Bragging is not proof of a persons confidence but a symptom of insecurity.
Let someone else praise you and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.
Proverbs 27:2
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The fear of death
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to life long slavery. Hebrews 2:14-15
Everybody wants to go to heaven but no body wants to die. Are you familiar with that song? Have you ever feared death? I did for many years after my sister Kimla's tragic death just two days after her first birthday. I was five years old when she died and had a fear that I would stop breathing while in my sleep. The fear of dieing continued on into adulthood. It wasn't until my early thirty's when I began to absorb God's word into my life and trust His promises that I was set free from this fear......
In Jon Piper's book~ Fifty Reasons Why Jesus came to die, he lists #39 reason for why Jesus came to die and that was to free us from the bondage to the fear of death. Satan is a murderer and a liar. But his main interest is not to kill. It is to damn us. His power to damn human beings lies not in himself, but in the sins he inspires and the lies that he tells. The only thing that sends anybody to hell is unforgiven sin. The one lethal weapon he has is the power to deceive us. His chief lie is that self-exaltion is more to be desired than Christ's exaltation, and that sin is preferred more than Christ's righeousness. If that weapon could be taken out of his hand, he would no longer have the power of eternal death. That is what Christ came to do-take that weapon out of Satan's hand. To do this, Christ took our sins upon himself and suffered for them. When that happened they could be used no more by the devil to destroy us. He can Taunt us, yes. Mock us, yes. But damn us? No. Christ bore the curse in our place. He can try all he wants but satan cannot destroy us. The wrath of God is removed. His mercy is our shield. Do I hear an Amen!!!!! To accomplish this deiverancce, Christ had to take on a human nature, because without it he could not experience death. Only the death of the Son Of God could destroy the one who had the power of death. Since...the children share in flesh and blood. he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. Hebrews 2:14
When Christ died for sins, he took from the devil his one lethal weapon: unforgiven sin. Freedom from fear was the aim of Christ in doing this. The fear of death enslaves. Christ died to set us free. When the fear of death is destroyed by an act of self-sacrificing love, the bondage of bigheaded self-preservation is broken. We are freed to love like Christ. We are the freest of all people.
Everybody wants to go to heaven but no body wants to die. Are you familiar with that song? Have you ever feared death? I did for many years after my sister Kimla's tragic death just two days after her first birthday. I was five years old when she died and had a fear that I would stop breathing while in my sleep. The fear of dieing continued on into adulthood. It wasn't until my early thirty's when I began to absorb God's word into my life and trust His promises that I was set free from this fear......
In Jon Piper's book~ Fifty Reasons Why Jesus came to die, he lists #39 reason for why Jesus came to die and that was to free us from the bondage to the fear of death. Satan is a murderer and a liar. But his main interest is not to kill. It is to damn us. His power to damn human beings lies not in himself, but in the sins he inspires and the lies that he tells. The only thing that sends anybody to hell is unforgiven sin. The one lethal weapon he has is the power to deceive us. His chief lie is that self-exaltion is more to be desired than Christ's exaltation, and that sin is preferred more than Christ's righeousness. If that weapon could be taken out of his hand, he would no longer have the power of eternal death. That is what Christ came to do-take that weapon out of Satan's hand. To do this, Christ took our sins upon himself and suffered for them. When that happened they could be used no more by the devil to destroy us. He can Taunt us, yes. Mock us, yes. But damn us? No. Christ bore the curse in our place. He can try all he wants but satan cannot destroy us. The wrath of God is removed. His mercy is our shield. Do I hear an Amen!!!!! To accomplish this deiverancce, Christ had to take on a human nature, because without it he could not experience death. Only the death of the Son Of God could destroy the one who had the power of death. Since...the children share in flesh and blood. he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. Hebrews 2:14
When Christ died for sins, he took from the devil his one lethal weapon: unforgiven sin. Freedom from fear was the aim of Christ in doing this. The fear of death enslaves. Christ died to set us free. When the fear of death is destroyed by an act of self-sacrificing love, the bondage of bigheaded self-preservation is broken. We are freed to love like Christ. We are the freest of all people.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Starting something new
A man's heart makes his plans but God directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
Are you having trouble sticking to a goal? The best way to (not) do something is talking about it. When starting something new~ don't tell anyone.
Are you having trouble sticking to a goal? The best way to (not) do something is talking about it. When starting something new~ don't tell anyone.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Picture this
Every summer for as long as I can remember I have organized my photographs, putting them in photo albums or decorative boxes. On the backs of each picture I write a date and the person, place or thing. This became important to me because when I was a small girl I remember my mother and her sisters looking through my grandmother's photographs and wondering "who these people were" or "I wonder what year this was taken" Well, its summer and it's time again to get those photographs put in a photo album or decorative box. Whilst ( I like saying that word) I was thinking on these things, I had a thought. Something has changed that has made it easier to procrastinate doing that and it is the digital camera. I know a second after the picture is taken if it turned out or not and I can view them on the screen so need to hurry to get them developed. You see, not so long ago we didn't have digital cameras and we had to actually take the film into our favorite photo center to get them developed. I loved the anticipation of waiting for the pictures and wondering how they would turn out. It encouraged me to get them developed sooner. Now the pix stay in my camera for mooooooonths! Am I the only one who has this problem? So my goal this summer is to work on getting all my pictures developed so that I can write on the backs of them and put them in those pretty decorative boxes. I recently developed pictures of family (in-laws from Oregon and Aunt and Uncle from Texas) that came for a visit.. I received so much joy looking though all the pictures and the memories that were made. With the help of pictures these memories can be for a life time. It's the simple things in life that can bring so much joy. God is so good.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Dry Seasons
So................. I was thinking about my blog the other morning and realizing that I hadn't written anything for awhile. I then asked the Lord if He wanted me to continue on with it and would He some how just let me know. Well, about 2 1/2 seconds later the phone rings! It's my friend Carole asking me if I'm still writing my blog and hoping that I haven't quit because she enjoys reading it. God seemed so near ;~)
Have you had times when you don't feel God is near? You seem to be doing all the right things~reading His word daily, praying,confessing sin,serving. Yet you don't feel as close to the Lord and your heart isn't as tender towards Him. I call these times~ dry seasons. I believe it is God's grace that we don't always feel His nearness. If we could always feel then we wouldn't be walking by faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1. We all know that we can't trust our feelings because feelings come and go. Feelings can be deceptive. How many times would we just stay in bed because we didn't "feel" like getting up.
Dry seasons can be a way of God wanting to cause more of a hunger and thirst for Him and His word. Just like He did when the Israelites were in the wilderness. God wanted His children to look for the manna everyday. To look to Him to sustain them. IT WAS A TIME OF TESTING. A time to grow us spiritually. When I realize in the midst of a dry season that this could be a time of testing it strangely gives me strength. The dry seasons have a purpose. Something good is happening, there is good in my future. The Holy Spirit gives us that hope. (hope is something good will happen in the future) I'm so thankful for times when my heart is tender and warm towards the Lord but also thankful for His grace when He sometimes doesn't allow me to feel His nearness.
Have you had times when you don't feel God is near? You seem to be doing all the right things~reading His word daily, praying,confessing sin,serving. Yet you don't feel as close to the Lord and your heart isn't as tender towards Him. I call these times~ dry seasons. I believe it is God's grace that we don't always feel His nearness. If we could always feel then we wouldn't be walking by faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1. We all know that we can't trust our feelings because feelings come and go. Feelings can be deceptive. How many times would we just stay in bed because we didn't "feel" like getting up.
Dry seasons can be a way of God wanting to cause more of a hunger and thirst for Him and His word. Just like He did when the Israelites were in the wilderness. God wanted His children to look for the manna everyday. To look to Him to sustain them. IT WAS A TIME OF TESTING. A time to grow us spiritually. When I realize in the midst of a dry season that this could be a time of testing it strangely gives me strength. The dry seasons have a purpose. Something good is happening, there is good in my future. The Holy Spirit gives us that hope. (hope is something good will happen in the future) I'm so thankful for times when my heart is tender and warm towards the Lord but also thankful for His grace when He sometimes doesn't allow me to feel His nearness.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Forgiveness
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Philippians 3:10
Not forgiving someone and harboring bitterness in your heart towards them is like you drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Forgiveness is hard and especially when you have been painfully sinned against. I heard a power sermon last week on forgiveness and I would like to share some of those truths with you. If you are struggling with forgiving someone I hope what I am about to share will help and that you will allow God to get you to the place of grace. We need Gods grace in order to forgive. There are three main reasons why forgiveness is so difficult:
1. forgiveness is SUFFERING
2. forgiveness is DEATH
3. forgiveness is CRUCIFIXION
When I first heard this I wasn't sure what that meant. You see, everyone who forgives goes through a death and experiences blood, sweat and tears. Forgiveness hurts and will feel worse at first because it is death and crucifixion. It is an act of absorbing the retaliation onto myself instead of lashing out. We don't want to experience that first step because it is painful and costly but that death is the precursor to life. Sometimes God will allow those He loves to be painfully sinned against. Christ suffered and was sinned against so we are not alone in our suffering. Christ absorbed our debt, He took our sins upon Himself and experienced crucifixion and death on the cross. This was a debt we could not pay, but He paid it for us. The debt didn't disappear it was absorbed. We have been purchased by the blood of Christ, and now we are owned by God and we are to serve Him. We are called according to His purpose and not our own . We no longer belong to our self. We have committed greater sins against God than any person has ever committed against us. God is calling us to forgive. He is calling us to die but it won't be the end but the beginning.
Not forgiving someone and harboring bitterness in your heart towards them is like you drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Forgiveness is hard and especially when you have been painfully sinned against. I heard a power sermon last week on forgiveness and I would like to share some of those truths with you. If you are struggling with forgiving someone I hope what I am about to share will help and that you will allow God to get you to the place of grace. We need Gods grace in order to forgive. There are three main reasons why forgiveness is so difficult:
1. forgiveness is SUFFERING
2. forgiveness is DEATH
3. forgiveness is CRUCIFIXION
When I first heard this I wasn't sure what that meant. You see, everyone who forgives goes through a death and experiences blood, sweat and tears. Forgiveness hurts and will feel worse at first because it is death and crucifixion. It is an act of absorbing the retaliation onto myself instead of lashing out. We don't want to experience that first step because it is painful and costly but that death is the precursor to life. Sometimes God will allow those He loves to be painfully sinned against. Christ suffered and was sinned against so we are not alone in our suffering. Christ absorbed our debt, He took our sins upon Himself and experienced crucifixion and death on the cross. This was a debt we could not pay, but He paid it for us. The debt didn't disappear it was absorbed. We have been purchased by the blood of Christ, and now we are owned by God and we are to serve Him. We are called according to His purpose and not our own . We no longer belong to our self. We have committed greater sins against God than any person has ever committed against us. God is calling us to forgive. He is calling us to die but it won't be the end but the beginning.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Satan meant it for evil but God meant it for good.
The injustice of Joseph's suffering in the book of Genesis is a story that grips my heart every time I read it. It's nothing short of astounding how he didn't become bitter after 13 years of undeserved suffering. I can't wait to meet Joseph. I have always been drawn to him because he reminds me of Jesus. So many parallels, both humiliated but later exalted. Joseph had this unique attitude during his suffering that things were not happening (to) him but (for) him. He trusted the character of God and remembered His promises. He knew some how all things would work together for good. I believe that is the secret to not becoming resentful or depressed during trials and suffering. Joseph didn't waste his suffering by complaining and asking "why me God" He had a choice how to respond to his circumstances. He didn't choose to whine but to worship. When the circumstances don't change then we need to trust God will change us. The enemy wants us defeated but the Lord wants us to prosper. Here are some encouraging words from the Matthew Henry commentary: Our enemies may strip us of outward distinctions and ornaments; but wisdom and grace cannot be taken from us. They may separate us from friends, family,relatives, and country; but they can not take from us the presence of the Lord. They may shut us from outside blessings, rob us of liberty. and confine us in dungeons; but they can not shut us out from communion with God, from the throne of grace, or take from us the blessings of salvation.
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