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Divine Escape

2 Timothy 3:11


I teased you a little with the title. There is no escape from life except through the will of God. And since He is an Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent being, He ultimately knows what is best in all situations. However, if you have been like me, you do agree that we all look for an escape because we do not want to suffer. As children we were at the mercy of adults. If they were principled, mature, unselfish people, we fared well, if not we were abused. I would say there is not one person who reads this that has not had some form of abuse during childhood. As adults, we live out our childhood experience by using the same coping devices we learned during that time to avoid pain and suffering. Now this is the good news. When Jesus the Christ comes into our lives a healing process begins and we are eventually delivered. It does not happen all at once in most cases but the deliverance from our past experiences does take place.

As I read this verse, I become even more convinced deliverance, the only escape, is found in trusting God THROUGH it all. I do agree that He often protects us and I have no doubt that every evil that could have taken place did not. But, for the most part I would conclude that we all experience trouble, suffering and pain in this life in one form or another. There is a song from the 70's or was it the 80's called Through it all. One of the phrases says....If I had never known a struggle, I would not have learned I could trust Him. That I believe is the answer.

Since the goal is to be conformed to His image and that takes place when we surrender and trust Him in everything, then I would dare to say we do not escape life. The escape and deliverance from all our struggles and troubles, as the verse talks about, is an escape through it all once we are on the other side of it all. This is the Divine Escape.

Delivered

Psalm 34: 17-18

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Some days life crowds in so much we want to cry out, Lord deliver me. Just exactly what do we need to be delivered from? So many things. We get into a jam with relationships, or finances or we get discouraged by looking at past mistakes. Troubles with our health or identity theft or you name it; the world is full of troubles.

Jesus said, "In this world you will have troubles but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

No positive thinking, or meditation or drugs or addictions or people or religion can change or lighten troubles in our lives. He said come onto me you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. He is the answer. He is the only deliverer.

What does all this mean? Well first of all, it means that He will deliver us, as it says above, out of all our troubles. It means, as it says, that He will be close to the broken hearted. Believe it or not, all our troubles and challenges are rooted in our decisions. Decisions based on lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We just need to let Him handle all our troubles. We do this when we trust Him with our lives and allow Him access to our heart and soul so He can make us 'whiter than snow' (Isaiah) and guide us through life. I mean, lets think about this a minute. If we are in a lot of trouble, and we are lost in what ever situation is upon us, who would we want to guide us out? RIGHT! The one who knows the road map. The one who wrote the manual on life. Our saviour, our Creator, our God, Our King, our Deliverer.

We need to come to Him and repent. We need to allow Him to heal. We need to surrender and give our lives away to Him, the only one who can deliver.

Do Good

Psalm 34:14

Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.

Turn from evil. Evil? As a Christian I assumed an evil heart, a heart of iniquity no longer existed in me because I am now a new creation. I assumed right. God did deliver me and every one who who repents and receives Christ as Savior and Lord. He at that time removes iniquity from our hearts and we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus because of His death and cleansing blood.

So what is the problem? We do not always choose to do good. Even though a change of heart has taken place we can still revert back to those old ways, those old habits and coping devices that use to work for us, even though they no longer work for us or satisfy us as they did in the past. So why do we choose to do evil actions instead of good. Why do we think, talk or even act outside our new nature. The words of our mouth are often faithless and filled with worry. Thoughts filled with the same. We slip into unprofitable worldly thinking often. Why?

We are at times blinded to the truth of who we are in Christ. We are new creations. We have the mind and heart of Christ. Let us choose to discipline the thoughts in our mind and cause the impressions in our heart to be conformed to His. Let us decide to act like children of the King, to do good, seek peace and pursue it.

White as Snow

Do you remember the hour you first believed? That moment when Christ entered your life? I often think of it because life changed that day. How about you? I know many of you probably received the truth, Christ, when you were children. In fact they tell us unless someone receives Christ during childhood the chances of them hearing and believing gets less and less. But I have never liked statistics or pigeon holes. God can do what He wants when He wants and will.

I was one of those who received the truth, Christ, as an adult. So I remember the change and the moment well. The verses I bring to you are those that came to me on that day as I am sure they have come to you.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool

Psalm 23: 5- You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and Love will follow me all the days of my life.

God's Image

We are created in His image and He will restore that image through our relationship with Christ.

Phil 4:8 He is true (faithful, loyal, factual, reliable

He is Reverent (Shows respect, to regard, awe)

He is Honorable (Integrity, principles, chastity)

He is Seemly ( suitable, proper, good taste, decent)

He is Just (fair, legal accurate, right, true.)

Psalms 34: 11-14

The Word of God never fails. It has been written down in scripture for more years that any of us are old and still holds up as truth. So I simply bring to you the WORD. The only truth that has the power to change lives.

Come, my children listen to me;I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

We are created in His Image. It is Gods desire to conform us to His Image. That is His will for our lives.

HIS IMAGE

1 Cor 13 Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.

God is in Control

Many times we get into fear and worry. The world is filled with trials and unprincipled men, who exercise power over other people. These will always exist. However, we have a God who promises to care for us. Who tells us to rejoice, believe, trust and to cast our cares on Him. He is the creator of the Universe, surly He has a plan for each of us.

Let us place our mind on the one Who has us in the palm of His hand. The one who has our best interest in mind because we belong to Christ. Take time to read Psalms 23;34 and Phil 4:4-8. For in this world we will always have trials, troubles and unprincipled men. But we can be of good cheer for Christ has over come the world and He has plans for our welfare and a future.

Even though it may seem otherwise, He is in control and we are called to rejoice in Him and believe the best from Him.


HIS IMAGE

PHIL 3: 9-10 He is dead to the flesh. He is righteous. He is faith. He is the resurection. He is patient
1 Sam. 5:1-6 He is above evils power
Prov 15:3 He knows good from evil.

Psalms 34:7-10

I wanted to put more of the word out there for those of us who hunger and thirst to hear His voice. Seems once we decide to read the Word on a regular basis, we hunger for it even more. This is another entry on Psalms 34, one of the more comforting verses in my life.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you His saints for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

His Image

Philippians 4:8 He is true, reverent, honorable, seemly, just, pure, lovely, gracious, virtuous,

excellent, praiseworthy.

Check these words out in Websters. It is always more exciting to see the full meaning of things. Remember, this is the image God wants for us. This is His will, that we be conformed to His image. Even if we do not see it in us continually as we journey to our Home with Him, this is what we will be like.

Never Crushed

Psalms 34:18

I have so enjoyed dwelling on this Psalm a while. It is rich in peace and comfort.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Crushed. So many times we feel crushed. The only true benefit from crushed is when the Lord convicts us of sin and that awareness causes us to come to Him for that drink of life eternal, that supernatural change, that work of His He plans to complete while we live out our lives. That crushed moment brings us into eternity with Him for ever and is needed.

Other crushed moments also come to mind. A broken heart from failure, a lost dream or the death of something or someone. This loss of self as we become aware of our shortcomings. Either way, it is a loss that breaks the heart and helps us to see how frail we are and how much we desperately need the power of Almighty God, our Lord, Savior, Father.

The reason I say 'Never Crushed' is because that crisis point leads us home. We become conformed to His image and we see Him. It takes a crushed moment to give it all up and say, "Here I am Lord. I am yours and you are mine."

Psalms 34:6-10

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord you His saints for those who fear Him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

His Image

Deut 7:9 His is faithful

2Pet.3:9 He keeps his covenant

1John4:8 He is loving and kind

Psalms 115:3 He is loyal to those who love Him even through all generations

Weeds

This week I decided to weed that front yard of mine. Once they begin the take over, the grass dies. I have put in a ton of work on the yard. We have an HOA and they do not allow any type of discord in the yards. During these last two years that front yard has had more attention than it deserves. It couldn't be much larger than 400 sq feet.

First I tore the grass out and put in turf. I thought my troubles were over until I discovered that the turf was summer grass. It did as designed and died when winter came. So I did winter grass seed. Then I got busy and you guessed it. The winter grass died for summer. I did not mow it right away so it once again did the natural thing. It smothered the new growth form the turf that lived underneath. To top it off, ants came to live in that dead mess. Those ants were so thick they made the earth move. I had what looked like a fire burned yard with ants and weeds. See what I mean? I killed the ants (actually I believe they are just hiding somewhere waiting for my nice new grass.) and for the last five days I have weeded that thing. Remember, it is July in Arizona. Victory is at hand, however, for now that yard is weeded, bug free, covered in seed and fertilized. Pray it grows. We have monsoons now but if that sun hits it too hard it can die again.

The reason I write this saga to you is because of what I learned while weeding that yard, as the sweat dripped from my body. The weeds resemble evil roots in our life that keep us from enjoying the abundant life Christ died to give us. Things like bad habits, sorrow or grief from the past, shame from childhood, victimization and abuse. The wrong coping devices we used to survive that past life, then, still paralyzes us for today. I noticed that the weed root attached to the grass root making it harder to pull up. Even though the old grass root was being choked out by the weed it still attached deep. When the old grass root was dead the weed was a breeze to pull up, so was the old grass root.

You see, we need to release the old grass root, those things from the past we hang on to as if we need them to survive. Those old coping devices are unhealthy so are the recordings of the past that tell us stuff that no longer applies. They may have been a reality yesterday but today they are a lie. The truth is that we are new creations in Christ and we have a new life in Him. Once we let go of and release the past and place our lives into his hands we can site and pull out the weeds that choke and steal our new life. That weed has no power if it can not attach to the old memory. Pull it out, get every last bit of that root out and throw it away.

Christ's Image verses

Phil 2:27 He shows mercy

Prov 16:5 His not proud

Psm 34:16 He is against evil and intends to remove the memory of evil from the earth

His Image .

Romans 3:29

I listened to Charles Stanley yesterday. Though many wonderful things were said and a great plan laid out on how to live the Christian life, the most important thing I got was this phrase from Romans 8:28. be conformed to the image(likeness) of His son (Christ).

I know we all have heard this from the beginning. We all try to attain this as well. Of course this cannot be attained without the power of the Holy Spirit. We all know this too. This is the new thought, though, that came to me. Why fight it? If this is his goal and it is, then this is God's will, His total, perfect will for our lives. We look, search and wonder about our gifts, our place or our role in life. Well, here it is, To be conformed to His image. The end. Why continue to stumble along in selfish immaturity doing what we want, when we want, how we want or making sure we have done everything, seen everything or experienced everything when we can stop, listen and seek to be like Him.

I've decided to make a list of bible verse of His image when God shows me His image. How about you? I do believe the lists will be slightly different for each of us beause each of us is at different stages of growth. (Thank you Lord for not throwing everything at me at once in the 'lets conform Donna' today.) So this is my plan for our blog. I will continue with the psalms 34 list and do it by verse but I will also start the endless list of verses that reveal the image of Christ to us .

Christ's Image

Psalms 34:6 He hears the cry of the poor.

Psalms 34:14 He does not speak evil or lies.

Psalms 34: 15 His eyes are on His children and he listens to our cry

Psalm 34: 1-5

You know how stressful the world is and how we get into fear, worry and anxiety at the drop of a hat? We all experience this and fight it off often. I usually seek to solve it daily with the Word and prayer as I allow myself to just relax and trust in the one who knows the game plan and who has us all in the palm of His hand.

During one of those daily readings I asked to hear something that would help for that particular day. I opened the Word to Psalms 34. You know one of those things you do. Just flip the book open and read. I've always loved this passage but today, in answer to my prayer, I decided to spend time drinking in all its meaning. Thus I bring it to you. Let's spend time on this one and maybe memorize portions. Notice how much peace, love and confidence it produces. God in this passage gives clear promises and instruction.

I will extol the Lord at all times, His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord, let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He answered me, He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame.

So, take a moment with me now. Let's praise Him, glorify His name and boast in Him even in our afflictions. He is with us. He will deliver us and we will experience His radiance within us.

Favor

Prov 14:9b; 2 Cor12:9

God's Favor, Wow! Do we realize what's being said in this phrase? Yet the scriptures tell us at every turn we have God's favor. I think we miss this fact and have trouble believing this truth because we all experience tragedy, sickness, troubles and so much stress in our busy lives. We just need to take time out and sit at his feet a while. Take a break now and then and let his favor pour over us. What a change we would experience in every day life.

Who are these favored people? Who are these people who experience supernatural power, during times of trouble and supernatural strength when life over whelms them? Those who know that His strength is made complete when they are weak. Those who know that He has made His dwelling place within their hearts. Those who know Him as Lord (boss) and Savior(the one who paid their debt of sin). NO it is not Oprah's new world religion. Our God, Our Savior has a name, has a plan, has a home waiting for us, has redeemed us from sin with His own blood (death on the cross), has been raised from the dead and lives in those who repent and ask Him into their lives.

May you know you are part of the redeemed. May you understand that this gives you favor with God. May you know this day that you are called the righteous, holy, saints, the children of God. May you know this day how much he loves and accepts you and always will. Who is the person. What is His name?

Jesus the Christ

His Touch

Lord many the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight.

It is not what a man eats the defiles him but the words that he speaks, for words

come from the heart.

I have not written much this month because like everyone I got too busy. I even got too busy to read the bible much or take time to worship, or allow my heart to connect. Oh.. I would read a devotional or check out a verse or make a stab at trying to put those pure nuggets of gold in my heart and that little bit helps but the real meat the real connections comes when I sit still, listen to His voice. His mercy's are new every morning and the word He speaks each day of my life is a treasure. Why waste breath without connecting to the King of the Universe

Thank you Lord....He got my attention as I was driving to the gym (a new thing lately to keep alive). The man on the radio, in a very kind slow voice, like a grandfather would speak, talked about the words of our mouth. How these words can build up, encourage and deliver others into to presence of God. How they can help us all see life as God intended. Positive words of faith and discipline that eliminate the presence of the negatives we are surrounded by daily. His words immediately placed me into God presence and for a brief moment I experienced Gods heart and touch. There is nothing in life like His touch and nothing in life is worth missing that presence.

So today, if you have not taken a moment to connect to the King of the universe and let His presence carry you away to peace, stop what ever it is that keeps you so busy and let His touch free you.

Indescribable

1 Cor. 1:18,19; Gal 2:20

We always go into Christian Book stores on vacation. This year was no exception. My husband found a video called Indescribable by Louie Giglio. You must get it and enjoy the indescribable universe and how it glorifies our God. The message? The Cross.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written " I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

We can tell others about all the things God has done for us but the only thing we can ever say that has power to bring someone into salvation is the message of the cross. In other words, until a person understands that he or she has messed up, sinned, made mistakes in the sight of God, our creator, the boss of the universe and that this creator through love died for those sins; (taken the punishment, paid the debt) they do not get it. They miss what life is all about.

Life is about surrendering our lives to this creator, our God. Life is accepting his forgiveness which involves admitting fault , confession of sin, repentance and letting him live his life through us. Life is about him and what he wants not about us and what we want. Once we surrender to His will and stop trying to get everything we think we want, life is never dull, never unsatisfying never empty. It has meaning, direction, fulfillment because the one who created us knows what we need and satisfies us with Himself. It turns out that He is all we need to be happy and enjoy life. He is the answer, the treasure.

For it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live I live by faith in him who gave himself for me.

Check out the video. It puts things into perspective.

A Prayer

Ephesians 1:17-23

I have pray this passage often for my family because scripture says to pray according to God's will. Since scripture passages are God's will for our lives, we can know the prayer is answered. There is much depth in this small passage. Thus I've placed questions to encourage research.

A Clue

The answers are personal and deal with our admiration, worship and awe of God. They relate to knowing him in a way that results in eternal life from now through eternity.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparable great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the Church, which is His body the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.

• What is wisdom and revelation?
• Know Him better, why?
• Eyes enlightened, how?
• What hope, what calling?
• What glorious inheritance?
• What power?
• What age to come?

Logos/Rama/Energeo

1Thess:2:13; Phil2:13

Logos, Rama, and Energeo are Greek words. (Now, you Greek Scholars and English Majors must forgive me if I spelled them wrong. We can look them up later.) They refer to what I read in the verses above.

Logos is the written Word of God. The Bible
Rama is the Word of God when He speaks into our heart
Energeo is the energy (power) of God.

Now, here is when it gets exciting. The Holy Spirit of God takes the Logos and the Rama and causes us to experience the Energeo of God. Simply said: He works changes in our lives through the spoke word in our hearts and the written word in the Bible. God speaks to us, we believe. The result is a changed life.

Why do I get excited about this? It means that God works in us. It means that His word both Rama and Logos changes our lives. It means the scriptures are alive and powerful today. It means we can relax, believe, enjoy, and experience God. We lean on Him as He completes the work needed in our hearts. We can do nothing on our own. He does the work in us and through us.

Heart talk

Proverbs 11:3; 3:5; 17:3-6; Psm141:3-5

All of us, male and female, long for heart talk. Just look around at all the ways we try to connect today. We all want to interact in such a way as to be known by another. We want to be heard and understood. We search for someone somewhere who will truly connect to us. It's as if we believe that a soul mate is out there somewhere and we need to find them.

I am not sure I believe in soul mates. I am not even sure that it is wise. But I do know we were created to interact and connect. Yet, as many times as we reach out for and search out connections we are disappointed and often unsatisfied. That is because we are looking for a connection that only God can fill. We need to connect to Him first for He is the only true soul mate.

The longing in us to connect on a heart level is there because God wants to connect to us on a heart level. It is a hunger placed in us by Him so we will seek Him out and it is not to be satisfied by anything or anyone else. That is why most relationships fall short, even friendships. However, once that need is filled by a personal relationship with God (Found in my book Teach Me Lord under lesson 1) then all the other connections we make have deeper meaning.

God reaches out to us all the time. He speaks to us all the time. Heart talk is on His lips all the time. In the verses above, He talks about integrity and how it guides us. How He tests the heart, how we are to trust in His heart. He asks us to acknowledge Him and let Him guide us. He warns us to not let our hearts be drawn to the world and people of the world. He basically draws us to Himself throughout scripture. He wants us to receive Him as Lord, Savior...God; so we can experience Him, know Him and be known by Him. That is a soul mate.

He is the answer to heart talk because He wants us to connect to Him on that level. He is the soul mate. He is the connection. When we lean on Him, go to Him, let Him fill our heart we will know Him and be known. We will have the relationship we seek.

When the bank wants their tellers to recognize a counterfeit they have them study and handle real money. They do not show them counterfeit money. Then when a teller experiences counterfeit money they immediately recognize the fake. God is the real heart connection, the only soul mate, the only one who knows heart talk. So allow yourself to experience Him through worship, prayer and scripture. Be still and let His heart connect to yours. (Teach Me Lord lesson 2) Then when you connect to people you will recognize the real thing.

God wants us for soul mates. He wants to make a heart connection to us. He wants heart talk. Why would we want to settle for anything less.

The excuse

Galatians 5:22-26

This morning I woke to a speaker that said we could love with out restraint. We have God living in us and because of his presence we have the capacity to love without restraint. I had to look at myself once again and notice that I give myself an excuse for not living that way. I say, "I am human, not god; thus I am not perfect enough to live that way."

Well, this is true. I am not God. I am not perfect and I will not live a God inspired love walk without restraint. But that is not the point. You see, the point is that the possibility is there. That maybe we all live below the mark because we give ourselves this excuse.

I am not suggesting we will live a perfect love walk. What I want to say is that maybe we should allow the Spirit of God to have His way in our hearts more often. Not turn ourselves over to selfishness so often. Maybe say..."Father here I am, use me. I surrender my heart and soul to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control...Your nature that already lives in me."

Yes, this requires us to grow up and to stop with the ME attitude. The selfish, self-centered me, myself and I attitude. But then is that not the goal; to be more like Him. That can only come if we surrender our lives and let Him be God in us.

I, at this age, have regrets for not being more mature in Him, for not being more loving in years past, for being too selfish in relationships. In fact, I think that we all would notice a marked difference in all our relationships if we allowed Him to have His way more often. I do know that when we walk in Him and follow His ways we experience less pain. His way is the best way.

No more excuses.

Samson

Judges16

Remember this guy. He had super-human strength. A gift from God. As long as he did not cut his hair he kept the gift.... BUT... poor Samson fell in love and turned his life over to Delia. She, a wicked person out to destroy this child of God, managed to accomplish her goal; or did she.

I heard this week at bible study that God answers prayer His way. We ask, hope, believe but His answer is not always what we want or think. However, it is always answered in a way that gives God the most glory. Isn't that what we want for our lives? We want God to receive all the glory for our lives, correct? In fact our lives, in our minds, are not a success until He receives the glory. It is a built in desire that comes from hearts surrendered to Him.

This Samson story is a little like that thought. He gave his life over to Delia and she had her way and put him in a painful place. Blind and in a prison. His hair grew while in prison and at the end of chapter 16 he comes back to God and ask for help. He does not ask that he be spared but that God would use him once more and be glorified. God was glorified for it says that Samson in his last act on earth did more for God than he had his entire life.

This encourages me because it tells me that regardless of our mistakes we can turn to God anytime, turn our lives back over to Him and He will rescue, deliver and use our lives again...BIG TIME.

Lost?

Do you feel lost sometimes? Do you wonder how you got where you are and why you even decided to go there? Do you want to curl up in a blanket and close your eyes in hopes that when you open them again the mess around you will be gone? Do you want that slate clean so you could start over again? Are you confused about truth, life and yourself?

Well, join the crowd. These are things we all feel more than once in life. The answer is found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who is God. These feelings come when we decide to be our own God. We fall away, get into a mess, get lost and confused when we decide to be our own god. (By the way, that new religion that Oprah is endorsing is based on everyone being their own god.)

Now, let me point you in the right direction, the path, the way. Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the father (God) except by way of me." What does this mean?

It means we have sinned. Jesus died for those sins. We repent of those sins. God forgives us because of what Jesus did. We trust in His sacrifice personally to make us righteous. We invite Him into our lives as Lord (boss). We then are no longer lost, wondering and trying to make sense out of life because His wisdom now lives in us to shows us the way.

If you have lost your way, turn your heart once again toward Jesus and repent. Receive His words, truth and life. Enjoy.

These thought come to me today because of Proverbs 2. It talks about listening to wisdom, wisdom only found in God (not the Oprah show.) He left us a guide book, the Bible. In this passage it calls us to search for wisdom as if it were a treasure. Wisdom always points to the creator, God. We fear (respect and reverence) Him and experience the knowledge of Him as we read scripture and receive (believe) truth.

In plain simple terms it means this: When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we escape the result of sin. We find the right path (Jesus is the way). Because of Jesus we are the righteousness of God, we are blameless and we bow down before Him our Lord and follow Him. This is wisdom

Do you feel lost? Look to Him, Jesus the Christ.

Read all of Proverbs 2 today if you have a minute.

Bottom Line

Ephesians 1:1-10

• We were dead in sin
• We followed the ways of the world
• We followed satan and disobeyed God
• We gratified the cravings of our sinful nature
• We were objects of wrath
• We were dead in sin

But because of His His great Love for us, God, who is rich in mercy:

• Made us alive
• Saved us
• Raised us up
• Seated us with Christ
• Seated us in the heavenly realm
• Seated us in Christ
• Showed incomparable rich grace and kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -and this not from yourselves,-it is the gift of God-not by works., so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph.2:8-10)

Disobedience

Psalms 107:13,15 Proverbs 1:5-8

Doing things our way always gets us into trouble all the time...right? It is called disobedience. Lack of trust is disobedience, not doing what we know to be right is disobedience and living in fear and worry is disobedience We know all this yet because of our human frailties we live in this condition most of the time. Is it selfishness, pride, lust or is it all of them? Regardless, it happens daily. So why does God put up with us? Because He loves us anyway and Christ died to cover these sins of disobedience. Now that is not an open invitation to continue in sin. It is an encouragement to causes us to repent and try again. Why? We have been changed and any other path would leave us empty. Our hearts have been changed. There is no other way for us.

As I read these verses this morning I noticed that thread (disobedience) in my own heart. In Psalms 107 it talks about how Gods people continue to do the wrong thing; but the moment they call out to him and repent He rescues them... saves them from their distress. When He does this for us do we praise Him and say thank you?

Then in Proverbs I read how He will give us wisdom if we just ask, believe and not be double minded. Now I know all of you probably knew what double minded meant. I did not till today. It means that when God gives us this wisdom we are to act on it and do what He says. It is not an option to think about it or to decide for our selves if we want to do what wisdom tells us. We are to do it! Well I don't know about you but I have been double minded too many times and wondered why I could not hear from God. If we are double minded then it also tells us we will receive nothing from the Lord and we will be unstable in all we do.

It all Boils down to disobedience...right? If we don't listen and respond; if we just blatantly go our own way, it all boils down to the same thing. Disobedience.

One God

Psalm 119:114-117

Today we hear and many of us follow a type of doctrine that opposes and denies God. It is another one of those sheep clothing things. Yet it is as deadly as the wolf. Ever seen a wolf. They are almost the size of a small pony. They can take down large animals when the pack takes on the chase. They kill.

This false doctrine I speak of can kill, yet seems as innocent as a lamb. It is so natural in our modern language and world. It leads everyone into selfish living. We feel so at home in this climate that selfishness become the norm and anyone who is not clued in to its smoothness is to be pitied indeed. It sound like this:

• If it makes me feel good it is right
• If it makes me happy it is right
• If it gives me what I want it is right
• If it delights my ears it is right

Notice the main character in these phrases...ME. What a small package we deliver when we only deliver wonderful us to the world as we fulfill selfish driven desires. This is a shallow doctrine. Why? Because we become God of our own lives and eventually God of other peoples lives.

Do we know the future? Do we know all and have all power? Can we be everywhere a the same time? Of course not but God can. Why would we even want the job?

• He has a plan for our lives...we follow
• He lead us beside still waters...we follow
• He delivers our us from sin...we follow
• He has a place prepared for us...we follow
• He asks us to trust and obey...we follow

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. Away from me you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God! Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; Do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered;I will always have regard for your decrees. Psalms

Hodge Podge

This morning for my usual devotional I went to the Worship channel and the scriptures to create the atmosphere most conducive for me personally to listen. The message did not come to me in the usual manner. It came as a Hodge Podge of information that took a minute to assimilate. I will relate it to you as it came to me for fun. Since the word of God touches each one of us differently depending on our circumstances, I know it will speak to you. I just do not know how.

• Set your sights on heaven
• Eliminate the security blankets in you life.
• Serve God

It would be impossible, I know, to hear how each of you understood these thoughts but I would have enjoyed hearing them. This is how they ministered to me.

Set our sight on heaven for we are only passing through. Our real life is in Christ and at best we are ambassadors here for a short time to lead others to their eternal home, a home He has prepared for those who love Him and have received Him as Lord and Savior.

Eliminate the security blankets in our lives. So many things are out there to promise security, love, value, acceptance but none of them can come through. Everything this life offers is temporary and has very little value in relationship to our eternal home. What are the security blankets? Anything we depend on for our happiness, value, security, love or acceptance. God is our only security blanket. I often reach out to the wrong thing. Do you?

Serve God. That is different for everyone. The common denominator is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If our site is set on heaven and we know that we are to point others to Him then anything that he calls us to that accomplishes this goal is service.

Hope you enjoyed our Hodge Podge

Our Refuge

Psalms 116:1-2; 118:8-9

Sometimes we get caught up in the world enough to forget where our help comes from. We look to the church, a government, security of money, even a specific person to protect, provide or to be our refuge. Granted we do encourage and provide a safe place to land for each other often, but our real refuge is God.

When I read these verses this morning, the very fact that they spoke to me revealed that I once again fell into that trap. Why would we trust in men or princes when our refuge, our help in time of trouble, our life is in the hands of our merciful Lord.

Maybe it is the state of the world now, economy troubles (which are world wide) endless war, or the knowledge that the days will grow darker as we near His return that pulled me off base. At any rate, I fell prey to the lie that we need to worry about our lives, our situation and find a refuge. Instead, we need to of look to the one who hold our future, the one who delights in us and has provided a home for us in His mansion.

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice. He heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned His ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Delight

I had an enjoyable week. A very busy week. One of the appointments was with a new friend who was putting together a Bible study on parenting. The course she outlined grabbed my attention. Even though I am a grandmother now, I could see the advantage of the course and hope to be in her class. One of the things that impressed me was the word 'delight'. She said many times parents are so involved in their own agenda and lives they forget to delight in their children. I thought back and remembered I had made the same mistake often. Thus I write to you today to encourage you to take time to delight in your children.

God is our perfect example, the perfect parent. He goes to great length to impress on us how delighted He is with us. By delight, I mean He dances with joy over our existence. Scripture tells us over and over the depth, width and height of His love for us. I have no doubt that if I were to run up to Him, His outstreched arms would scoop me up, His smile and laughter would fill the air and He would receive me unconditionally. Do we extend this to our children?

Do we require our children to jump through hoops beyond their ability to make us feel good, look good and to make up for what we are not, to make up for our shortcomings? Do we try to redo our lives through them and get embarassed because their feelings, attitudes, actions or words do not measure up to our expectations. If they can not feel, think or act out of line in front of us, if they are required to be superkids at home all the time, when do they get to make mistakes and grow up in the confidence of our love for them?

When children have a safe place to land at home, when they believe we delight in them, accept them, believe in them, delight in them, they can face anything in the world. Just as we can face anything in the world because we know God, our parent, is in our corner, accepts us, believes in us and delights in us.

Look at your child's face. Are they depressed, sad, unhappy, fearful, discouraged? Have they quit trying and seem rejected? We are the soft place, the safe place, their cheerleader. They will know if we show delight in our eyes or welcome them in our arms.

Look up 'delight' in the Scriptures and see how many times the Lord delights in us.

Oprah

This video is very disturbing not because it is a sign of the times, not because it seeks to destroy the work of the cross, not because it tells me that new age is alive and well or that God is who ever we want Him to be. Why? Because we were warned 2000 years ago, it's recorded in scripture that false christs would arise, that even the elect would be deceived of possible by people who discount the real truth about Christ. The thing that disturbs me the most is that Oprah is world wide, that her message is deceiving, that even christian women question the truth about their faith in Christ and many will follow the deception.

This is it folks. Read scripture and know in whom you believe. Jesus plainly stated I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by way of Me. Jesus is God and claimed to be God. Spread this news. Take the sheep's cloth off the deceiver. See with your own eyes the wolf at the door that others might know the truth.

http://www.carringtonsteele.citymax.com/page/page/5776487.htm

Dependant

Judges 7; Psalms 146

We struggle to be independent from the day we are born. It feels wrong to be dependant, yet, we are dependant on many things. Most, of which, come from God. The rotation of the earth for gravity, air to breathe, water to drink, food, clothing; in fact we are dependant on God for our very existence. The only Independence we can lay claim to is the use of what He has already supplied. We keep the air clean, drink, prepare and eat food, work and till the land or in today's vernacular we go out and get a job. For if a man will not work he will not eat (Proverbs). The strength and independence we experience in life is in direct response to our source, God. We are created to be strong, till the land, enjoy interdependence with each other and live through troubles and tribulations. For in this life you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (Jesus quote).

So where is the line, the balance, the truth on dependant and independent living. Ask yourself this? Who is doing the work. Who has done the work. How will continue the work. When we take in a breath of air, we breath in (our work). Where did the air come from, the lung, the body, the muscles to breathe(God's work).

Trials and tribulations are a little bit harder to identify, for we feel we are alone and struggle by ourselves. Not so. God says: call on me in a time of trouble and I will deliver you. How? Sometimes he delivers us out. Sometimes He delivers us through. He decides. Either way we are delivered. Where? In Spirit, in heart, in peace, in joy, in every fruit of His spirit, in Him and eventually in body and soul.

The line is this: Acknowledge we can do nothing aside from Christ who lives in us. He is God and without Him life is not worth living. He wants us to acknowledge that every area of our lives belongs to Him, is guided by Him and happens according to His plan. We surrender our all, our strength, might, heart, life, our everything in to his hands. That's dependence.

The story found in Judges is about Gideon. God required him to trim his army down to 300 men for a specific battle. The army was to small at 300 to win, yet, God delivered them. They won the victory. Read why God required them to do this in verse two. It says that they would give themselves the credit if they had more men. This way they knew God did it for them.

You see, we give ourselves the credit for everything that happens, yet,we ask God for miracles. We some how miss the fact that every breath we take is a miracle. That nothing happens unless he first makes it happen. Even the apparent bad things that happen work for the good in, around and through His children. I mean, after all, Eternal life is a big deal and God's goal is to bring us into this Eternal life through Christ, the one whose image we are to bear and whom we are being transformed into daily. The Goal.

Praise God from who all blessings flow, praise Him all peoples here below, praise Him above all heavenly hosts, praise Father Son and Holy Ghost

Listen

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

The scripture also says that God never sleeps. That he watches over us all the time. That we can talk to Him any time and He hears us. That we are to pray continually (Prayer is conversation with God).

All of this tells me that He is communicating His heart on a continual basis daily. That His wisdom, the fruit of His spirit, His voice, in all matters that concern us, is communicated to us every hour of every day. He is with us, intimately with us and available to us every second of our lives.

So why do we feel alone? Why do we not hear His voice? Why do we act, at times, as if we have no God, no one to care and take care of our lives? I believe the answer to these questions are found in us. We are pre-occupied with a noisy world, a world that fills our every thought most of the time. A world that steals life from us. We become too busy to be still and know He is God.

So, today I will take us through a simple exercise. Pick your favorite scripture passage or verse, place it in your heart, and pray, Lord here I am. I want to spend time with you. I call it my date with God. Now, sit in a comfortable chair. Get relaxed, close your eyes, take a deep breath and let go of the world around you. Allow yourself a space of time where you have no where to go, nothing to think about, and nothing to do. Now, let His presence and peace fill your heart.

Just enjoy you date with the Lord and listen to His heart.

Sound mind

2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

For some reason, when I read this verse this time, I thought of all those I've personally known and have seen who did not maintain a sound mind. Not someone who acted silly at a gathering but one who did look as if they had lost their mind. One in particular comes to me. She was unable to get out of bed, not because of a physical condition but because of her mind. A lost expression sat on her face and fear rushed through her eyes in a continual restless cycle. Was fear the culprit?

Then I searched areas in my life where fear lived and found how not only I, but how everyone of us actually look to fear as if we wanted to cultivate fear and integrate it in our daily lives. Movies for instance. Why do we look for a thriller, or an adventure where fear makes our heart race. Fear is the opposite of faith and love, yet, here we go training our minds to live in fear for fun. We even pay to have this take place in our hearts. Sounds unproductive to me. Sounds foolish.

We also encourage fear talk. Each time we tell a story we embellish the fear part to make ourselves look special to the listener. We look to the negatives in life, which are the fears, instead of the positives. We think of the worse case scenarios. Why? Fear takes over unnoticed and we live in fear instead of faith. I ask again, why do we do this as Christians? Do we train our children to do this? I think we might.

Then I compared this to a sound mind. What is as sound mind? It is faith, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness faithfulness and self control. A sound mind believes, trusts, encourages others and seeks the best. A sound mind knows all is well with the soul and finds adventure in a life guided by God, for walking by faith and trusting He knows what He is doing is a definite adventure in faith(which, by the way is not lived in fear.)

I wonder just how many of those people who looked as if they had lost their minds would have been helped by simple scripture readings each day, a time of peace that placed the faith of God in their hearts and minds. I also wonder just how much fear we can allow in our own hearts before we loose our minds. God has not given us a spirit of fear. Why do we allow another spirit in or even entertain the idea.

Thank you God, that you have not given us a spirit of fear, that you maintain us with your spirit of love.

Resurrection Day

I have always called this day Easter. That is what the stores call it and the cards and most churches. However, the word Easter remained a puzzle as I did not know where it came from. Resurrection Day always seemed too formal for the celebration of such a joyful moment, so it remained Easter. Well, no more! I discovered this week where the word Easter comes from. As with most of our holy holidays, the word comes from a pagan worship. Seems we mixed several of our Christian traditions with pagan traditions to get them involved with our beliefs. What a mistake. I plan to eliminate Easter from my vocabulary as I do not want a pagan god of some kind to be honored. Look it up some time then join me.

Resurrection Day is the basis of our faith in Christ. For without this moment our faith would be in vain. He has risen. He has risen. He is God. He came, suffered and died for our sins and was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit of God. When we die, because of what He has done for us, we will also rise to be with Him forever. What a joyful day this should be for all of us.

Do not let the business of dinner, games, gatherings and yes, even church steal this day from you. Take time to worship Him, enjoy Him and celebrate what His resurrection means to you personally. Read the account of this event in all four gospels. It will bless you. Each account has a little different description of what happened as they individually witnessed the miracle.

Years ago I experienced the best Resurrection Day ever. Thoughts of this moment visit me often, in fact they come every year around Resurrection Day. The church service had already started which meant someone was late. Music filled the air outside the building. The church stood tall (two stories) and grass with a few daisies grew along side the shaded walk. Trees in bloom cast shadows beneath the sun and the atmosphere maintained that obvious spring touch. Before I entered the threshold, trumpets sounded. Trumpets! The holiness of the day, the joy of He has risen sank into me and worship of our magnificent Lord, our Saviour, our King, our God magnetized me to the place I stood. A few seconds passed before I entered the building but that one moment continued through out the morning of worship and obviously through out the rest of my life.

I pray that, in this Resurrection Day, every person who reads this post will have a stop dead in your tracks moment of worship for our risen Lord.

Children

I was a new Christian when I had children, barely able to grasp the messages of the cross and understand how to allow Him to live His life through me. As a result, the struggles in raising children were indeed a struggle for me. I, as most people, copied my parents and their methods. Unaware of my heavenly Father's parent instructions, my oldest suffered the most. She was about four before I came across verses and teachers, like Dobson to name one, who helped me see the light.

Ephesians tells us to not exasperate our children. What's that mean? When I coupled this with other verses like the love chapter in Corinthians, or Proverbs that talks about discipline, I finally captured a better picture. However, the best example of being a loving parent came from watching my daughter interact with her children, years later (I must have done something right).

Exasperate means not to expect your children to be, do, think or act above their ability. Have you noticed how we expect them to be carbon copies of us? How we expect them to be adults in little bodies? They are children -- immature, emotional, undisciplined children, who require patience and space. Even adults act like children, so why can't children act like children?
Maybe our expectations of them are too high. There is a difference between encouragement that believes in them and an expectation level that puts pressure on them. A simple phrase like I think you can do that is much better than I expect you to do this, now. And if they act immature and do not respond, give them a break...back off a little, they are immature still.

Exasperation also includes a lack of respect. We often think because they are small, can not talk, walk or think as an adult that they are lesser human beings and we treat them like rugrats (a phrase I dislike but seems to be popular now and then). Children are people. They need encouragement. They need a kind word, honor, respect, appreciation, acknowledgement, a place and position in the family that shows value. They are not an appendage or a decoration in our life so we look good. Nor are they to be treated unkind when they make us look bad.

Exasperation includes harsh discipline. Discipline needs to be age appropriate. Each child is different. If you want your child to listen to you, then meet their need first and listen to them. I did spank, but after a few teachings, and watching my daughter, I strongly disagree with this method. I believe the rod, as the Bible calls it, is to raise them in the word. In other words, love them into trust. If a child feels accepted, valued and loved they will seek approval and trust in their parent's direction. That is how God deals with us. He loves us into discipline. Notice what happens when we, as His children, discover grace. We want to please Him, we are just too immature to live as He directs. That is the same with our children. They are too immature. Once harsh discipline has been applied for a long period of time, trust is lowered, anger and resentment begins and you have lost the game for years into the future.

The final and most important thing about children is similar to a phase I heard in that old movie Sound of Music. They just want to be loved Captain, just love them. Most children know when they are loved. It comes through our touch, voice tone, attitude and actions toward them. They pick up on what they see and feel, more than what we say. The phrase monkey see, monkey do applies here. They will talk, act, think and become who we are. If we want respect, we need to give them respect, if we want nice language, give out nice language, if we want honesty, no lying, kindness, faith then we need to model these things. Also, what we feel inside will transfer to them. If we live in fear, prejudice, low self-image, worry and the like, they will follow suit.

Yes it is a big job. After all we are given the privilege to shape character, to influence another person to be like Jesus. That means we need to follow Him and His example to us.

Seek Him

Matt 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of a God and all these things will be added to you.

This verse is in a section that talks about our needs, basic needs. It specifically indicates that when we place God first, when we trust in Him and seek His face, His way of life that He will add all we need to our life. He will add. Not us

I know, it is hard to lean on and trust for the things of life. Now, I do not believe it means to sit back and not work. The scriptures clearly tell us go about the business of the day. We are told that a person who will not work goes hungry. NO, it means that in all our ways we are to submit, trust and seek God's help, encouragement, ways. We are to seek His face and respond accordingly. To seek His face is the same as saying SEEK HIM.

Prov.16:8: Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

This verse connects with the one above as it indicates that we are not to scratch and claw our way to the top; or lie and cheat to get what we need. So many times in life, especially as the days draw near to His second coming, we see much dishonesty, cheating and evil actions in business, even in personal relationships, to gain what we think we need. This verse encourages us to seek righteousness.

Righteousness comes from a personal relationship with Christ. It is not something we bring to the table it is something He has already brought to the table when we recieve Him as Lord and Savior. In other words, righteousness is blood bought and part of our lives as children of God, those who are called by His name, Christians. We simply need to look inside our hearts respond to what lives inside us. That will include turning away from and resisting the urge to reach out for personal gain at the expense of who we are in Him

I encourage you. Lay down the things of this world, turn away from anything that takes you away from seeking His ways, His face.

Blessed

Psalms 1:1-6

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

What is prosperous? Having eternal life. Think on that one. Every one of us will die. We do not live forever in this body. That one gift alone, eternal life, is all we will be thinking of when that last breath is taken.

Now, I do believe there is more to being prosperous than that; but nothing measures up to eternal live. To prosper in health, wealth, soul, mind, friends, good fortune are all good and enjoyable. But to prosper in spirit is the best.

Jesus said "I come that they may have life and have it more abundantly."
Did you know eternal life comes to us the moment we invite Him into our lives as Lord and Savior. We are the recipients of His life before physical death takes place. That is what I think this verse is about, to live abundant in spirit, to receive him and all He offers us now and in the hereafter.

Let's look more closely:

• Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked: Counsel of wicked, that means to listen to those who do not know Christ and follow them.
• Stand in the way of sinners: Party people, those who do not consider right from wrong.
• Sit with mockers: Those who ridicule and critique everyone around them
• Meditate on the Lord: That is to focus on, worshiping, pray, to enjoying the Lord
• Delighting in the Lord: His words, His decrees, His law ( Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, might and love your neighbor as your self)

In a nutshell. Be sold out to the Lord our God and follow Him with our whole heart. Enjoying His presence in everything we do and everywhere we go. Of course, we will not be a 100% at this but just knowing that the Lord enjoys us with open arms draws us to Him in this way.

Have you noticed that when we live like this, peace, joy, love and all the fruits of His spirit flow from us while loneliness, being lost, emptiness, confusion. doubt and homesickness leaves. Now that is what I called blessed.

Purpose

Isaiah 46:9-10; Jer 1:5; Psm 139:6

God gets to be God. He will accomplish His will, His purpose and His plans regardless of what we say, do, think or feel. He knew us while we were in the womb and recorded every moment of our lives as He laid out each micro second. That sound like a done deal to me. So the next question is this. Do we trust Him?

I do know a few things about this loving person, as do you. He desires to bring us, the entire human race, to Himself. That the whole reason for time is to bring us to repentance so we might receive eternal life through trusting our lives to Jesus the Christ and what he did for us at the cross. He is not bound by history, time or days. He created time. The scripture says that He was before time and will be after time. Looks to me like time is temporary and God is eternal which makes us eternal also.

The encouragement I get from these verses is that He has our lives already planned out. The length of our days, the plans even down to each moment. That comforts me especially when one of my children or grandchildren are sick, or away or seem in danger. It tells me that they will live the length of their days for he has planned them. Since God has a purpose for each one of us then His purpose in those I love will be filled as will his purpose for me; because God's plans can not be stopped. Even though it looks wrong, seems out of order or a Little impossible to accept at times, He knows what He is doing. He is a good, loving person who looks forward to the day when we will all be one in Him. The final purpose.

Maturity

I am one of those early risers, like 3 am early. It is not my idea. Somewhere around 4o my clock changed and 3 am is normal for me now. One of the things I do like about that hour is the Worship Channel on TV. They show scenes, play Christian music and give mini sermons periodically. I thought I'd share a few of those moments with you this morning.

The minister said that we will punish ourselves if we violate our own conscience. Which means if we lie or live out or think on that which we think is less than perfect or right in God's eyes, we will punish ourselves. I pondered the thought in search of areas not okay with me. Where have I missed the mark? Have I lied to myself about the incident? Have I tried to cover up or avoid or just plain left the path? The best way to answer these questions is to look inside the heart. Is peace still in charge of my life? If not, then why?

The next thought presented referred to maturity.

• One able to take responsibility for the words and actions of their life
• The ability to delay gratification
• Deciding to be truthful in every area of our lives

I have for some time believed that spiritual maturity meant love. Since I like to take things to the simplest explanation, I left it at that...Agape love. Meaning that when Agape love rules over our lives, we are spiritually mature. But when I look at these qualification above, Agape is present in each one. It caused me to expand my thinking. Agape not only applies to others and how I treat them but to myself and how I think about myself.

The next thought came from a Bible verse I read in conjunction with the Worship Channel, 2 Cor. 12:9. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Have you noticed, the answer is always the same? The truth is always the same. The story, the way, the life is always the same. We can do nothing aside from the power of Christ in our lives. He tells us here that He works best through our weakness. That tells me that every day we need to come to Him, acknowledge, repent and accept our weakness in exchange for His power, power He gives abundantly to one in need. He supplies Agape love. We simply allow this love to flow through us (note: through us). We receive what we need at that time and thus allow it to overflow on to others.

Faithful

One of the things we have as a result of the Holy Spirits presence in our life is faithfulness. It is part of the fruits of the Spirit that live in us continually. All of these fruits are a permanent part of our spirit and when we apply them we are truly alive. It is not even something we need to muster up on our own as they live in us. We simply place our heart and mind on the presence of Christ within us and they come alive, available so that we might live abundantly.

The verses that brought this to mind to day were found in 2Cor. 9:6-15. I know this verse is usually applied to giving money to those who need it or to the church but I think it applies to much more than money because of the phrases within the passages. I think it simply applies to being faithful in that we follow God's lead through everything everywhere.

Notice these encouraging phrases about what we receive when we give, serve, and help others:

• Reap generously
• All grace will abound in all things
• We will abound in every good work
• Supply and increase is added to our storehouse
• Enlargement of the harvest of our righteousness
• Others will praise God
• Rich in every way
• Others will pray for us with a tender heart

Oh to be in faith enough each day to look inside Christ's heart and take advantage of God's lead in such a way that we are found faithful to every detail of the abundant life He has for us.

Listen closely

Proverbs 4:20-27

My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

What a great passage.
Pay attention, listen closely, keep your heart, put perverse talk( that includes negative faithless words), look straight ahead, fix your gaze, take a firm path, keep from evil.

Seems pretty obvious. If we want an abundant, healthy life in body soul and spirit, we need to simply LISTEN CLOSELY to the word of God, apply his instruction and TRUST He knows what He is doing regardless of the fears we feel or sense. Follow Him.

Bible Study

I am having an odd week. I decided to change all my schedules and take a mini retreat. I cancelled almost everything and added God. You know the feeling, irritations, cranky, unholy talk filled with negatives and wrong attitudes, a lack faith that fills the soul with fear. I know, retreats are usually taken with other women who join together in the mountains or some special place. Not this one. I am completely alone, and I'm loving every moment. I am one of those people that gain energy when I get alone, while the other group gains energy when they are with people. They call me an introvert for that, but I don't feel like one...who are THEY anyway.

I've been to two bible studies and visited a friend I've not talked to for over 15 years. Was a delightful time of refreshment.

Now the bible studies I must share with you. One was a walk through the old testament in historical order through pictures with a woman called Vicky Semeru You must get her book on this unique presentation.

Let me give you a hunger to know more with a few tid bits:

God is above the heavens. Everything rests on him and he knows no beginning or end. He was before time and will be after time. He in fact created time to bring us in relationship with Him. Christ is the focus of the old testament and as you watch the history unfold notice the word references to him as God begins his process to redeem us all. (The italics are pictures.)

God's time line:
God created the world it was good and perfect
Adam and eve created and sinned. They required a garment from the death of an animal.
The ark with a rainbow of promise
Tower to babble.. God confused the language and destroyed the towers power.
Abraham...his descendant's would be as many as the stars in heaven
Issac to be sacrifice on pile of stones/ knife
Isaac sons Esau and Jacob. Esau sold birth right to Jacob for bowl of food.
Jacob fathered the 12 tribes. tents. Jacobs ladder and Jacobs is now called Israel.
Joseph, a son of Jacob had the the coat of many colors. Sold into slavery by brothers.
Joseph found favor with the Pharaoh, pyramid. Israel delivered from famine.
History passes and they are now slaves in Egypt a whip.
Moses the deliver...Passover lamb, tabernacle in dessert, word of God.
Moses receives the ten commandments. tablets
Joshua leads the people to the promise land. feet and picture of the land divided the 12 sons.
People ask for judges, not God's idea. Crown with line through it
Eli selects Saul as king a crown.
Saul becomes unfaithful to god so his line is cut off.
David selected by God from tribe of Judah from Jacob from Isaac from Abraham Large crown with a star. Israel is now a nation not tribes.
Solomon builds a temple for God.
The nation Israel is divided in half. Map divided in half.
North kingdom ruled Jeroboam called Israel kingdom. Taken captive by Assyria.
Southern half called Judah, taken over by Babylon.
Israel in captivity but allowed to live in the land.
Under foreign rule by Babylon, then Persia, then Greece, then Romans
The Cross our redeemer.

The second bible studies message was by Beth Moore. Basic with many wonderful illustrations.
When we trust in the Lord we do not sin. When we do not trust or believe our fear leads us into sin. It happens in cycles. Notice the trigger of the cycle. Notice when trust leaves because sin is soon to follow. We will continue to go around the same circle till we choose to say no to fear and trust past the fear. Note God never gives up on us He knows beginning to end so he will see us through regardless of what we do.

Been a nice retreat for me so far. Hope you enjoyed what I learned.

Encouragements

I thought I would list verses that encouage me daily. I have these and others posted on bulletin boards or plaques on the wall.

Phil 4: 8 Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure. whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anythig worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Romans 15: 13.28 May the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

May they encouage you today and always.

Our Divine Valentine

I've been so busy that I neglected my emails yesterday. My daughter sent me one that warmed my heart so I went to that wonderful Dayspring Card site and ran across one called the Divine Valentine. You must give youself a treat and listen to it's perfect message. Though I will not do it justice this is what it had to say:

Your valentine may sing love songs to you,
The Lord God will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

Your valentine may give you flowers,
The Lord God gives you the Rose of Sharon.
Songs of Soloman 2:1

Your love may take you to Dinner,
The Lord God prepares a feast for you.
Rev.9:9

You may receive Chocolates,
Your Divine Valentines words are sweeter than honey.
Psm 119:103

Your valentine may live far away,
The Lord you God is always with you.
Matt 28:20

Your valentine may give you something,
The Lord your God gives you everything.
1Tim 6:17

Your love may love you for a life time,
The Lord will love you for all eternity.
Jer 31:3

Although this is a day late, it's message is eternal. Enjoy your Divine Valentine today. He is all we need.

Keep On

1 Cor. 15:56

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Some times we get discouraged in our labor for the Lord because of our walk in this life. I think the most discouragement comes to me becuse of all the mistakes I've made. Times when I have been selfish, run ahead of the Lord or been so prideful that I thought I was in control and knew best. Yes, what a foolish way to live life considering the enlightenment that comes from that moment of salvation. That moment which brings us into His presence for all eternity. But we all do this. We all mess up, sin, think we know best and take off in our own specific directions. None of which are the directions God has laid before us. These mistakes and wrong turns discourage me the most.

But praise be to our Lord and Savior. He knew our lives and the directions and the mistakes long before we were even born. He accepted us, saved and delivered us from the domain of darkness anyway. Not only did He do all this, He allowed us, imperfect us, to share in the Labor in the Lord.

Let's look at what that means:

Labor in the Lord. By now you all know I like to take things to the simplest explaination. Labor means a job, work. In the Lord means something He gave us to do, something He lays before us to do, something we know beyond a doubt He wants us to do. This assingnment is not something we do on our own. He thouroughly intends to do the specifice work through us. We simply get the privilege of working along side Him. His superatural process in, through, and around us accomplishes this work.

Then this verse gives us great encouagement. It says that the Labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Not in vain. Regardless of what He has called us to do, it will take place and it is not done in vain. In other words, He will accomplish what He wants to accomplish regardless of how slow, how inadequate or how poorly we think we did the job. He makes it happen. We are asked to stand firm, to continue, to keep on.

Peace

Proverbs 17:1 It is better to have a crust of bread in peace than feasting with strife.(paraphrased by me.)

Peace, what a nice word. I think today we spend too much time looking for a thrill, or way to keep busy so bordome will not hit. We buy toys, seek riches, increase our intelect and sacrifice for body beautiful. True, the world believes that money, good looks and riches give us value. Of course, those of us who know Christ have heard over and over how beauty fades, riches are stolen and God reveals himself to the humble not the proud. None of the which brings peace.

Christ is the Prince of peace. He brings peace. Not the kind the world brings but the kind only He brings. Peace is part of the fruits of the Holy spirit. Peace is a gift and part of salvation. Do we have peace?

The only way to receive peace is to receive Christ and all he offers to us as Children of God. Yet we experience strife often. Maybe it is because of the company we keep, the places we find oursleves in or things that encompass lives. We are called to Love, Joy, PEACE, patience kindness, gooodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. These, the attrubutes of the Holy Spirit, live inside us. Anything that depleats, slaks or steals this from us needs to be elelminated or at the very least avoided.

Fear not. Regardles of what we think we may loose by seperating ourselves for what we believe brings happiness, we loose nothing. For it is better to live with only a crust of bread and be at peace than to feast in wealth or what ever else we treasere and live in strife or discord.

May peace rule your life today.

Idols

Proverbs 29:11

A man who remains stiff necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed with out remedy.

Anything that takes us from God and the worship of God is an idol. Idols can be anything we rely on to supply our needs or love enough to totally occupy our heart and mind. Things that are good but become bad as a result of worship. Idols can be jobs, people, hobbies, children or any object once we choose to worship them. There is a simple test for identifying idols: can you give it up? Can you say... God, I accept your will in my life. I choose you. Here, I give this to you. If you can not do this,then regardless of what is, it is an idol in your life.

As I look into this verse, I notice several things. One is this: will suddenly be cut off. That phrase is not God's judgment. God has, will and will always seek us out. He does not cut us off. His desire is to bring us all to Himself. We cut ourselves off from Him. The verse points to our response. Note what is says about the responder.

• He remains stiff necked: He decides. It is a decision to not listen to God's call.
• He ignores many rebukes: He continues to turn from God and walks away from God's light, a choice to stay in darkness.
• Sudden destruction comes: Eventually he lacks the ability to respond. A habit forms, a habit which leads to destruction.
• No remedy available: Thoughts lead to actions, actions lead to habits, habits lead to a life style, a life style decides our destiny. We either choose God, or we do not.

Lets take a a moment and look at the idols in our lives, those mini gods and habits. Do they lead us into worship of the one true God? Are we surrendered to Christ and His leading?

Do not despaired. If you are caught up in something, ask for a miracle. Ask Him to take control and watch Him lead you to eternal life now and in the future.

Leaders

1 Cor 11:1; Luke 10:27; Matt 12:36

This is an election year. Often I think about those who wish to lead and look into their qualifications. I check into their ability to lead, which means do they live what they preach? I also look at the constitution (by the way have you read it lately) for those in office, even those who serve in the armed forces, pledge to defend the constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. But most of all I look at their basic nature in relationship to Christ.

In 1 Cor 11:1, Paul says follow me as I follow Christ. I focus on the word as today. He did not say follow me. He said as I follow Christ. In other words we do not follow anyone who does not live out Christ's example. It was my daughter that causes me to look into this for she some how caught it early in life in reference to churches, husbands, and any leader. Many times we allow others to lead us with out this qualification. Regardless of who they are, a husband, parent, government official, civil authority, political party, family member, church leadership, teacher, regardless of who they are note their lives. Do they follow Christ's example?

What is Christ's example? What did Christ say? What is the fruit we look for in a leader?
It is stated often in scripture: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Do those you follow qualify? Do they think, talk and act like examples of Christ? Do they even come close? Now I am not talking about taking a magnifying glass and checking out every one's sins. We all sin. Christ died for our sins, forgave us and continues to as we surrender our lives to Him. I'm talking about the actions of their lives in relationship to leadership. Are those leaders surrendered enough to lead

Do we blindly follow people....NO
Do we trade freedom for safety...NO
Do we allow anyone access to our lives...NO
Do we believe everything someone says...NO

Do we check the qualifications...YES
Do we look for Christ's fruit in them...YES
Do we surrender to Christ....YES
Do we have the courage to face the demands of this reality...YES

Check out those you follow and see if they qualify. For there is only one person we surrender our freedom, our lives, our hearts to as Christians. His name is Christ Jesus. We follow Him and leaders who's actions (fruits) follow Him.

1 Cor. 11:1; Luke 10:27; Matt 12:34

Life/Death

I Corthians 15:35-42

Physical death and life after death is talked about in this chapter. I am at the age now where death is experienced more often. My friends, their parent, families involved in war all bring stories of death more often these days. I have been comforted and do comfort others with the verses above as well as the verses that talk about our eventual reunion which includes the rapture in the sky and our eternal home.

These verses indicate that we are to look at the death of this physical body as a seed that goes into the ground. The seed does not look like the plant that comes from the seed. Even though the seed must die the plant that is produced by the seed is far more beautiful and looks very different from the seed. In other words, the seed becomes something new. That is the way physical death is for us all. Once the body dies we becomes something new.

The Body:
Dies perishable/ raises imperishable
Sown in dishonor/raises in glory
Sown in weakness/rises in power
Sown physical/raises spiritual

I've also heard many testimonies that say this about the moments before physical death.

• She talked to God and then she fell asleep.
• He pointed to an unseen someone in the room and smiled.
• She said,"Look I see Him."
• He said,"Son, it's true. I see heaven. It's right there."
• He sat up talked to one unseen, then turned and said good by to us.

These testimonies along with Scriptures tell me that we are escorted in to the next world. Joy fills the heart of those who take the journey and it is obvious they want to be with the one who come to meet them. That leads me to also believe that the moment of death comes after the spirit leaves the body, not before. It appears that we never experience death. We leave the body and then the body dies. The verse that says death where is your sting, to me means there is no sting. We leave this world and enter eternity with Christ Jesus to ever be with Him.

I am unaware of where this quote cam from but it goes like this...Death is but one more experience in the endless life of a believer. Thank you, Lord.