if you kind of knew didn't know how to get there? Life can be complex and confusing, fraught with pain but there is an answer. If you will let me use my study today and place it in a form of prayer..for you and for me.
Father God, We come before you hurt, confused and unsure of what to do or how to do it. Lord 'Cause us to know the way  in which we should walk, For we lift our souls to you. Teach us to do your will, for you are our God; Your Spirit is good. Lord lead us in the land of uprightness. amen"{Psalms 143:8a+10}  I for one want to respond and do the way Jesus would have me to and sometimes it is difficult to know how to be what I know is right and not feel walked upon. I guess that is what they mean by dieing to yourself ;). It is good to know that when you have questions you can go to Jesus and He will send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you. Thank you Lord for this and all your benefits.Have a blessed week, everyone..be blessed.

Isn't it a lovely day

I know I usually try to post something 'deep' and 'meaningful' and this is too only in a different way. I just want to take a moment to count my blessings. I am blessed because Jesus is my Lord, light to my path, my joy and peace provider. I am blessed with a hard working husband, Great daughter and son, a wonderful son-in law(although I don't think of him in that way but as my 2nd son) , three precious grandchildren and still have my Dad and Mom with me.  I have two crazy chihuahuas and a nice home. You see I have discovered it isn't how much stuff you have, although a house is stuff, you did notice it came last in my list of blessings. Lets get real here you can have a mansion but if you do not have the Lord and love of family you have nothing, not really. I also am blessed with extended family, blood and in laws. It is wonderful that even in times of trouble you can have peace. I get 'shaky' sometimes, I just hate discord, however my joy and peace do not depend on if I like what is going on or not. My peace comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. So today, this day, I can say," Isn't it a lovely day!"

Loopholes

So many today look for loopholes in any way they can. Weather it is financial or spiritual. It came to mind about the serpent when he was tempting Eve he said(paraphrased), " you won't die honey, eat it it will make you like God. A loophole that was the undoing of man. We take  money under the table and justify it with the Revenue Services get enough from me.. I need it more than they do.We tell white lies with the thought or loophole of we don't want to hurt their feelings. One of the biggest loopholes in the world is --I didn't know that the bible said that. Ps. 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Ps119:9-16 starts witha  question," How can I cleanse my way?" The rest of this section answers thusly* Pay attention?take heed of God's word. *Seek God with your whole heart.*Do not wander away from God's teachings.*hide his word in your heart. *Pray for the Holy Spirit to teach you His commandments.*Rejoice in God's testimonies(examples).*Meditate on the word and contemplate God's ways. *Delight yourself in His statutes.* Do not forget His word.

Whenever we do the above we don't have to worry about loopholes spiritually because we will KNOW where we stand and how to live. I think Julie Ackerman Link said it best--' Whenever we start looking for loopholes, we stop being obediant.
 My hope and prayer is to encourage all who read this to become obediant to the Father and have fullness of life. Ps. 67:7a  says it best..Then God shall bless us. Have a blessed week everyone.

Are you troubled?

Are you troubled? Are you in dire straights? Where do you look to for help? One of the benefits of being in Christ is put rather well in Psalms 121.  Verse one asks a very good question,'from whence[where] does my help come from?' Verse two answers it quite well, ' my help come from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
Do you feel like you are on a slippery slope? Do you feel like you are being consumed by fire with all the problems piling up around you? Do you feel like bad stuff[evil] keeps running you down? There are promises in this scripture to all of this and more. What is this help of the Lord? v3 says 'He will not allow your foot to slip. He(Jesus ) who keeps you will neither slumber or sleep v4. The Lord will be your shade.He will not allow the sun to strike you by day or the moon by night. So night and day He will shade you and keep you. He will keep evil from you and will preserve your soul. How far ? From your going in to your going out from this time forward and forever. When I got to verse 8 I ask myself what time forward. It probably depends on whom you are referring too; weather Israel or people in general. Let me say that my time forward started when  I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. My time started when I repented and asked God to forgive me and restore me to right standing with Him. Has your THIS DAY FORWARD AND FOREVER MORE come? No? Then cry out to Jesus and be restored. Let Him heal your broken things. Let Him heal the hurts and empty places. He loves you and waits for you to call...Cry out to Jesus.

Historic

It is a historic news day here in America. Bin Laden is dead. Many are rejoicing and acting like it is party time. Although I understand their sentiments I can not rejoice with them. God sent His Son for Bin Laden as well as you and me. The sad part is that many like Bin Laden  reject the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Bin Laden had a soul just like anyone else. He went into eternity and his time on earth is done. Bin Laden now begins the next stage...eternity.  You and I face eternity when our time on this old earth is done.  Today I am saddened and sober. Heaven and Hell are real places and the choice of who we will serve decides where we will spend eternity. I know some say there are no such thing as Heaven or Hell, then know this you have made your eternal choice.I have contemplated how to say what is on my heart about what is taking place on the news today. I find no joy in a man, evil or not, losing his life. For God so LOVED the world that He gave his only begotten son.. He gave us His Son to stand in our place, to take our punishment. Christ said on the cross," It is finished." Salvation has been paid for and it is now our choice weather to accept and repent. So while people chant and celebrate, let us remember a man began his eternity.

A whole new world

I have entered a whole new world with this spot. It is out of my comfort zone and a stretch but here goes. Thought for the day.. You cannot have holiness without separation but you can have separation without holiness. I have been doing a study that was first published in or around 1887. Want to know if it is good? When it is still good over 100 years later..good indicator. I got to mulling(my new favorite word) this statement in my lesson.What does it mean? If it is a separateness accomplished with only rules of do and do not then you will have accomplished being separate but no power. If on the other hand you draw near to God, laying down those things HE tells you too, letting his presence make you different(separate) you will achieve that being of separateness with power, The Power of the Holy One. Jesus paid the price so we could walk in holiness. Not in a do and do not list but power, strength and joy in the Holy Ghost.  Scripture-John 5:31-40..The word of God leads us to know the giver of Life, Jesus Christ. Do you know Him?