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 !

I'm Ready For The New

Lately, I have noticed a difference or a shift in my prayers.  I still pray for the things that I should.  For my family, my church and spiritual leadership.  I still pray for my community, region, state and nation.  All the things that we should pray has not changed in my prayer life.  But what has changed is a deep longing inside of me for the things of God that I haven't experienced yet.  You see, because  of the fact that I have been a christian and "Gone to Church" for a long time, there are a lot of things that "I can do" per say.

But what has been stirring inside of me is that fact that there is more in Christ and that for me, I know that I have not yet experienced.  There is something else to do for the Lord.  And even though I have "done" many other things in the church, FOR THE LORD, I know there is still more.

My spirit longs for more of His presence, more of His love, more of His purpose. 

Mark 2:22 NLT says: " No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

You see the shape that the red holder is in?  Notice that the blue one is new and fresh.  This is exactly how seasons are in our lives are.  It doesn't matter what we have done for God in the past.  Its good to remember, but you can not live on yesterday's meal.  We need to be hungry and searching out God for more, for what He has for us in this next season.  I do not know where you are in your walk with the Father, but I can tell you that it is time for something more!  And since it is 9/4/13 I can say  " L'Shanah Tovah"  which is a greeting for the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). Not only is it a new calendar year for the Jewish people, but it is a new season for the Body of Christ.  No matter where you are!!

So I challenge you to go to God in prayer and ask Him to show you and direct you to what He has for you in this season.  I promise you one thing; if you ask Him, believing for an answer, you will hear Him. Step out, and don't be affraid.  New territory in the Kingdom of God is always a good thing; and in our family's experience, its never been a dull ride !!!

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank You and bless You for Your goodness to all of us, Your people.  I thank You that Your plan for us all has devine purpose and great joy.  For You, oh Lord, are our source.  Show each one who reads this entry, what you have for them in this season.   Send them who and what they need.  And You be glorified in us all.  For it is all for Your Kingdom's cause, and we worship You in the Mighty Name of Jesus - Amen.

Do We See The Warning Signs

           

Have you ever been at the beach or at least in the vicinity of, when it looked like this picture?  How about driving down the highway and you come upon the area where all of the sudden it is completely black and its obvious that you are entering into rain that  is about to be dangerous and you are wandering if you should pull over or keep going?  I am referring to that feeling of "oh my goodness, what should I do?"


If you have ever been in the water with rip currents, you will know that there is more than one warning sign that a possible mirage of rip currents are inevitable. One, is the wind blowing. It just feels different.  Its not peaceful at all.  I have sat on the beach, when the wind blows and you take a deep breath in and out, and in that moment you just know that Life will not be more peaceful than this.  Then other times the wind is blowing and it like you can just feel that its telling you that something is in an up roar. It's stirring or churning. You're not sure what, but you can feel it in the air.

I have stood on the edge of the water when it was calm, and just enjoyed my feet getting wet during a walk along the shore. But I have also stood on the edge of the water and could feel the sand leave out from under my feet quickly when the drawing of the tide would beckon it.  I didn't need a danger sign to tell me that the current was beginning to pick up, and it was time to get back on the beach. I didn't just sense it, the ocean physically showed me that I needed to get back on the beach!  But what if I had to be not paying attention.

 There are many situations in our lives, good and bad, that we should be seeing the signs of something changing.  The Bible tells us that  those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Isaiah 40:29.  We can go on in the difficult times, He will sustain us!  It says that we are to be sober and vigilant so that we know what is happening around us. 1Peter 5:8   This is not talking about knowing our neighbor's business, but to be aware of what the Lord is doing. If we are looking, He, Jehovah, should be our focus and He will direct us. It tells us several times in the Bible that we should watch and pray, for it is there that we will find the answers that we are looking for.  Luke 21:36,  Mark 14:38,  Matthew 26:41 and others.

We are all at one time or another going through transitions, some may be uncomfortable and at times turbulent, but if our eyes are upon Him, He will see us through.  He knows our end from our beginning, and He knows all too well what provision we need.

Dear Abba,
I thank you for each one that reads this entry. You know who they are and what you have in store for their lives for Your glory.  I pray that you open up our spiritual eyes and ears, that we may know your voice as you guide and direct our paths.  May we all learn to just love you and spend time in your presence, so that we will be in the place to see your instructions through the Holy Spirit.  Thank you for loving us, providing and caring for us.  I give You alone, all of the praise, the honor and the glory forever and ever, In Jesus Name- Amen.

Look to Abba, He is God Almighty. There is none like Him and He cares about you!
Have a great day friend.