A Prayer From The Heart

Today's entry is not a post or article as usual, but it is more of a prayer. For the prayer of the righteous avails much .[James 5: 16 b]  As I pray for my own country(America) I pray over yours as well.  You see, I have learned over the years, that too easily our prayers can become a formality that self serves.  What do I mean?  Because life can become very chaotic, we can easily get overwhelmed and finding ourselves in a place where we are continuing to pray for ourselves and the situations that we are in, and becoming un-effective in prayer for anyone else.  This is not what God our Father intended.

We as Christians are to be those who walk in victory, despite hard times and difficult circumstances. We can walk in Victory because Christ IS our victory.  Our relationship with God ensures this, but that has to be complete truth on our end. He knows this all too well, but we must know it also.

My husband and I pray over this blog often.  Every time I check in on the circulation of this site, numbers are not what is important but rather where it is reaching and circulating.  Each time that one of these entries is opened up from a new country, we begin to pray not only for you where ever you are, but the country you are in as well as the people around you.  We have so much more authority in the Kingdom of God where we live, than is often realized.

So as I pray this prayer over my nation, please pray it over yours and know that we are here praying it with you.  Though we may never meet, God has connected us for a purpose.  To see His Kingdom come in all the Earth!

Dear Heavenly Father,

I am thankful that You love us, and You know where each and everyone of us are.  You are worthy oh God, of all of my praise, and I thank You Lord for my country.  I love it dearly and I love my people.  You have me here for a purpose and I know that it is not by accident.  So I cry out to you on behalf of my people, my government and my land. Transform the lives of the people who live here. May they come to know you as their Lord and Savior. I pray that you protect its borders, keeping every Godly thing in, swiftly remove every ungodly thing out.  Bring your strong right arm of protection down over those who love and worship You, and save those who don't.  I align my prayers with Your Word and pray: May Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done....  in This Land!  Have Your way oh God, in my beloved country.  Bring Revival to my people!!  May they learn and know of Your ways.  As I stand in the gap and repent for the sins of my nation, forgive and abide in the townships, cities and states. Bring healing in every area that has been ravaged by anger, selfishness and deceit.  Heal our lands oh God!  There is no other god like You, no one can come close to You.  You are the Alpha and Omega, our Beginning and our End.  Bring Your Kingdom to this earth so that we can live out your purpose until You come again.  May many of my people come to know You as their Lord and Savior.... Our Rescuer, Deliverer, our Mighty Fortress and Strong Tower.  You are Everything and so much more!! Have Your way in my country oh God!!

It's is Jesus Mighty Name only that I can Pray........ Amen!

As much as I am determined to see God's  Will be done, I do not only want to see it in my country, but I pray to see it in yours as well.  Be Blessed everyone, and never stop seeking His face for your life and the lives of those around you !! In Jesus Name.

Embrace The Hurt No Longer

There are times in life when you have a goal ahead of you, that takes everything that you have in you to reach; like running a race, working out in a gym due to setting goals for wight loss, or even muscle gain goals. Maybe its finishing college or some form of school that you have put off for too long.  When you have these type of goals ahead of you, it most often comes with the phrase "No pain, No gain".  You have to embrace that "pain" because it is getting you where you want to be.  That "pain" is a mile marker for overcoming obstacles to your goal. This is a positive process.

Now, emotional pain is quite different, even though many people use the same tactics to get through or overcome their situations, oh so we think. We think that if we treat our emotional pain like the physical situations previously mentioned, that it will help us over come that problem. I have witnessed people who have been hurt emotionally or abused and used that as a source of strength to get themselves into a better life such as, finishing school for a better job and financial status. There are many instances where this scenario fits, they have taken their pain and made it their motivation to succeed; but there are layers and layers of other problems that can come with this type of motivation to acquire their accomplishments.

When we rely on our pain to drive us, we don't realize that we for one, begin to think that we are self sufficient or that we have to be; we appear to have accomplished our goals on our own.  So we become what we see as self reliant.

Now, it IS good to say I don't want to be in this position any more and then do something about it.  But Self reliance is the opposite of what the Word of God says that we should be.  The Word says that His Grace [not our strength] is sufficient for us. [2 Corinthians 12:9] It is all we need. It will help us get through every situation.  When we rely on our own strength, this leaves no room for any other source of strength, and God wants to completely  BE our strength.

Also when we become self reliant in our situations, we also loose the ability to trust.  We won't trust others, or if we do, we don't do it easily, because we have learned that we can only trust ourselves, not needing help from anyone else. We might get to the point where we will trust a few people, but it is generally a very few.  Not too many people is ever allowed inside the life that we have built.  What we do not see is that really we have built a wall, not a life.

This is a very real and in depth problem in people who have been hurt and wounded. The pain is real and it dominates everything someone in this situation will do and perceive around them.  But God is greater than any of our problems and struggles in life. He can and wants to be your source of strength.  He alone brings peace that surpasses all understanding. [Philippians 4:7] He is the only one who can take away the pain that we carry deep inside of us. The pain that we do not even realize, at times, that we hold on to so tightly.  This pain will define everything that we do, as long as we hold on to it. But Jesus came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. [John 10:10]  That means living life, free of the pain of the past, and living out your future with and through the love of Christ.  Believe me when I say that the difference is like night and day.  Imagine stepping outside free of a prison, but the prison is your emotions.  God wants you to live free, in Him.  You can live life full of joy, peace and purpose.  This can only be found though Jesus Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your love, mercy and grace that You have for everyone of us Your children.  I thank You for each person that reads this, who is needing what seems to be a miracle in their life. You alone, are our source and strength.  I thank You, that through You only can each person find their peace. You are our Prince of Peace.  I pray that all who need you, that their spiritual eyes will be opened to Who You are and all that You want to be in their life.  Bless each one of them, and may they come to know the Peace and Comfort of Your Presence.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.

God is always waiting on us to call out to Him.  He is there for you.  Trust Him, it will change your life.  If you have any questions or comments, they are welcome.  If you prefer that they be in private, please go to our website www.walkingwiththefather.com  there is an email address there in the "Contact Us" tab.  You are welcome to do so at anytime. Someone will be there.  There will also be those who are designated to pray with you on our FB page as well.

Blessings to each of you reading this in Jesus Name.

Walking In Grace

This picture above is of a gift bag that I came upon in a retail store.  It's really cute, and I knew immediately of some friends who would fit this fun loving, fashion gift bag.  It would  fit them personality to a T, sweet, funny, girly.... you get the point.  We should bless our friends and loved ones gifts like this.  they should feel special and we need to make each other smile more often.  So go do it today :)

But this bag also made me think of something else.  What does walking in Grace really mean?  Grace doesn't mean that I now deserve what I want.  Nor is it a license to get what I want, whatever "that" is.  Grace is God's Unmerited Favor, meaning that there is absolutely nothing that I can do to deserve God's forgiveness everyday and every time I make a mistake.  There will never be a day that I am Holy enough to earn the Grace I receive. And there will never be a day on this earth, that I will not need His Grace in my life.

Now that is not saying that we "mess up" everyday, but it is available to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days every single year that we are on this earth.  It doesn't run out.  As a child of God it is a benefit of having a Heavenly Father who loves us more than life itself.  Our relationship with Him is the most important thing to Him because we are meant for relationship, for spending time with Him.   The question is: Is it the most important thing to us?  How important is our relationship with God?

The great news is that He is not roaming back and forth in heaven looking for the "perfect" people to say, "I want that one to be my child"  No, He knew in the beginning that we would all be imperfect, but He made a provision for us before we needed it. Yes, He has always been ready to love imperfect people, and provided the solution before the problem of imperfection arose.

And in saying that, the focus cannot be on our imperfections, but it should always be focused on the truth of God's Grace and Mercy.  Why you might ask?  Because we can not be a people who only focus on our problems or someone else's faults, because that doesn't solve any problem.  But when we shine the light  on God's Mercy and Grace, others will see that it is available to them as well.   The Word tells us that He came to seek and save those who are lost. (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10)  Letting others know that His Grace and and Mercy is for us all, that should be our focus, with a thankful heart daily knowing that we will always need it ourselves as well.


This is what Grace and Mercy Looks like....

Have a great Day my friend..... Be Blessed In Jesus Name,  Because He loves and cares for you !

Purposed In His Presence

There is something that I have experienced before, and recently it happened again causing me to reflect for a moment. We have all been in this place. It's nothing new, nor is it exclusive to only me. [Insert grin] This is what happened.  Because of the events of the very LONG day before I was so tired this specific morning, that I just couldn't hardly put one step in front of the other.  I literally had to keep pushing one foot moving in front of the other to get the day started with all that this entails; husband to work, home school rolling on, taking the dog out, then desperately hanging on to a cup of coffee hoping that it would help. (and it didn't help as much as I would have liked) It was one of those mornings that I needed a second cup without the time.  Then I remembered that I was supposed to be at the church for prayer at 9 am.  I thought to myself, can I even drive?  I was that tired.  But I knew that I couldn't stay this way, I said a quick Lord Help Me and kept going.  But something had to change.

Normally when I go to the church at different times for prayer, it's not prayer for me, that's the kind of prayer that I pray at home.  Rather it's to minister to God, praying for His Will and Plan to come to fruition in the body of believers, in the leadership of the church, and more importantly for the salvation and transformation of the lost in our community, our City.  And on this morning, I was struggling to focus on just praising Him.  I couldn't hardly get passed first base, per say.  So I got down on my face before the Lord, and no, I didn't go to sleep. :)  I just simply told God the truth quietly:  That I loved Him and thanked Him for the Honor of praying for His people..... but I needed help.  On this day, as an intercessor, I didn't do what I always do. It wasn't the time to declare the [actual] Word of God over our city, nor was it time to "stand on the wall" and pray over everything that is happening in our congregation.  And believe me, Great things ARE happening!  It wasn't the time for all of that, it was time to Worship and Bless the Lord, and I was struggling. So you see, we can't always be "Susie, Super Spiritual"  where ever we are, all the time. There will always be times that we need help. And I was definitely there.

So in the middle of being quiet and honest before the Lord, He was ready to do His job, especially because I was struggling.  While the prayer music was playing, you could feel the Holy Spirit step in and take over.  I wasn't saying much of anything, yet my heart was crying out to God, and immediately you could feel His Refreshing Presence enter the room.  The excessive tiredness began to subside along with the fogginess that came with it. Suddenly, I could realize that I was praying what  needed to be prayed, and it wasn't "Lord help me" anymore. It was the prayers that He wanted to be prayed. You see, when we learn to submit ourselves to Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit [in all things], the Holy Spirit will guide and direct us. And in this instance, He was praying the prayers that needed to be said, while refreshing and restoring me at the same time.  He just good like that!

So don't ever be intimidated or afraid to be honest with God, no matter what the situation is.  Always go to Him first, and then .... always be honest.  He understands  how we feel, but He is waiting for us to bring it to Him..  He has our answers, He's ready to refresh us and give us strength, but we must bring it to Him first.  He is ready to give us the Great Exchange: His strength for our weakness, His joy for our mourning, a Mantle of Praise for our heaviness.  It is all there in His Presence, and He is waiting for You!!

Have a Wonderful Day in Jesus Name.
Be Blessed!

He Comforts Us Part 2

Psalm 40:1-3

New Living Translation (NLT)

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
    and he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
    out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
    and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what He has done and be amazed.
    They will put their trust in the Lord.

I have heard this scripture repeated lately, and have learned that when God puts scriptures out there over and over again for us to see, its for a reason.  You might read it once, and then you might see it in a devotional and then again on a Sunday service, it is sang about or quoted again. Has that ever happened to you?

Well recently, I had heard this scripture repeated from three different sources in a short amount of time, and it jumped out at me because I know it well.  I have a history with this scripture.  Sometimes we just need to revisit previous times in our life; not to keep reliving the past, but to remember what God did for us during those times.

In the days that scriptures were written, more specifically the Old Testament, there would be a specific encounter that one would have with God, and they would build an altar there, give thanks to Him and move on.  And when they at times would come back by that place they would revisit that altar and remember what God had done in their life.  They would kneel there and thank Him again for what He had done for them before.

This scripture is one of those altars for me.  I remember as a young adult I struggled.  You see, I grew up in a family of Pastors and Evangelists.  God has blessed me with a Godly heritage that is part of my foundation today, but that didn't keep me from moving away from God and walking a completely different path for a time.  In the early days of marriage to my husband, we came back to the Lord right away.  But because I had walked such a dark path at times, and because I was a Pastor's kid and Pastor's Grandchild, the enemy enjoyed reminding me almost every minute of the day, that I knew better. So, he wanted me to think I had to settle for mediocre Christianity,and that I wasn't going to receive any more from God, because I knew better and I could not take them back or I couldn't make them go away either. (this was the battleground in my mind)

And one day I read this scripture, and held on to it so closely for a long time.  Because I just couldn't believe God could ever forgive me of all people, of everything that I had done or become.  I knew all to well what the pit of despair was like, and never wanted to return there again.  Even though I still did not have a grasp on the fact that I was a child of God and not a step child per say, I knew who rescued me, and everyday I could not be thankful enough.  It was kinda of like I was the prodical son returned without the celebration.  I knew that I had been forgiven, but had not yet reached out for the truth, that I could "celebrate" or live in joy, because I had been rescued.  Believe me when I say, that the day that this mind set turned around, I have never gone back.  I live in the redemptive power of the cross, and I will never go Back!

Now, back to the point.[insert grin]  The scriptures are in place to bring us life, to bring us joy, to bring us comfort.  Not just because of the words, but because HE comforts us and confirms to us through His Word.  I held on to this scripture with a thankful heart that I had been forgiven until one day I got to the point that I could literally turn the page to

Psalms 42: 1 
New King James Version (NKJV)

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.

There came a day when I could see how much my Heavenly Father loved me, and my past had nothing to do with it.  The enemy had officially lost the battle as my eyes were finally opened to the truth.  My past was gone, as far as the east is from the west, and I am free to live the rest of my life in the joy and peace of His Presence!  This is what He has for us, and this is how He Comforts Us: through the truth of His Word.


Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank you for every soul that reads this entry, and I pray that they find You and all of Your goodness, mercy, love and strength in every verse that they read.  Bring to their remembrance all of the love that You have for them, and also the freedom and purpose that You have already given them.  May we all learn to walk in that today.  It's Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

I pray that each of you not only know how much God loves you, but also to take comfort in His Word.  It's for you.  

Many blessings to you today In Jesus Name.

He Comforts Us Part 1

I remember back to a time in our young married life as Christians, the things my husband and I walked through.  They were completely different issues for us individually, but the intense part was that we were having to walk out not on our own; but together.  My husbands issues were more philosophical in nature toward the things of God, and mine was more in the form of emotional baggage that I had no idea how to be free from.  Now, the side note here is that there are MANY marriages entered into in this same general problem.  And I can tell you, that unless you are both willing to walk out with each other their problems, issues and matters of the heart together; and be willing to support and provide grace and understanding, this path that you are on will turn out to be a journey through the wilderness. We have to be willing to walk out each others path together, encouraging each other, giving each other grace and mercy as often as needed combined with a lot prayer.  It is a covenant relationship, and that means we stick it out together.

Jesus in the New Testament and God, our Father in the Old Testament has both promised to never leave or forsake us (Deut 31:6  Hebrews 13:5)  He's a friend that sticks closer than any brother(Proverbs 18:24), and He promises to be with us even to the ends of the earth (Matt 28:20). All of our days, we will never be alone. He IS there with us.

We have become a society, that says I can do what I want, when I want, because I want to.  Once this mind set takes over, it no longer matters what the effect is on loved ones around us. We have forgotten as a whole, that our decisions directly affects others; always.

God created us to be in relationship with Him. So He formed relationships around us to teach us how to be and with who we should be. And when the attack on the family became the center of hell's focus, relationships have been so twisted that young people today don't always have a knowledge of what a relationship is really supposed to be like.  For instance, when I was in High School, everyone "knew" what relationships were "supposed " to look like or be like, even if they didn't have that example in their immediate family.  Now, you see people who honestly would not know the character of a real relationship and what that in tails if it stood in front of them.  When one person does step up and speak out for and about marriages and family, they are the ones being labeled as strange or weird.

Today we live in the result of a world with secular views are saying to live for yourself and nothing else matters.  But in 1 Corinthians 13 the description of love is completely the opposite.  The entire chapter speaks of love not being all about self and more about others.  We must get back to some of the basics. To love like Christ loved the church is the only way to see others through Heavens eyes. Everything will take on a new meaning.

God wants to heal every thing in your life that has wounded you. Wounds from past relationships, hurtful words that have been spoken to you over and over, and HE wants to show you what blessings come from a covenant relationship with Him.  Spend some time in His Presence as you study and read 1 Corinthians 13. The Passion Translation is a good example, but read it in your  preferred version.  He wants you to know what true unconditional love really is, and He wants YOU to walk in it's fullness.


Dear Heavenly Father,

I praise You for every person who reads this entry and needs a touch from You.  You are the One who loves us, makes provision for us, and You alone knew each of us before we were ever born.  You have a purpose and plan for all, and nothing escapes or gets past You.  So I thank You for Your Hand being upon each individual in need of You, and showing them that You are there in the middle of each situation with them. You are and will always be closer than anyone that we could ever know on this earth. And I pray that they see this truth in operation in their lives today.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.


Call out to Him today with everything that is in Your life and invite Him to step in and help you.  He is already there, waiting on you.  Blessings my friend.  Have a great day .

The Perfect Storm

If you are like me, you will say that there is no "Perfect Storm" because we do not like them.  When you are in one, there is nothing to like about it. Nothing at all. But there are reasons why a storm in our life could be considered a Perfect Storm; that's because God will use the turbulent times in our life to bring us to a place to where He wanted us to be all along. Let me show you what I mean.

In Matthew 14 :24-32, While Jesus was away from the disciples praying, they found themselves in the middle of a great storm. Notice, Jesus didn't cause the storm, He was where He should have been: praying, communing with the Father.  Just because we are faithful children of God, this doesn't mean that hard times won't come.  But we have the assurance that Jesus will meet us out there on the water in the middle of the storm; and who knows, an opportunity to do something great may present itself. But the question is would that opportunity ever come if we are always on the beach?  I may be wrong, but I don't think so.

There are plenty of reasons to not like a storm, and they are extremely obvious. No matter if it is daytime or night; when a storm comes, the clouds that roll in are dark and daunting. The winds creating the waves are frightful because they are displaying the power of earthly elements that we can not control. Human nature doesn't like not being in control, ever. When we are not in control, that means that we have to admit, at least to ourselves, that we do not have all of the answers. Another thing that we as being human, we do not like.

We have to remember, that the Word tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has GOOD thoughts toward us. A plan for our future. So that must mean that we are not to go under and be overtaken by the storm, but rather we are to be expectant for God to be there in the storm.  That means our faith will expect God to rescue us; we will expect Him to show up when we are afraid. The surroundings may cause fear to show up, but our faith will say " Now, where is Jesus, I know He is here somewhere".  If you look at Matthew 14 the disciples saw Jesus, but didn't know it was Him. Their fear caused them to not recognize Him in such a miraculous state because they didn't know that He could walk on water. But because of this encounter with Jesus, we know in our situations that He Can!

Let's look at another "Perfect Storm".  In Jonah Chapters 1-3, you'll find the story of Jonah running from what God instructed him to do. I know what you might be thinking, because I have thought it before myself.

In this perfect storm, God did orchestrate it.  Because Jonah literally went the other direction to keep from doing what He instructed him to do; God created a storm and mind boggling events like being swallowed by a "great fish",  all to get Jonah to line up with the GREAT things that God wanted him to do.  Now realize this before we go any further. God was not going to kill Jonah, although he must assuredly felt like it, Jonah wasn't going to die. God directed Jonah's path to the place where self would get out of the way and he would listen to God's instruction.

I might be the only Hard headed person in the world, but somehow I know that I am not the only one that relates to Jonah. God tells us to do something, and we think we either know better of what we should do or we are just like Jonah saying "No Way Am I Doing That".  Been there, done that.  And I do not plan to ever do it again.  God does have a way of showing us that He does know best.

There is an interesting thought that I realized.  In the storms of life (Matt 14) they come and go, and God is there every time, and it only took a few verses to tell the story.  But when we run from God, we create the problem. It took three chapters to tell Jonah's story!  I think that it is safe to say, that even though we might be afraid, its easier to do it God's way than our own.

The Perfect Storm does exist in our life. The question is, what will it create IN us?

Father,
I thank You for each person reading this entry today.  I know that You so faithfully guide us and see us through to the end of every situation in our life.  Your plan for us is so much greater than we could ever plan for ourselves.  We choose to surrender and trust you with every situation in lives instead of taking the long or hard way around.  Your grace and mercy is so much greater than earthly minds can wrap around, but You yet your are so Faithful and true to Your Word.  WE love and bless You for loving us first.  In Jesus Name.

Blessings to you all.
Have a great day !!

Touching the Hem of His Garment

Mark 5:25-34

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁵ A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.

What was her issue?

She had a physical manifestation of what the enemy wants to do to husbands, wives and families all around the world:  To drain the life blood out of us spiritually so that our descendants will be left open for him to reign havoc on their lives. That's a pretty strong opening statement, I know, but its true nonetheless.

Because of Jewish law, no matter what the source of her bleeding was; no one could touch her – for any reason – or they too would be considered “unclean.”

Though I can understand the pain and desolation that her illness could bring, I can not fathom is the pain that she went through because of the place and time that she lived in.

*A Mother has a natural desire to show love to her children.  As they get older, she still desires to give an affectionate hug, even to touch their hand or shoulder to encourage or console. – She could not.

*She had to live with the humiliation that no one could touch her, Ever.  So that meant everyone around her knew of the issue to protect them, but that came with shame and isolation for her.  Not ever measuring up.

* She had to live in a home with a man whom she could never satisfy his needs, and which back then was a huge part of how they viewed her worth.  Even if by chance her husband was kind and supportive, Affection could not be given or received.  She would always be less than and always have less than.  Everyone knew that too.

But there was something inside of her that must be inside of us.

*She believed that God would cause something to change her situation; something would present itself….. so she kept trying, kept believing – She had Faith.

* She let the issue make her stronger instead of taking her under.  Because of the Jewish Traditions, Celebrations and Scriptures, she knew that God had performed miracles in the past.  She chose to draw strength from these truths, and she was determined that one day she was going to be the Mother and wife that she knew she could be.  (Her faith kept her Determination alive)

*She had a Relationship with God  Because through all of the pain that happened to her, all of the isolation, fear, depression- she kept on believing and didn’t let those things change her, not letting those thought processes become who she was.

* When she heard that Jesus was coming by, she was desperate enough to face the ridicule and even punishment for daring to be in the crowd and yet still daring to reach Jesus.

Despite the truth of what could happen to her; her faith cued her spirit that now was the time to act.  She pressed through the crowd.  She was hungry and thirsty for a change in her life.  (The Faith she had inside of her fed this)

When she ventured out afraid but bravely through the crowd, the people were like the world is today with a superstar; everyone was pushing in while the disciples tried to keep them at bay.  

When she lunged forward, it might have looked like she might not even reach him; but her hand touched the hem of HIS garment….

²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. ²⁸ For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

³⁰ Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

³¹ His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 

³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

When she had nothing but her Faith, she risked it all to reach out and touch the hem of His garment, and suddenly her life was changed.  and He will do the same for us.  Whatever your need or your "issue" is, step out and believe in Jesus and His finished work of the cross.  The Bible says that when we come to Him is Faith Believing, He is faithful to answer.  Abba  is waiting on you.  Dare to believe Him and see what He will do for you.

Blessings to you Friend,
Have a Great Day!

They Will Know Us By Our Love

It is a simple fact.  Life is busy.  It feels like it is never ending sometimes. But Nothing could be further from the truth. As each day goes by, there are things that maybe we didn't see accomplished; often disappointing circumstances.  Then we lay our heads down at night thinking about how the day played out and of course every mistake that I made seemed to be highlighted in neon lights.  Has this ever happened to you?  Well, let me tell you, this happened more often than not, before I completely turn over the reigns of my life to Christ.

Before Christ I had no peace.  I had plenty of reasons to be happy but nothing seemed to fill the void.  Sound familiar?   After I gave my life to Jesus, even though I was grateful to leave my many burdens at the cross, I still had some learning to do.  Life didn't become perfect over night.  Why? because I had to change my mind set.  How I viewed myself and others. I needed to learn to take the scriptures and make them apart of who I am. His(God's) Words needed to become a part of me.  The Bible says that my ways are not God's ways, and my thoughts are not God's thoughts (Isaiah 55:8)

Now,  this is not to say that I wasn't grateful that Christ is now with me, I just mean that, though life was better because of the love of Christ Jesus, I had to learn how to LIVE life through Christ Jesus.  I had to learn to love like Christ does. I had to learn to see what He sees. I had to learn to live life like He lived while on this earth.  Let's look at the scripture below.

1 John 5:1-4

New Living Translation (NLT)

Faith in the Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

Loving God and keeping His Commandments is not a hard or a dictating way of life.  Living life His way through the scriptures, is freeing to us, not restricting.   

There is another aspect to take away from this scripture.  God has promised to always be with us and to never forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6-8) That means that there will be hard times, not always Great times.  So not only will He be with you, but He wants you connected to a body of believers so that they can be there with you when you are in need.  And then, you in turn, can pass it on. When God puts someone in your path, you can encourage and pray for that person, just as God provided someone else to be there for you.  We are not meant to be an Island. 

The way the world will really see Jesus in our life, will be us learning to show the love of Christ in everything that we do.  With His light shining through you....You can change the world !!

Blessings Friend!  Have a Blessed Day.

Mercy and Grace

Hebrews 4:16

New King James Version (NKJV)

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I was drinking a cup of coffee this morning, and a recent memory popped into my mind.  And this scripture came flooding into my thoughts.  There is a simple fact that is true for everyone of us.  It doesn't matter if a person is a new christian or someone is a veteran of faith, there is something that will always hold true.  

God shows us mercy and grace everyday of our lives.  It began at the cross of Calvary and it is repeatedly given everyday.  Now, this is for everyone; because no matter how "good" of a person we are, there will be days that we, in our own human nature we will NEED mercy and grace.  

But the amazing part of this is, that God always has a fresh supply and it never runs out.  We will never find ourselves in need and God not have it to give.  He is definitely a "well that will never run dry" for all areas of our life; but we must remember that there is always purpose in what God gives us.  And that in turn requires something on our part.  

To be thankful, and we should be, for this amazing gift of a fresh start everyday, is one thing.  But it doesn't stop there.  God daily gives us a fresh supply of grace and mercy, not just for ourselves, but so that we will have a fresh supply to GIVE out to others.  

He wants us to come confidently to Him and ask of the things that we need and He will grant that and so much more aside of the measure of mercy and grace that He gives; but it is definitely for a purpose.  Many people will cross your path day by day and week by week.  And there WILL repeatedly be an opportunity to extend grace and mercy to someone else.  

It doesn't matter if you feel that what God has for you to do in the Kingdom is something big or not; and I tell you that the biggest thing that you can do for the Kingdom of God is to display Christ and His teachings to all that you come in contact with, beginning with your family.  Everyone needs to know that God is a God of love.  And Christ came and showed us to build each other up through love, and that grace and mercy are the building blocks of who we are supposed to be.  

I challenge you, to look for opportunities in your daily life to show grace and mercy.  It not only helps them, but changes us and refines us into the people the Christ taught us to be.

Have a wonderful day friends, In Jesus Name.

God's Got You !!!

I want to begin this entry by first saying that God IS our Heavenly Father who loves and cares for all of us, His children.  All of us.  That's huge considering, I am referring to multitudes of people. But there is not a single thing in our life that concerns us that He not only knows about, but it is Him and Only Him who has our answers, and Him alone who knows the plan that He has for us.  Jeremiah 29:11.

Now, we will all go through times of difficulty.  Times when our faith is tried with what seems like by fire.  But one thing is sure, and of this I am very certain.  God's Word is true and you can trust in it everyday of your life.  And when the hard times come, believe the Word is active in your life.  Believe in it's truth.  Believe that God is front and center in the midst of everything with you. This is Your strength.  Our Faith and continually renewing your mind in scripture(Romans 12:1-2) is what sustains us.

There are so many scriptures that I could list to fill up this page; but lets look at Psalm 37.  At the beginning of Psalm 37, it has some of my favorite scripture (vs3-8) for guidance in our everyday lives. These promises you can count on.  When we live our lives like this passage, we have assurance that He is with us and will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) Let's take a quick look:

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

Good advice, Right?

So when we choose to live this, and problems in life rises up, what then?  Well vs 25-26 in this chapter says:

I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 He is ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.

Hmm...... Experience is a great teacher, Does it sound hopeful? Yes! Again, He never leaves us and He never forsakes us! So let's look at the instruction for waiting in the midst of our problems.  Ps 37: 34

34a Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;

I realize that none of us naturally Want to wait, but if God instructs to wait, then that means we can. And scripture will always tell you that there are benefits to waiting on God. Here is where the promise comes in, vs. 39-40:

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
40 And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank You for every single person who reads this entry and is in need from You.  I thank You that Your Word is true and that Every promise in Your Word is for them.  You are with us and You never leave us. You save us, You rescue us, You restore us, You strengthen and help us through all of the cares and situations of this life.  We love, honor and adore You, while we wait on You. Help each person and strengthen them with Your Might In Jesus Name I pray - Amen

Remember: Luke 18:27 For with God ALL things Are Possible !!

                                           
                                             Be Blessed Friends.......  God's Got You !!!

The Power of Our Experiences

There are people everyday who are questioning everything about their life. Why certain things have happened to them; Why did life take these turns; How did I get here? Have you asked yourself these questions? Probably so, and there is a good possibility that someone reading this now, asking those very same questions. And the reality is that almost every single person sooner or later, will come to a cross roads and ask themselves, What now?

The picture of a rear view mirror speaks of the importance of being able to take a look back from time to time. We can not and should not live in the past, and the past for many does not define who we are, because the Bible says  "That anyone who is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have past away and all things have become new"  2 Corinthians 5:17. There is a fresh start in life through Jesus, thankfully.

There is, however, times when we need to take a good look at where we have been.  It's those times in our life where we are evaluating where we are going. Which way am I supposed to go; What am I supposed to do?  We can take a look back at our experiences and probably gain a little insight on what it is that God wants us to do in life for Him.

Anytime someone asks a company for employment, the first question they will ask is: "What experience do you have?"  They want to know what your qualifications are. Thankfully, our Heavenly Father qualifies us. He is our Character Reference. But during the time of finding "our place" or figuring out what to do; while asking the Lord for guidance, we can look back and see the things that He has brought us through and might find some clues in what He would have us do. Often times God will have us pour into others from our own experiences, showing them that when we trust God and give our problems to Him; He will rescue, restore and give a fresh start to all who need it. That is the purpose of your testimony. The power of your experiences.

So if you feel that you are at a crossroads and you are not sure what you are to do, do this:  Always seek God first, and take a look back and remember what He has brought you through, knowing that He is with you every step of the way. You probably will find clues in how you, with His help and direction of the Word, can be an Ambassador for Christ.  Always look for that "Next Step" through prayer and reflection.  In your time spent alone with God while reading His Word, He Will speak to YOU!  Just trust in Him.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You today for each person who is at the place of finding out who they are in You.  Fill each of them with Your Purpose and Wisdom, as they seek You in prayer and through Your Word.  Bless them, keep them in Your hand for it is the safest place for them to be.  Use them mightily for Your Kingdoms cause, in Jesus Name, Amen.

The Order of The Spirit That Frees Us

Today, I want to look at a scripture that a lot of people know and if you are new to your relationship and walk with Christ, then this is one that you will not only hear many times but is life changing when we understand the truth of it. It is in Galatians 5:22-23. The whole chapter is a full thought, a lesson that sculpts or shapes us, but I want to look at the two verses that are focused on the actual growth of our Spiritual relationship with Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The reality of this scripture amazes me, like my last entry, to take a moment and realize that the Lord put these "nuggets" of scripture in the order that He did for a reason. When we realize the purpose of a scripture and begin to learn it from that direction, we will not have to worry about memorization techniques or dreading to memorize. When we read the Word from the angle of learning to understand not only what it is saying, but the purpose of it; it completely changes the "light" in which we see each individual thought. 

Okay, let's look at Galatians 5: 22-23
The biggest yet set most simple point that God makes in this statement is, that we can not receive anything else from Him unless we accept the love that He has for us as His children. I know that I myself speak of His love often, and the truth and foundation of every single thing in our lives once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior is this: EVERYTHING in our lives is based on the Love of Christ from here on out.  When we change the reason and the way we look at and interact with others because of Christ, nothing is ever the same; which is the point!

Let's look back at Galatians 5 again: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.....
People will often say "I just want to be happy" the problem with that is that they are looking at the end result  It's kind of like looking at the end of a makeover and not the process.  Happiness is an end result of these 9 attributes of Christ, individually and collectively. Let's look further.

The Bible says that "The joy of the Lord is my strength". (Nehemiah 8:10) Can I tell you, that there is NO way that I can find joy in the Lord and it strengthen me if I have not yet understood or realized the depths of God's love for me.  It just doesn't make sense.  The same is with my relationship with my God given husband. If I do not know that he truly loves me, not only will I not be happy but I will never know joy or peace in that relationship..... Ever.  I must know that I know, that I know, that he Loves me the way he promised to love me, the day we married, or I will never have joy or peace.  It is no different with God.  God has given all for us, but until that is real and accepted in my life, I will not reap the benefits of that truth.  And I will be the one missing out.  This is not the quality of life that God has for us.  

So when we realize and let God's love begin to transform us; we will know joy and peace.  The next fruit is "longsuffering or Patience"   I have come to learn a truth that I never knew growing up in "church" most of my life.  God has a process, and if we try to skip areas or speed it up we find ourselves in a truck load of problems, and we either learn lessons the hard way or I have even witnessed people give up.  We do not have to ask God for patience when His truth and His process is in operation in our daily life.  We do not throw a truck load of problems in our children's lives and tell them to work through it.  No, we teach them step by step what to do so that they can do it for themselves in a healthy manner.  That is because Our Heavenly Father desires to do the same thing in our walk with HIM! Patience is not only a virtue, but it is learned and developed through learning the depths of God's love and purpose He has for our lives.

Okay, I pray that I have relayed God's heart in this, lets drive this home.  If we know God's love, joy and peace abides in us, and we learn to be patient as He is with us; Through this we develop the characteristics of kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness. These characteristics of Christ sculpt who we are and self control is formed in us, and not in our own strength; but HIS.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I praise You today for the truth of the Fruit of Your Spirit becoming active and life changing in each of the lives that read this entry today.  I praise You for Your great plan in each one.  May we all come to know the truth of Your Love today in the name of Jesus. - Amen

It doesn't matter if you are a new christian or not.  God has so much for your life.  Seek Him and you will find Him !!

Blessings Friend Have a Great Day !

Its The Matter of The Heart

I know that it has been a while since the last entry, and I had completely different thoughts about what the next several entries would be about.  But in the midst of my busy days that I have had over the last few months, God has done some re-arranging of the subjects, titles and direction. Basically, He took some time to line things up the way He wants them. That is what will happen when we live our life for Christ, letting Him lead the way.  I used to always like the saying, "Make your plans with a pencil and give God the erase" but I learned that it is better to just give God the pencil and trust Him!

My thoughts today have been directed to matters of the Heart. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus taught us that the greatest Commandments where to 1 Love the Lord with all our heart, mind soul and strength and 2 Love our neighbor as our self.  Periodically, if we truly have a relationship with Father God, we must take a moral inventory of our actions and our motives.  It's all about matters of the heart.  The Bible says "Who can know such things?"  The answer is, the One who created us, is the only one who can truly understand.  We, ourselves, have to search these things out.

If we are completely honest with ourselves, we will realize that we will go through cycles in our life naturally.  We will not always "love" to be in the Presence of the Lord unless we cultivate that in our everyday lives.  It's a choice and it, at times, can be work.  When we set that passion for God on "Cruise", it will seem fine for a while.  But everyday that we cruise through our relationship with God, we come one day closer to the point that we may not love the way we should; or maybe we see that our motivation may have become a little dry.  Or maybe, our identity comes from what we do and not who we are doing it for.

Anytime that we find ourselves in this place, we realize that we no longer love others with pure motives, we may not be concerned for others as we should; maybe we have just stopped loving others outside of our inner circle, not really caring for others at all.  We can get to the place where we do not want to be concerned with others, tired of being our brother's keeper.  This my friend is a dangerous place to be.  If this sounds familiar to you, please do not leave this page without asking God to give you His love for others back to you.  Jesus said that this was one of the greatest commandments, for a purpose.  If we are not in a place spiritually to see others through God's eyes, then our purpose in the Kingdom and this life is officially going in a wrong direction, and at a definite crossroads.

Everything that we do,say and think should be founded on the love of Christ.  Without that, our selfish ways then begin to take over, and we go from someone else's needs being ahead of our own; to not caring about our "brother and sister" at all.  From "doing as unto others" to "I could completely care less"  That's a drastic change, isn't it?  This, at times is where we get weary in our "well doing" and we become "sick and tired of"______ You can fill in the blank.

So how do we not get to this point?  Galatians 6:9  says to " Be not weary in well doing, for you shall reap in due season if you faint not."  So how do we get out of that weary point? The point where loving others become a chore instead of a fulfilling part of our walk with Christ?
It is simple, yet takes determination to get started:

1 Become passionate about your relationship with the Heavenly Father who loves you. Ask Him to help give you His love for others again. We are supposed to ask. Matthew 21:22 says to ask in faith believing and you shall receive.
2 Fill yourself with Him and His word daily. Spend time being honest, telling Him how you feel.  Listen to what He says to you when you are meditating upon His word. Communication is a two way street. You will grow stronger everyday.  And that is the truth.  Plain and simple.
3 Begin to do it.  Put someone else's prayers before the throne, believing that God is already working your situations out.  It really does change you.
4  Look to see others as God sees them.... It may take some effort, but you will see others as God sees them when you ask. We just have to be willing.

I pray that this has helped you in some way.  Whether it be a point for us to do an inventory of our spiritual walk and check ourselves- or- maybe even a place where we can stop and turn around, turning back to the Mind and Ways of Christ.  Remember that every promise in the Word of God is true, and He is able to operate as long as we love to stay in His Presence and in His Will.  Keep Seeking Him Passionately !!

Blessings to You My Friend.  Have a Great Day !