Tag: #Believe

8 Months…..

It’s been 8 months since I’ve written anything. Life gets in the way, sometimes, if we allow it.

I received an excellent daily devotion book for Christmas, called Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado. Today he had Ephesians 4:32 as the verse for the day. “Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.”

Each morning, I sit on my couch with my coffee, my devotional, my Bible, and my dogs…. one dog on my lap and one stretched out against my side. Reading this verse, I was reflecting on how Jesus forgave Judas for betraying Him. He forgave His disciples for deserting Him when the soldiers arrested Him. He forgave the authorities for unjustly accusing Him and for unjustly convicting Him. He forgave the soldiers for beating Him and for nailing Him to the cross. Most importantly for me, He forgave us – He forgave ME – for our sins, if we just ask Him to.

I sincerely believe that God gave us dogs because He knew that most of us would have trouble understanding forgiveness. You can hit a dog, kick a dog, neglect them, and they will forgive you. There are exceptions, of course, but I have seen dogs who have been starved and beaten crawl back to their owner, forgiveness in their eyes and their attitudes. As much as my dogs annoy me at times, their unerring and unlimited adoration shows me on a tiny, tiny scale how much my God loves me, and how much He forgives me. (Yes, I know I’m weird!)

Why is it so difficult for me to forgive the men (and women) who have hurt me? My selfish nature wants revenge on them. God wants my forgiveness on them. The words of the prayer Jesus taught us pops into my head, usually when I am thinking of revenge: “… For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:14‭-‬15 NASB1995

Want forgiveness? Truly, for ourselves, all we have to do is surrender ourselves to Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit into our life. I think it’s the depth of forgiveness that Jesus is referring to. It doesn’t affect our salvation. Jesus forgives once, and it’s a done deal. He took our sins onto Himself as He hung on the cross, and that is when (and where) He forgave us. If I accept Jesus as my Savior, even if I never forgive anyone who ever hurt me in any way – perceived or real, emotional or mental or physical – as a child of Christ, I’m still forgiven. What that would mean for me when I got to heaven, I honestly can’t say. Are there lesser parts of heaven for people who have resentment and forgiveness in their hearts? I guess we’ll find out when we get there!

Meanwhile, I intend to follow my dogs example – and Christ’s command! – and work on my forgiveness to others. With the help and support of the Holy Spirit, that is. I can’t do it on my own!

Trust

Trust into myself? I don’t think so….

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 3:7 NASB1995

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5‭-‬6 NASB1995

Trust in God. We hear that from the pulpit, from Christian leaders, and in Bible studies. Be vulnerable, humble, helpless. The Scriptures are full of instructions on trusting God rather than man – or yourself. Society says trust your gut. Who – or what – do you believe?

“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered.”
Proverbs 28:26 NASB1995

“He only is my Rock and my Salvation, My Stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my Salvation and my Glory rest; The Rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”
Psalms 62:6‭-‬8 NASB1995

In ALL ways trust God. Not just the big things, but the little things, too. God says in ALL things. He will not let us down. The Hebrew word for heart means our mind, our body, our soul, our life. We owe God our full trust, no matter what is happening in our lives. Solomon uses the most personal form of the word for ‘LORD’. He emphasizes “Don’t lean on your own understanding!” Our desire for self sufficiency came into being when Adam believed the serpent’s lie. He became convinced that he could discern truth without God’s guidance. It is deception of the deepest kind, and it is the enemy’s goal that we believe it. We are infatuated with relying on ourselves. Sin leads us to believe that we can believe ourselves and lead ourselves and rely on ourselves.

“…. being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ….”
Ephesians 4:18 NASB1995

“There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. …. Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; ….”
1 Samuel 2:2‭, ‬10 NASB1995

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
Isaiah 55:8 NASB1995

Ralph Wardlaw, Scottish preacher, said that “leaning on our own understanding is essentially practical atheism… we are not relying on God, we are denying Him.” That grabs my heart! The thought that I have been denying God, and practicing atheism in my life, stops my breath. Claiming to be a Christian, yet practicing atheism, because I think I can determine my own life.

“In ALL our ways acknowledge Him.” To “acknowledge” is “to know, learn, experience, pursue.” Am I doing that? Am I studying, learning, and pursuing God? The more I invest in God, the more I know Him. He never takes a break from leading me (us) and caring for me (us). We are to submit in every area of our lives. Focused on the LORD.

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 NASB1995

Remeber what Joseph went through? It would be my worst nightmare to have to experience what he did, yet hear what he says about it. For myself, I struggle with forgiveness for those who have wronged me, but Joseph forgives his brothers. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
Genesis 50:20 NASB1995

“God writes straight with crooked lines.” – Portuguese proverb. Are we fully trusting in the LORD? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you let the Scriptures overrule your own thinking?

2. Do you believe that Jesus the only path to heaven? (i.e. Do good people go to heaven?)

3. When was the last time you took a risk to follow Jesus, placing everything in His hands?

LORD, I pray that I can overrule my thoughts with Your help. I know that Your Son, Jesus Christ, is the only way to eternal life with You in heaven. Help me as I daily struggle to to place my entire life in Your hands. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

I Can’t Keep Up

I’ve been texting with my “little” brother this morning. He’s sending pictures of their place. The garden and greenhouse he built for them. My attempts are so feeble compared to his. It’s not that I don’t want to do better and have better, I just can’t keep up. There was a time when I could. My body has betrayed me, and I hate it. I look at my yard, and I can see how I want it…. and that’s where it remains. In my mind.

Then I opened my devotional by Max Lucado to today’s selection. Tears came. God knew I would be upset, and He arranged this for me to read today. It’s in God is With You Every Day, for May 22, titled Your Best Days. He tells the story of a little boy trying to keep up with his family in an airport, until he plops himself down on his bag and shouts, “I can’t keep up!”

That’s how I feel. “GOD, I can’t keep up!”

Max Lucado goes on to say this: “Sometimes the challenge is just too much. You want to keep up. You try. It’s not that you don’t. Life has a way of taking the life out of us. When you run out of fight,remember that the promises of God are your to claim. God’s Word dares you to believe that your best days are ahead of you. God promises you a Promised Land.”

Thanks, Max. I needed that today. My Promised Land is coming. I know that, and I need to be reminded sometimes. It may not be on this earth, but someday, I’ll have a garden that defies anything I can imagine now. Remember that. Whatever your dream is. Your Promised Land may not be on this earth. Are you confident that you will reach it? Are you a Child of the King, to claim your inheritance?

“You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your GOD gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”
Joshua 23:14 NIV

https://joshua.bible/joshua-23-14

What I Deserve…

Satan is devious. He wants us to question God and rebel against Him, but if we forget God, that’s even better. He wants us to succumb to the lusts and pleasures of the flesh. He knows how dark and depraved our human nature truly is. BUT he doesn’t “make us” do things – he can’t force us to do anything, ever … it is OUR choice. “But God,” made us ALIVE. We DESERVE death, but because of God’s Mercy we have LIFE instead of hell and damnation. 

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.
Micah 7:18 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/mic.7.18.NASB1995

But GOD Who pardons our sins and rebellion, Who is limitless, unending, and Who loves us in spite of who and what we are.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But GOD, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of GOD; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which GOD prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:1‭-‬10 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/eph.2.1-10.NASB1995

Compare: Buddha’s dying words, which were to “strive without ceasing” to the dying words of The CHRIST, Jesus, whose words were “It is finished.” By Grace and through Faith in JESUS we can receive Salvation …. Both of these are gifts of and from God; there is nothing we do can earn them. Because He died…. it was never because of anything I could say or do. No justification.Just like the thief on the cross, it is always just because “the Man on the middle cross told me to come.” We are HIS workmanship; we are HIS Masterpiece!

But GOD demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/rom.5.8.NASB1995
All you have to do is take His Hand…..

The Prophesy of Ezekiel

And the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog (central Asia), the prince of Rosh (Russia), Meshech and Tubal (Turkey), and prophesy against him and say, ‘Thus says the LORD GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia (Iran), Ethiopia (Sudan), Put (Libya) with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah (Russia/Turkey) from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you. “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.” Ezekiel 38:1‭-‬8 NASB1995

Read chapter 37 regarding the Jewish people coming back to Israel. Persia became Iran in 1935, and the Republic of Islam in the 1970’s. In the Battle of Gog and Magog – Gog is an individual, but he is not the antichrist. Satan wants to change and control the outcome of this prophecy. He is using the Mullah regime to attempt to fast track the Apocalypse by destroying the Great Satan, which is the USA. GOD won’t be rushed! It will happen, but only in His timing. We are seeing prophecy fulfilled, but it hasn’t all come to pass yet. Israel is populated and prosperous, but not yet at peace. In the Panorama of Prophesy…. will the battle of Gog and Magog happen before or after Second Coming?

(12) “You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.” ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’ ” ’ “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.” ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? (18) It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD, “that My fury will mount up in My anger. In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.” ’
Ezekiel 38:9-‬23 NASB1995

The invaders will come for plunder and to control the middle east. Starting in verse 18, the greatest battle of all time is described; Armageddon.

How do we respond and prepare as Christians?
1. Receive Christ as Saviour – He is coming! WHOEVER will call upon the Name of the LORD will be saved….
2. Remember, GOD is in control. He knows the future. Jesus said “And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.” Matthew 24:6‭-‬8 NASB2020
3. Remain alert and awake. Prophesy is there to keep us disciplined, transformed, and focused on the Blessed Hope.
4. Witness more. Encourage others. Pray.

Pray for the people of Israel, and all of the Middle East; Russia, Ukraine and all of that region, and China, for those people are living in the lands that the prophet Ezekiel testified about.

All Things…

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:9‭-‬12 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/1co.6.9-12.NASB1995

“And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a SAVIOUR, who is CHRIST the LORD.”
Luke 2:10‭-‬11 NASB2020

https://bible.com/bible/2692/luk.2.10-11.NASB2020

Thank GOD that JESUS was born! Merry Christmas, everyone!

We The People….

I’m reading a book set in 1860, before Abraham Lincoln was elected President, and the controversy of slavery. It wasn’t just slavery, but a way of life for the southern states. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was popular in the North and loudly disputed as lies and falsehood in the South. Our nation was divided by state, but also within families. Parents were divided, children, brothers, sisters, cousins were adamant that their side was the right side. We know from our history that this led to the Civil War, a terrible, bloody war that destroyed families and lives. North v. South; the Republican antislavery party v. the Democratic proslavery party.

Think about that for a minute. How close are we to something very similar today? Once again, we have families divided over issues like abortion, the Black Lives Matter movement, mask and covid shot mandates, Critical Race Theory in schools, more government control/Socialism v. less government control/Freedom. Defund the Police. What’s right? What’s wrong? Is it a conspiracy theory if it’s true? All Christians should be united on all of these issues, shouldn’t they? Seems like we should be, yet I find myself at odds with Christian family members and friends over just these issues! I ask, how can a Christian support taking the life of an unborn baby? How is a person more valuable because of skin color? Should a government be able to tell me I must mask up or take a shot when the science doesn’t support it? Yes, we should “render into Caesar what is Caesar’s”, but at what point is it too much?

Many, many people are literally preparing for a civil uprising to protest against tyranny. Peaceful protests are already occurring in many cities across our nation. Personally, I’m afraid that in order to stop the tyranny occurring in our capital, it’s going to require more than these peaceful gatherings, but I continue to pray that our leadership will get the message and make the changes needed. Are Christians involved in this movement? Absolutely. Unfortunately, there are also many others involved in the violence that is happening throughout the nation.

What can we do? I believe in being as prepared as possible for this recession we are swiftly headed into. It is critical that Christians unite in prayer for our leaders, and for guidance from God on what to support, and how to support it. I try not to engage in debate with family on subjects that I know we feel strongly about, but I cannot completely back down when I know that my beliefs are biblically correct. The only answer I have to the question is to pray. What would God have me do? We each have to be patient and pray and wait for His guidance. If His answer is to resist tyranny, then that is what I will do, to the best of my ability. Remember, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the enemy.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:10‭-‬13 NASB199

https://bible.com/bible/100/eph.6.10-13.NASB1995

Bless The LORD, O My Soul


 BLESS THE LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 
 BLESS THE LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 
 Who pardons all your iniquities, 
 Who heals all your diseases; 
 Who redeems your life from the pit, 
 Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 
 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. 
 The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. 
 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 
 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 
 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 
 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 
 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 
 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. 
 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. 
 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 
 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. 
 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, 
 And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them. 
 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. 
 BLESS THE LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 
 BLESS THE LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 
 BLESS THE LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Psalms 103:1‭-‬22 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.103.1-22.NASB1995
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

All for one; ONE for All

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/gal.3.28.NASB1995

All for one. One race, the human race. Ordained by God, the Creator. He created Adam, then he created Eve, and he told them to go and procreate and populate the earth.

Because of Adam and Eve’s bad decision, human kind were banished from the garden and placed in the world ruled by the enemy. Not because God wanted us gone from the garden and His Presence, but because man chose to separate himself from it. That hurt God, and we have continued to hurt Him with our bad decisions ever since. But the ALMIGHTY God wasn’t going to let us, His finest creatures, created in His likeness, to be destroyed by the enemy. He sent His Son, His own being, to earth to atone for our sins. ONE for ALL; once for all.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38‭-‬39 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/rom.8.38-39.NASB1995

All you need to do is accept His sacrifice, and you can never be separated from the LORD ever again.