Promises Of God

I saw this picture above, and it reminded me of how many times the Heavenly Father reminds us of His promises over and over.  He did this not to create volume in the written Word of God, but that He knew that we would need to be reminded over and over that He is with us on our journey. He will supply all that we need, never leave us alone, and always have a solution for every situation.  Nothing surprises Him. He is always there.

So I took some time to look up some of the scriptures to these life changing statements.  And this is what I found:

I Love You – Ephesians 2:4-5; 1John3:1; 1John 4:10; Psalms 86:15                                                     Zephaniah 3:17; John 3:16

I Will Never Abandon You - Hebrews 13:15; Deuteronomy 3:6,8; Joshua 1:5

I Will Provide For You – Matthew 6:26

I Have Plans For You – Jeremiah 29:11

I Will Give You Strength -  Isaiah 40:31

I Will Never Leave You Alone -  Isaiah 59:21

I Will Always Answer You – Isaiah 65:24

I Will Lead You – Psalms 23

 Now, I know that there are more. There are definitely more scriptures on the topic of love, strength ect…. But the thought is that God knew how we would need to be encouraged and reminded in this path of life that we are walking on.  He knew that there would be insecurities that we would have to work through and learn the truth of what GOD says about us.  If we did not need to be reminded from time to time, then in the KJV it wouldn’t have said “fear not” 74 times and “be not afraid” 29 times!  Do you think we deal with fear?

There is no temptation that is not common to man….. 1Corinthians 13:10.  But we can always find encouragement and strength from His word.  He wants us to put these promises to good use.  They are after all for us to do exactly that !!!

He is working all things out for our good !! 
Have a great day friend!

How Do We Really View Jesus?

What is our real vision of Jesus?  Is it only the Hollywood image that we all have seen?  Even though it has been a huge evangelistic tool, there is so much more that we can learn of Him. I am currently re-reading a book that has quickly become my favorite.  And though I am not a book editor, if learning to understand the life of Jesus more is something that is appealing to you, then this book will captivate you.

It’s entitled, Sitting At The Feet Of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.  Every time that I pick this book up, I get something else out of it.  I love learning anything that will help me understand the scriptures more. When I opened the book up (this time), I was reading a section that spoke of what the Jewish people were looking for.

This is what caught my attention.  “Remember that the Jewish people longed for a Messiah, a deliverer, who would be like Moses.  Many of Jesus contemporaries were looking for a new Moses to deliver them from their Roman Oppressors.” 


When I read this, I wondered, how many times do we think we have it all figured out on how God is going to work things out for us? We, like the Jewish people, think that God will deliver us like He did the before.  We automatically put God in restraints or in a box, when our faith only sees what God did “the last time”. God is God, and He can do anything.  He can work things out for our good anyway He chooses.

When Jesus didn’t come onto the scene making demands of their Roman oppressors, did not turn a staff into a serpent, did not bring the plagues to torment to their oppressors, and did not send the death angel; that meant that Jesus could not be the Messiah, right?  Now granted there was more to these events, but don’t we do the same thing sometimes, Thinking that if God didn't do something the way we wanted or thought He would do?

God is Sovereign. He sees our end from our beginning, and nothing surprises Him. It says in Isaiah 5:8, that our thoughts and ways are not like God’s. We are never going to figure it all out. So why do we continue to assume we do or will? Well, we are back to the trust issue. If we completely and honestly trust Him, that means we give it completely over to Him, wait on Him, and let God take care of it!  If we trust Him then we won't need to figure it out.

When we realize that in Jeremiah 29:11, God said that He had a plan for us from the beginning, He meant it! Am I the only one who has to remind myself that I know this? During difficult times, I've found that memorizing scriptures that relate to my particular challenge gives those verses more meaning. So I challenge you to have purpose in what you learn. Jesus was our example, and He had a purpose for everything!

Our Heavenly Father has a plan for us.  Nothing that we are going through surprises Him.  So aren’t we safe in the Shadow of the Almighty? (Ps 91:1)

Dear Abba Father,

I thank You that You know our beginning from our end.  You know everything that we will go through, and we acknowledge that You hold our answers. We invite You to show up on our behalf any way You see fit; so help us to have courage to trust You more than ever before. To You alone, we give the Praise, Honor and Glory.  Amen.

And P.S.
God, I trust you.

Well, Are you with me?  Blessings my friends, Have a great day !

Being A World Changer: It Can Really Happen

 

I once had a neighbor who must be one of the sweetest women on the planet.  Her name is Ms. Ann, and she always, always has a smile on her face. I mean one of those smiles that come from the inside out.  And even though she is getting up in years, she still smiles every time she sees you.
 
She was our neighbor for about 13 years, and she was her same cheerful self day in, and day out; always taking care of us and everyone else on our street.  She was never a busy body, not wanting to pry; but when you needed her, she was right there ready to help anyway she could.

I remember that many years ago, while wanting to improve her health, she began walking multiple times a day, and normally each time was with a different neighbor. She loves everyone and she loves to tell of how good God is and has always been to her.  Even when times were rough, she always had something to give God thanks for.

She now has been married to her husband, just under twenty five years, and I remember how hard he stern he was, just in general; so it would amaze me how joyful she was.  They had not been married very long when Dwayne and I tied the knot.

Now several years later, Ms Ann was one of the very few people that I confided in when I had a battle with Melanoma. (That will be an entry for another day.)  The reason that I shared with her and not many others, was simply that if I asked, she would believe with me for my healing, and not speak death over me like most people will do.  I meant that God was going to see me through it and I wasn’t going to settle for anything less!

She believed with me, and long story short, God spared my life and gave us the child that we had been praying for, for many years.  A couple of years later she had a bout with breast cancer, as far too many women do.  One morning while we were walking, she said, “Donna, if God could work so dramatically in your life, I can’t help but know that God will help me too!”

And needless to say, God is no respecter of persons.  She was walking on cloud nine for weeks!!  But this is the best part about her.  When we moved there, she, Dwayne and I were the only ones who had a relationship with Father God.  And daily, before we moved and after, she has always spoke of God’s goodness.  Now on this street, several people, including her husband, is going to church with her and has given their life to Christ!!! She has consistently and single-handedly pointed many people to Christ and has encouraged countless others, having no degree in theology.

Now my question is this: What would happen if we had a “Ms. Ann” in every town in America?  How about one on every street? What an influence the church would have.  It’s not about the church, that’s just where we meet.  But the change is taken to the streets! It’s you and me passionately pointing the world to Christ. One can not change the whole world, but we can be a world-changers by shining the light of Christ to others around us! Like I said before, sometimes the highways are not so far away!

How awesome is that!

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your blessings in my life, and I thank You for each one that is reading this entry.  I thank You for the things that You are bringing to pass in their lives, and that will be a testimony to others of Your goodness, mercy and grace.  I thank You that in Luke 11:13 You tell us how You want to give us good things; but You want our souls to be blessed more than the physical things of this life.  So bless and comfort my friends today as they wait on You, and may we become world changers for YOU! In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Blessings my friends, Have a great day !!!

Learning To See Others Through God's Eyes

 

How often do we as Christians let the differences of others, stop us from being who we are supposed to be in Christ?

I know for some, that is a big question to start off with, and some will say that it’s not an issue for them.  But for the larger percent of the Human population, there is always someone that we are distant from, and it is mostly a deeper reason than we are willing to admit.

For some, it may be family that we stay away from; and others, it is just those who are different than ourselves.  I am not speaking of race or anything that obvious, and if that is a problem, then friend, prayer is truly needed.

Normally, it's because they are just different from you, meaning that you have a much harder time relating to them because of the differences.  They could be different from ideas of entertainment or just completely different personalities all together.

But is someone having a different personality a really good reason not to get to know them, or to be caring,reflecting Christ anyway? The answer is obviously no. But the question is; how are we able to do this?

Before Christ's birth it was a time that it was believed that no one outside of the Jewish people could be saved or have any hope..  But He changed all of that in some of the interaction with people as He journeyed during His ministry. He healed outside of the Jewish people, showed compassion to the lowest of the considered low.  Then when He paid the price at Calvary for everyone, Paul and others began a missionary journey that was God inspired and life changing for the world, for us all!

It is sad to see or realize that people refuse to get out of their comfort zone to get to know someone just because they are different then themselves. Who knows what life changing event would not happen just because we do not bother to try?

I am thankful that several years ago, I learned to ask God to help me see others through HIS eyes.  If we look at someone on the surface, we may only see them as mean, rude or not even  see them at all.  But when we ask God to let us see through His eyes, we may see the hurt they feel, the hard road they have walked and maybe, just maybe, we might see what God has planned in their life.

 God will do this when we ask simply because then and only then can we really pray for them and feel God’s love for them.  Suddenly, our differences will no longer be important. What we will notice, and what matters is what God has for their life, and how desperately God wants them to see this truth in them.

Now, seeing this, we suddenly have purpose to speak to them, to get to know them, to make sure that they know how much the Father loves them and even has a plan for their life. Now doesn’t that seem to be reason enough to get out of our comfort zone and get to know them?!!!

God says that we are to go into the highway and hedges and compel them to come in. Sometimes the highway is not so far away!

Blessings friends, Have a great day!