Tag: death

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Speak Life

Words – we use them every day, in every culture, race, gender, and country.  They can heal and they can harm.  We can use them to change the world or destroy it.  Words have power.

Have you ever asked yourself why?  Why can words destroy or repair, raise up or cut down?  How can our words be so powerful?  It’s simple – we are made in the image of God – the God whose words brought this world into existence.  A word from Him can change the entire universe in an instant.

When we understand that, as an image of our Creator, our words can change the course of our destiny, crush a relationship, or bring healing to a wounded soul – we understand the power we have.  You are powerful, my friend. No matter how insignificant you feel, life and death are in the power of your tongue.  Make your words worthwhile – bring life from your words.

So many times, I’ve said to myself – “I know (this) or (that) is going to happen!” and it does.  I just spoke things as if they were, whether it is good or bad.  If what I spoke was negative, I would be in trouble.  After a few hard lessons, I started to watch my negative speak.  I am a human so I fail from time to time, but I know the better I speak life, the more blessed I am.

I encourage you – if you have a bad habit of speaking death over yourself, I encourage you to take the rest of this week by only speaking life over yourself, your job, your family, your husband/wife, your children, and your friends.  Don’t allow your words to stunt you.  You hold the power to a better life – use it!

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

  

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Lies, lies, and more lies

I hate lying.  I have never been good with it.  Most of the time, I get so nervous when I do lie that I know people can read it on my face.  I also hate being lied to.  It happens, though.  That is a part of our fallen nature.  I wish I could say that everything everyone ever tells me is the truth, but I know that is a naive way of thinking and impossible to expect.

The first lie ever spoken to a human being was in the Garden.  It was a lie that we believed almost immediately.  One thing to learn about Satan is he never changes.  He uses the same tactics over and over.  He will always lie to us to make us believe exactly the opposite of what God says.  Even convincing us that He, the one who bled and died for us, is lying to us.  How absurd is that?  Oh, but I can pretty much guaranty that you and I have fallen for his awful lies many times.

Lies are everywhere:

  • Life won’t get better – so you might as well end it now.
  • You are not made right so now you have to change…at all cost – including disfiguring your body to where you cannot go back.
  • No one loves you – no one ever has – no one ever will.
  • You will always be who you were – no one will ever be able to see you beyond who you were when you made that mistake.
  • You will never be as good as you once were – you messed your life up too much now.
  • You are a mistake.
  • You deserved to be treated like that.
  • You were made to be abused and thrown away.
  • You are no longer of value to this world.
  • You will never get married – no one would ever want you.
  • You might as well keep living in and doing that horrible thing.  You will never be good to anyone anymore.
  • Everyone is better than you.  Why do you think so much of yourself?
  • Because you look different, you are not as special as others.
  • Because your skin is a different color, you deserve less.

Unfortunately…I can go on.  Unfortunately, the lies you believe may not be up above.  Unfortunately, you may have lived with those lies a really long time.  But there is always hope!

“For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.  Your thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are! If I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” Psalm 139:13-18

“Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2

“Christian brothers, keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things.”  Philippians 4:8

“We do not use those things to fight with that the world uses. We use the things God gives to fight with and they have power. Those things God gives to fight with destroy the strong-places of the devil. We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Find hope in His words of truth.  Don’t ever allow yourself to be overtaken by the words of the eternal snake, but by the One who designed and created you.  He loves you despite your faults, your sins, and all the things that you hate about yourself.

You are His beloved.  No one can love you like He does.  I encourage you to get into His word and see what He says about you!

Pray this with me: Dear Father, who loves me unconditionally, help me determine the truth from the lies.  Heal the parts of me that were wounded from these lies.  Make me into who I am supposed to be – whole.  Tear down the strongholds in my mind, set up by Satan and all his helpers.  Help me accept me as you made me to be.  Forgive me for believing that you in any way made a mistake in making me who I am.  Help me become not only Your follower, but Your servant.  I want to follow you at all cost.  Thank you for being who You are.  I love you.  In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

Be blessed everyone!

Lies and truth

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Restoration

I’ve heard it on the radio, I’ve seen devotions about it and I’ve seen my Facebook friends do it – picking a word for their year.  A word that they will focus on all year and make that year about THAT particular word.  (What’s your word for the year?)  Yeah…I am late on this, but I thought I had my word….until I heard differently from God.  Yep…my word is kinda awesome: RESTORE.

The definition of restore per Merriam-Webster is “to give back (someone or something that was lost or taken) : to return (someone or something); to put or bring (something) back into existence or use; to return (something) to an earlier or original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc.”  The implications of this word are magnificent.

I have so many things in my life that I want to see RESTORED!  Relationships, finances, housing, ministry, life, health, faith, etc., etc. – for me and for my loved ones.  Can my God do it?  YES!  Whatever the situation may be, I know that God will do it…in a mighty way, too.

Let’s delve into some scriptures:

Jeremiah 30:17

I will give you back your health
    and heal your wounds,” says the Lord.
“For you are called an outcast—
    ‘Jerusalem for whom no one cares.’”

Joel 2:25-26

The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
    to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.
    It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
 Once again you will have all the food you want,
    and you will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.
    Never again will my people be disgraced.

Psalm 51:12

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.

Acts 3:19-21

 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.  For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

1 John 5:4

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

Whatever you need restored, God can take care of it!  He has promised us RESTORATION and healing.  By HIS STRIPES we are healed, restored, made whole again.  Yep…because our Savior was broken, we are able to live a RESTORED life.  I’m so thankful for that!

What are you faithfully hoping that God restores this year?  Are you faithfully praying over that restoration and believing God will deal with it, no matter what the now looks like?

Pray this with me: Lord, thank you for your faithfulness in all things.  Thank you for the promise of restoration through the death and resurrection of your son Jesus.  Please touch the areas of my life that I and my loved ones desire and/or need restoration in.  Help me to have faith and stand on your word that all will be given back as long as I follow you!  I thank you for already doing it in my life and the lives of my loved ones.  We pray this all in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Be blessed everyone.

Restore

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Overcomer

This past Tuesday, January 27, 2015, marked 70 years since Auschwitz was liberated.  What happened there are unimaginable evils and proves that the human race has great power which they can use to inflict the most grotesque treatment on each other.  The survivors of this horrific event in our history always amaze me – how they have overcame and kept on going.

I was watching one of the many special reports that were on TV this week and they had one very interesting man – Michael Greenfield.  He is so inspiring in how he lives his life after Auschwitz.  This is a man who has dressed every President of the United States since Eisenhower.  His demeanor is so full of joy I am sure if you met him you would not be able to tell that he is a survivor of one of the worst genocide the modern world has seen.  There was one thing that Mr. Greenfield said that struck me – the last thing his father said to him as they parted ways when leaving the train cars was “If we don’t survive this (meaning his parents, aunts, uncles, etc), survive and live in honor of us.”  So he did…

What would have happened if Mr. Greenfield decided to just wallow in his horror and not move on?  Would he have achieved all that he did?  No, he wouldn’t.  In fact, Mr. Greenfield used this tragedy to propel him into the rest of his life. 

We all have had horrible things happen to us; it may not be at the level of Auschwitz, but horrible nonetheless.  How many times do we get stuck in wallowing and not overcoming?  Probably too many.  It is much easier to just allow things happen and react to it.  But that is not how we are to handle this life.

Bad things are going to happen – that is what occurs when sin enters the world.  But there is way more good than there is evil.  Think about this: Auschwitz is no longer an active concentration camp, but a remembrance of how good wins out over evil every time.  If you go to Poland, you can stand in the middle of the camp and witness that fact first hand.  That is on my bucket list for sure, by the way.

When we face evil in our own life, remember that good will always win.  Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”  Take courage in that promise and just keep on going.  Believe me, the momentary pain will be nothing compared to what happens after you overcome.

I am going to leave you with this scripture.  Be blessed, everyone!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.  After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. (Hebrews 12:1-4)

Overcomer