Tag: Jesus

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Faithful

Finding yourself in a place of worry, fear or anxiety is easy. Life is hard, not just for some – but for all people. We can become so overwhelmed with ourselves, our circumstances, and what is wrong that we forget one crucial thing – God is faithful.
Our Lord never changes – he is who has always been. When he tells you he is going to do something, believe it. He doesn’t belong in this carnal, messed up world that we live in. No, in fact, he is working all the pain in our lives for our good and his glory.
I have had too many moments in my life where I didn’t put my faith in him as I should and allowed worry to consume me.  I have taken up the practice of saying out loud – “God, thank you for your faithfulness” every time I feel worry or fear come over me.  It is telling him I am trusting his plan in spite of my emotions and reminding myself that he is still God.  Doing this brings peace over me.  God is sooo faithful!!
Be blessed dear readers.  Live and love boldly!!
“Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭7:9-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:90‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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Small acts

Have you ever wondered who the person walking down the street, sitting next to you in church, or the coworker who you talk to on the elevator is?  Maybe you know their name – but you ever wonder who they really are?
I do…all the time. Each person is so complex. We don’t know what is truly behind that smiling face. You may never know who needs a smile, “Good morning!”, or a simple encouraging word.  
There are a lot of hurting, broken people in this world and showing the love of Christ doesn’t need to be over the top or extravagant. We can change the world one small act of kindness at a time!
Be blessed, dear readers. You are ALL world changers.
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.””

‭‭John‬ ‭13:34-35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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Our Strong Tower

Living in Texas, I am accustomed to thunderstorms. They often don’t scare me, but I’ll admit there are times I do get uneasy. As a child, my relationship to storms was very different. Even the smallest rain storm would cause anxiety because I was unsure of what may come.
My life of faith in God is described very similarly. Before I truly knew God deeply, I was often fearful when things got crazy, hard, or sad. But as I grew and started to learn that God had me – I learned that there is no need for fear.
Dear reader, you may not know the how, when, or what of God’s plan for a reprieve in your storm, but know that He always has a plan. There is nothing that happens that He doesn’t know about (see Job 1:6-12). So there is no need to worry.
Look at what happened when Jesus died on the Cross. Jesus himself told the disciples that He will rise again (see Mark 9:21 & Luke 9:22). But there was still doubt in Thomas’ heart – he had to put his hands in Jesus’ wounds to believe that the Lord had risen (John 20:24-29). Sometimes, our miracle is staring us in the face, but our faith is too small to see it.
When you stand upon the promises of God, great things happen. Have faith and don’t falter. Trust the plan God has in place & learn to use faith to make it through!
Do you struggle with faith? Remember this: “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ – so get into the Word of God. Read it daily. You will find yourself gaining faith. As you gain faith, your relationship will grow with God.
Storms come to all, that is fact, but we don’t have to succumb to them. Keep your head up!
“The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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Did Jesus love Judas?

In a ministry I am a part of, our ministry leader has asked us to take a look at the disciples of Jesus and look at the grace He showed each of them.  Below is what I have studied on and found in this journey.

There were 12 disciples -ALL Jesus chose. They weren’t a mistake and chosen for a reason. He knew the hearts of those who he chose and how they would decide to live their life.  Not one of them was perfect, but one has always been thought of as despicable – Judas Iscariot.

The man who betrayed Jesus. The one who sent Jesus to the cross. How awful was he? My question for you is – did Christ die for everyone BUT Judas? Was Judas’ sin too great to be covered by the blood?

Answer: NO! Jesus knew he had to die. Someone had to betray him. Reality is that Jesus was born to die. If Jesus decided to give up His purpose, he could have called the Angels down and the Cross would have had to be for someone else. But He didn’t. God used Judas’ sin for the good of the world. Jesus believed in Judas’ potential or He wouldn’t have chosen him and ministered with him. Just because Judas decided to make a horrible, awful mistake didn’t mean God still didn’t want him.

Every time we sin we decide that God’s law, provision, demands are not important and therefore, we are Judas. We sell our God to walk in greed. Yet, Christ chose us. Jesus doesn’t turn our back on us. He died for us!!

Think about this – if Judas hadn’t hung himself, but came to Jesus after He had risen to repent, would Judas been redeemed & restored?  I, personally, think so. Jesus chose Judas for a reason.

Remember this: Jesus chose YOU for a reason. No matter what you have done, you are not too far gone for the love of God to reach you. Don’t give up. Jesus atoned for your death 2,000 years ago. All you need is a repentant heart – go to Christ and ask Him for forgiveness.  Then watch Him turn your life around!
Never give up – always be blessed!
Much love, dear readers!
“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:7-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15:12-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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Love

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!

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Accepted

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

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Bring It

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

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You are…you.

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

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The Art Of Empathy

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

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Remember…

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