Tag: #thenameofJesus

B.I.B.L.E.

So you like anagrams? Me, too! Here’s another one I have seen:

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. B.I.B.L.E.

For several years, I was a leader in the recovery program at my church. We asserted (and I still do) that 1) Everyone alive has Hurts, Hangups, and Habits, and 2) There are two types of people in the world – those who need recovery, and those who are in recovery. The small groups I led were made up primarily of women who had suffered some form of abuse in the lives; some had been in horrific situations. Why didn’t they just leave, you ask? Oh, it’s not that simple, and it’s a subject I have addressd in previous blogs, so it won’t be dealt with today. In our ‘Basic Instructions’, a very important thing I’ve learned is that any situation we find ourselves in, whether by our choices or someone else’s choices, we don’t have to go through it alone. Read all of Psalm 27. These are a few of the verses I like to share with my ‘girls’ – and also with any man who is struggling. Struggles and hurt are not gender specific!

“The LORD is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the Stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. You have said, “Seek My Face.” My heart says to You, “Your Face, LORD, do I seek.” For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. I believe that I shall look upon the Goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” – Psalms 27:1‭, ‬3‭-‬3‭, ‬8‭, ‬10‭-‬10‭, ‬13‭-‬14 ESV

If you are paying attention, I have used these verses in other blogs. They are very appropriate scripture verses to use every day! In verse 10, the psalmists states that his “father and … mother have forsaken” him. I was blessed beyond measure that mine did not forsake me when I was caught up in the enemy’s traps, although they were hurt beyond imagination by my lifestyle. That, unfortunately, is not always the case. For a number of my girls, the abusive lives they were trapped in was, in fact, perpetrated by their very own parents. It’s frequently on the news as well, when parents, foster parents, relatives, and other authority figures are the sources of abuse. I can’t even imagine how an adult can be that way to a child, or another adult. It is straight from the depths of hell. But read on to verses 13-14!

“I believe that I shall look upon the Goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”

We read these verses with incredible Hope. I, too, like the psalmist, believe that “I shall look upon the Goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! I see it every day. The Goodness of the LORD shines through the changed lives of the women (and men) who have sought the LORD in their lives, and allows others to see how Good He is, for:

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be Praised, and His Greatness is Unsearchable.” – Psalms 145:3 ESV

Do you have the Hope, the Peace, the LIGHT of the LORD in your life? He doesn’t care how ‘bad’, how broken you are. He wants us as we are. He is the Great Physician, the Creator and Craftsman. Ony the LORD can repair us and hold us together. Don’t mistake this to say that once you receive JESUS CHRIST as LORD of your life, everything will become peaches and cream. Au contraire, my friends, when we allow Him to Love us as He longs to, the enemy, that prince of everything dark and evil, known as Satan – our enemy will hit us with anything he can come up with to turn our face away from the LORD. It often works, too. When the abuse doesn’t lessen, when our finances get worse instead of better, when illness seems to loom over us and our loved ones, even death…. we can reach for heaven and the Peace of the Holy Spirit, or we can fall into ugliness and despair. It’s always a choice; one that I confess to messing up quite frequently.

“For from HIS Fullness we have all received, Grace upon Grace. …. For GOD so Loved the world, that He gave His Only SON, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For GOD did not send His SON into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only SON of GOD.” – John 1:16; 3:16‭-‬18 ESV

AMEN. How will you fare when standing in front of The Judge?

F.E.A.R.

I ran across the best anagram!

F.E.A.R. = False Evidence Appearing Real

How great is that? We know that the enemy wants us to run away from GOD and His Will, so he – Satan – is constantly throwing scary things in our paths. It might be a memory of an instance where we failed in something, or it could be an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy. The enemy can’t read our minds, but he is very adept at reading us by our facial and body expressions. From watching us throughout our lives, he can make very accurate guesses as to how we might react to certain things, and he uses that knowledge to put obstacles in front of us. Our LORD knows how devious and sneaky the enemy is, and He provides a Light to show the falseness of those fears and obstacles in the form of JESUS.

“The LORD is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the Stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalms 27:1 ESV

“And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the Salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. For the **Egyptians** whom you see today, you shall never see again.”-
Exodus 14:13 ESV (emphasis mine)

Those Egyptians that the Israelites feared are our fears! Replace the word “Egyptians” with whatever fear you are facing at this moment, and say it out loud for the Power of JESUS CHRIST to work in your heart and your mind:

Fear not, stand firm, and see the Salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. For the {name your fear!} whom you see today, you shall never see again. Get behind me, Satan, in the Name of JESUS, for you hold no power over me!

Powerful words! The Name of JESUS. Listen to Chris Tomlin sing the song by that name, The Name of JESUS. What a beautiful, moving, powerful Name!

GOD IS LOVE

“So we have come to know and to believe the Love that GOD has for us. GOD is Love, and whoever abides in Love abides in GOD, and GOD abides in Him. …. There is no fear in love, but Perfect Love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in Love.” – 1 John 4:16, 18 ESV

“The LORD your GOD is in your midst, a Mighty One Who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His Love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

“There is no fear in love…” A beautiful statement of Truth. I am that person who has spent most of her life ‘looking for love in all the wrong places’, as the song goes. All of the “love” I found was full of fear: fear of rejection, fear of disappointment, fear of discovery, fear of punishment, fear of physical and emotional pain. Looking back on it all, I wonder how on earth I was so blind, but then – I know how it happened. I took my eyes off of JESUS. It only takes a minute, sometimes, to fall off of the path of our LORD and into the grasp of our enemy. I fell hard, and the enemy had a death grip on me. He put blinders on me and turned me away from the Love Light of my LORD, and directed my gaze into the brightly shining bling and glamour of the world. I came to believe the enemy’s lies, and his deceitfulness was pretty complete. For years, I wandered in his world, turning away anyone who reached out to help me out of the swamp. I ‘knew’ I couldn’t escape; I was completely under his spell.

Thank GOD for His Son and the Absolute Love He has for us! No human could free me from Satan’s grip, but my SAVIOUR could …. and He did! He plucked me from death’s door, and I began to awaken from the trance-like life I had been living. It wasn’t instantaneous, and it required hard work on my part to crawl out of and away from the abyss, but I wasn’t doing it on my own. My LORD JESUS CHRIST was there, the HOLY SPIRIT and His angels, to hold my hand or free me as I would be stuck in the muck, and always shining His Light of Love and Clarity around me. Thank You, LORD! I lived in fear all of those years I was away from the LORD, when all I needed to do was to lift my eyes away from the ugliness to banish the fear. My LORD was always there, waiting patiently for me to see Him. It only took one word from me for Him to take my hand – JESUS. He IS Love, PERFECT Love, and no-one can defeat Him or destroy the Love He has for each and every one of us. His Love redeems us, completes us, heals us. There is no better, no higher love than the LOVE of our LORD GOD and our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

“There is no fear in love…”

Let that be your strength and your courage! GOD is Love, and He wants to lavish His Love on us. It’s the only love that you will ever find, no matter how far and wide you look, the only unconditional, unchangeable, unremitting, and never failing LOVE that will never fail or leave. No fear. Amen!

LET FREEDOM RING!

“For the Spirit GOD gave us does not make us timid, but gives us Power, Love and self-Discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our LORD or of me His prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the Gospel, by the Power of GOD. He has saved us and called us to a Holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of His Own Purpose and grace. This Grace was given us in CHRIST JESUS before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our SAVIOR, CHRIST JESUS, Who has destroyed death and has brought LIFE and Immortality to light through the Gospel.” – 2 Timothy 1:7‭-‬10 NIV

Okay, you are probably asking what in the world does this scripture have to do with our celebrating the freedom of our country today? Without the Freedom of our LORD, there is no other freedom. We are Blessed to live in this great country (yes, great, despite all of her problems) where we can believe and worship and give testimony to our beliefs without fear of government retaliation. It is nearly impossible to do this in many countries around the world. It is unfortunate, though, that even in the U.S.A. many followers of CHRIST are singled out and persecuted, while any and every other belief system is tolerated, and encouraged. Our soldiers and sailors, fly-boys and marines and other maritime services have given life and limb to ensure our freedoms….. yet so many citizens spit on them and ridicule and revile them for that service.

Today, I celebrate my freedom as a citizen of this great nation, and I celebrate my freedom from death through JESUS CHRIST. Both of these freedoms came with tremendous sacrifice! Not my sacrifice, but the unbelievable and incomprehensible sacrifices of our country’s men and women, and most importantly, the sacrifice of my LORD and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST. Grace and Mercy abounds, Amen!

“If My people, who are called by MY Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then I WILL Hear from heaven, and I WILL forgive their sin and WILL heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV

Time to hit our knees, people!!

Could I Wash Your Feet?

Insecure, introverted, shy, lacking confidence. These are words I would use to describe myself, but there are some who would say those traits aren’t me, and that instead I am outgoing, boisterous, and assertive. Have you heard the saying, “Fake it till you make it?” Forcing myself to interact in social situations when I really just want to be invisible; taking the lead at work; standing in front of a crowd and speaking my heart….. sometimes it feels like my heart will burst out of my chest from nerves! Left to myself, I wouldn’t choose to share my story, but my GOD had other ideas! Through the Grace and Mercy of the Living, Loving, LORD, I have shared my story of redemption in large and small groups as well as individually. I have no confidence in myself, but I have every confidence in my LORD JESUS CHRIST and His Redemptive Power. LORD, let my words always be Your Words, and my actions reflect the Love and Mercy you have shown me. Be with me when I fall short of your example, as I do every day. Let Your confidence be mine. Amen.

“Let us then approach GOD’s Throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive Mercy and find Grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16 NIV

A few years ago, our pastor and his wife demonstrated what it means to humble themselves and have a servants heart. They took people from the congregation and washed their feet, I was humbled to be a part. To have a leader, a teacher, kneel to do something so base, is difficult for me to describe because it touched me so deeply. Imagine if it was such a profound moment for me, how must the Apostles have felt when the Messiah, Saviour of the world, GOD, knelt in front of them to wash their feet? What a beautiful picture! That’s the attitude we need. Humility, and confidence in our LORD JESUS. Amen!

Listen to “My Story,” sung by Big Daddy Weave

Scary

“Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.” – Revelation 20:15 NIV

Does this scare you, or do you look at it and scoff? It scares me! If I have the choice to walk into a burning lake for eternity – think oil or gas burning on top of the water – or to spend eternity with my LORD, well, it’s an easy choice for me. I’ve seen water burn, where natural gas escaping naturally from the earth had been lit to watch it ‘burn’. (Weird!) I’ve seen water burning in photographs and movies of Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attached our ships. It’s horrific to watch. I really have no desire to experience it first-hand! I’m going for the escape clause that JESUS provided us through His incredible Mercy:

“If we confess our sins, He is Faithful and Just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9 NIV

Thank you, JESUS, for coming to our aid; for being our Advocate to the LORD! I don’t claim to be a prophet or have a perfect life and relationship with GOD; far from it! The only thing perfect about me is that I am perfectly imperfect, perfectly flawed and broken. All that I can do is proclaim the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, and how He has Redeemed me.

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the FATHER and with His Son, JESUS CHRIST. This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: GOD is LIGHT; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of JESUS, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:3‭, ‬5‭-‬7 NIV

HALLELUJAH. What a powerful statement that last sentence gives. “…. and the Blood of JESUS, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” Does it get any better than that?

Photo credt usiter.com

I Don’t Believe In Ghosts

I don’t believe in ghosts. (I do, however, get a kick out of going on ‘ghost tours’ and visiting ‘haunted’ places, and reading and watching ghost stories.) I have seen spirits. Not ghosts, spirits. What’s the difference, you ask? According to Wikipedia, a ‘ghost’ is defined as “the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living,” and a ‘spirit’ is defined as “a supernatural being, often but not exclusively a non-physical entity; such as a ghost, fairy, or angel.” I do believe in spirits, and I believe that once your earthly body dies, your soul either goes to GOD or to the enemy. The soul does not stick around to ‘haunt’ or ‘communicate’ with us…. but we’ll get into that a bit later. The Bible talks about them, and categorizes them as either angels or demons. GOD created angels, and when Satan, (Lucifer, the Morning Star) rebelled, he took a third of the angels with him to become the demons we are familiar with. These demons possess people, animals, and places, and they manifest themselves in different ways. They are the haunted places that we hear and read about, and they are the ‘ghosts’ we see and feel.

I believe in spirits, in demons, because I have experienced them. I have felt the evil in a room that was used for satanic, demonic reasons; I have seen ‘ghosts’; I have had my person hijacked by demons who controlled me and caused me to do things that would have normally been abhorrent and against my principles and beliefs. Satan and his minions have had thousands of years to find the best ways and means to subordinate humans and lead us away from the LORD. They aren’t mind-readers, but they are very practiced and astute at reading people; they are very good at discovering our weak points to exploit.

What can we do about this? The first, and absolutely most important thing we can do is to accept JESUS as our LORD and SAVIOUR. Really open our hearts, our minds, and our souls to him. I am convinced that the demons were able to work themselves into my life by a couple of things I did which opened doors to them. In junior high, a group of us experimented with an Ouija board. When I asked the board to tell us who it was, it rapifly spelled out ‘s-a-t-a-n’. Of the girls who were there, I know of several who have rejected GOD in their lives. It scared me enough ghat I immersed myself in church for the next few years, but let me assure you, the enemy is crafty and patient. When I left home to attend college, I was drawn into groups who played on the edge. My faith wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the onslaught and I succumbed to the ‘fun’ we were all so busy having. I believe that because my Dad was a pastor, I became a particular target. Playing around with Ouija boards or Tarot cards, seances, contacting the dead…. these are dangerous tools created by the enemy to suck you into his nefarious scheme. There is no ‘playing’, they are intended to be deadly – literally. The enemy’s stated purpose is to turn people from GOD, and when he succeeds with a ‘Christian’ there are demons everywhere doing the happy dance. Despite attemprs over the years to get back to church and a spiritual relationship with GOD, I was drawn deep into the abyss. I almost died a couple of times, but my GOD stepped in and literally saved my life. I suffered, physically, emotionally, and spiritually because of my choices, and I suffered (and still suffer) the consequences of my actions. Angels, sometimes in the form of people and sometimes invisible to me, kept physical death away so that I had the time and the opportunities to find my way back to my SAVIOUR. Not everyone gets that chance, but I have met many survivors of the evil one in my journey, and they know how blessed they are to have escaped. We are NOT victims; we are survivors.

Ghosts? No, not so much. Spirits? Absolutely. I know they exist, both the good (angels) and the bad (fallen angels, aka demons). I have experienced both, up close and personal. The HOLY SPIRIT is one who is always with me now, listening to every word and thought, and gently (okay, sometimes NOT so gently when I veer off the way!) guiding me in the way the LORD GOD would have me go. The LORD GOD, His Son JESUS, and the HOLY SPIRIT are real, alive, and well. They will never, ever steer me to danger, but They will keep me safe when I allow them control of my life. Satan, the enemy of GOD, and all of his creepy little minion spirits are also real and alive, and are constantly harassing and searching for any little crack in our lives to grasp and take us into sin and danger.

Believe in JESUS. He is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life (John 14:6). There is no other way to GOD the FATHER, the Comforter, and to the HOLY SPIRIT, and Eternal Life. Your choice – an eternity of Life and Love with our LORD, or an eternity of death and suffering with the enemy. Do you believe? Even more, do you accept JESUS as your LORD and SAVIOUR?

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, JESUS came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the LORD. A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, JESUS came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to Him, “My LORD and my GOD!” Then JESUS told him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” JESUS performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that JESUS is the MESSIAH, the SON of GOD, and that by believing you may have LIFE in His Name.” – John 20:19‭-‬20‭, ‬26‭-‬31 NIV

AMEN and AMEN!

Prayer …. Genuine or Fake?

There was an elderly, hard of hearing gentleman in the church I grew up in, who, when called on to pray, would pray long and loudly. You could almost feel the collective groan that would rise from the youth group. I know he had the utmost respect for the LORD and a genuine love for the people of the church, but as teenagers, we looked at his prayers as an agonizing ordeal. We had no appreciation for the life he had lived, and we didn’t really want to hear the needs of the church itemized. Now, I honestly don’t remember if he prayed for individual people or for the state of the church, the nation, and the world. We mostly tuned him out, preoccupied as we were with who we were sitting by or where the cute boys were sitting, or how long it would be until we could get something to eat. Were his prayers genuine, or was he like the Pharisees praying on the street corners, looking to impress the passersby? I believe he was genuine in his faith and his prayers, but to me, the real question today is how his prayers impacted others. Did he bring people to a closer relationship with GOD, or push them away with his long-windedness?

How do we pray today? When asked to pray, are your prayers designed to impress people? Are they really gossip disguised as prayers? Are they intended for GOD’s ears, or for other people? I like short and sweet, and I try hard to remember what JESUS said about prayer: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your FATHER knows what you need before you ask Him.” – Matthew 6:7‭-‬8 NIV

Jesus went on to teach His disciples (and us) how to pray. He taught them: “This, then, is how you should pray:  ‘Our FATHER in heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly FATHER will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your FATHER will not forgive your sins.” – Matthew 6:9‭-‬10‭, ‬12‭-‬15 NIV (I think that last verse deserves some intense attention from us!)

Pray genuinely, with praise and supplication. Our GOD already knows what we want and, more importantly, He knows what we need. If you are in such a black hole, in such pain that you can’t think, just say ‘JESUS’. The Holy Spirit is here with us to carry even our groans and our cries of distress to the FATHER, and JESUS is there as our Advocate and SAVIOUR. Amen.

Listen to 7eventh Time Down sing “Just Say Jesus”

Guilt Is An UGLY Thing

Guilt is built into us from the moment we begin life. From a two-celled zygote (I remember my high school science!), to a fully-formed baby, to a 100+ year old person, we are guilty of sin. It’s in our DNA, thanks to the decision made millenia ago by the first man and first woman, and it is furthered by our upbringing. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself!’ ‘I can’t believe you would do such a thing.’ Even, ‘You’ll never amount to anything.’ There are hundreds of variations on this theme. Even David, the great and renowned king of Israel, had guilt about his actions. Only one man has ever lived a guilt-free life on this earth, and that man is called Jesus.

“Have Mercy on me, O GOD, because of Your Unfailing Love. Because of Your Great Compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against You, and You alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in Your sight. You will be proved right in what You say, and Your Judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O GOD. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your Presence, and don’t take Your HOLY SPIRIT from me.” – Psalms 51:1‭-‬11 NLT

There is a release from guilt that can only come when we surrender it to the LORD. It’s an incredible release to be free from that burden! My prayer today is that whatever guilt you are hanging on to, no matter what it is, you will let it go. It’s never easy, because we are taught guilt from an early age – but it can be done! Sometimes, too, guilt is caught up in unforgiveness, which makes it doubly difficult to shed. We need to remember that forgivess, or asking for forgiveness, is what we have to do in order to gain freedom ftom guilt. Read David’s song as your prayer today.

Listen to Natalie Grant sing “More Than Anything.”