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