Shine His light, no matter how dark it may seem. Luke 8:16
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
This is my church. We just spent time praying together as a family.
Let’s pray for Unity!!!!!! God bless America!
Let’s turn from hate and turn to love. Let’s let love unite us.
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NLT (emphasis added)
“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8 NLT
Lord, be with this country, be with the families of those whose lives were taken unjustly around the country this week, bring unity, destroy hate, and protect all people from injustice. Please, no more killings, no more fear, no more division! In Jesus name, Amen!
When I was a child, I was afraid of God. I am not speaking about a healthy fear of God, but a feeling of distress about the idea of God. It was rooted in the idea that God was very legalistic – you do wrong and it’s over for you. There was no grace in my idea of God.
Unfortunately, too many in the world see God as a legalistic, smoting, I will abandon you if you do wrong type of God. It makes my heart hurt that so many believe God to be so cruel.
If we get down to it, yes, God deals with right or wrong actions/thoughts/etc. in black and white terms. There are no blurred lines when classifying something a sin versus not a sin. And, yes, Hell really exists. But God is truly a loving, caring Father. He does not classify the person based on their sin because we are all sinners.
God’s love is eternal. It existed long before we did. His love isn’t given to some and not given to others. Thankfully, all we need to do to experience his grace is accept Jesus as our Savior. Easy, simple, done.
My favorite part of who God is that God loves you even before you accept him. He cares for you even before you accepted him. He wanted you long before you wanted him. That is grace and that is love.
Even if you are reading this and you have been a believer a long time – remember this! Remember that you were known by God long before you knew him. His grace was there before you needed it. Accept it and move on. He wants you to live your life in peace!
“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”
Psalms 103:10-14 NLT
“You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:2-10 NLT
I have a lot of plans that I want to see fulfilled in my life. Most of those things bring me great fear. So much can go wrong! It baffles me to think that it all will come to pass.
But we must remember who holds my world in His hands! We must remember who sent His Son to die for us& the one who willingly took the cross for us. We have an amazing supporter who has our backs!
So no more fear. No more doubt. No more feeling inadequate or unworthy. He called you for a reason! Don’t be afraid to take that next step!
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”
Psalms 46:1-3 NLT
Beauty. We spend millions to look “beautiful.” Botox, plastic surgery, make up, airbrushing, Photoshop. Yep, we have a lot of ways to spend our money on make ourselves at least think we are more beautiful. We do this because our culture has shamed us to believe we have to look a certain way to be beautiful.
Especially women, we often find ourselves spending our free time worrying about how we look. Granted, I will admit, grooming and a little make up makes us look a little more presentable. But truth is, beauty is not society’s right to dictate. Our Father, the one who created us, calles us beautiful. Just. the. way. we. are. Yep. We were made beautiful.
Be proud of who you are. If we all had the same body shape and size – it would be so boring! If we all had the same skin, hair, eye color – it would be so dull! We are meant to be different. We are meant to be who we are!
So start holding your head a little higher. Start to walk in more confidence. And PLEASE, ladies and gentlemen, stop comparing yourself with others. You are unique because without you, this world would be a little too stale. We need you to be you. More importantly, God needs you to be you. He made you this way for a reason!
Be blessed, dear readers! Remember you are beautiful!
“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.”
Song of Songs 4:7 NLT
I was trained to be a counselor. Even though I have not pursued a career in the clinical field, my heart still beats like a counselor’s heart. Seeing people change for the better, getting freed from past bondage is one of the greatest feelings in the world.
There is a quality all counsellors must have to be successful – empathy. The “feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else’s feelings” – per Merriam-Webster. If you don’t have this quality, all the training in the world will not help you be a successful counselor. I’m a firm believer that this is true for Christians too. We must have empathy to win the world for Jesus.
There is no one with greater empathy than Jesus. A sinless man who not only showed us how to live and love, but who went to the Cross for us. His ministry was filled with empathetic moments (Luke 8:43-48, John 4:1-42, and John 8:1-11) where He showed us we need to understand where someone is coming from and love them on their level. Jesus also took all our sins to the Cross and died so that we may live. There is no greater empathetic act than that.
So, as Christians – the Church, the Bride of Christ – we’ve got to act like Jesus. Love and empathy, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, is the only way we can successfully win this world over. We must live and love like Jesus did. We must show the world who Jesus is through the way we live our lives.
This is a daily struggle for me, if I’m honest. Because I know that I am prone to being selfish. I am thankful for a God that understands and, therefore, I try to be more understanding myself. Join me in this journey!
Be blessed, dear friends! Remember who you are – loved and cherished by the Creator of the world!! We may fail, but God loves us just the way we are. Never give up!
“Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:15-18 NLT
“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.”
Galatians 6:1-3 NLT
“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:1-8 NLT
Remember who you are to God! Remember what He will do for you when you are His! Don’t let any person or situation allow you to believe you are not worthy of what God has planned for you…
“The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: “The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’””Psalms 2:7-9 NLT
Boldly Radiant 