Healings - 1

God is so good!! He loves everyone, he doesn't like the sin any of us have or have had in our lives but he DOES love us. He goes to extremes to bring people to Him but some just doesn't want anything to do with Him. What a shame! My heart goes out to these people and I pray for them almost daily. I am praying that some will decide to turn to Jesus.

God has showered my family with so many blessings and they just keep coming. I am so glad my family has Him in their lives.

Many years ago Dave (my husband) fell off of a three story house. He landed on a freshly dumped pile of rocks. He was taken to the hospital where his boss called me so I rushed to the hospital in Kansas City. He was actually doing pretty well so I was relieved. I finally went home, got the kids ready for bed, and put the them to bed.

The next day I went to the hospital and was informed he wasn't doing to well, he had almost died during the night. I was so shocked and just started shaking. They told me he was out of danger so I calmed down. At this time they told me the pile of rocks was what saved his life. God was already in control but at that time my relationship with God was almost nonexistent. I still prayed and thanked God for keeping Dave safe. He was released from the hospital nine days later. He had a long recovery and had to have surgery but he came through with just some permanent damage.

Even though my relationship was nonexistent I did believe in Him and knew life was not the same without Him. I still continued to pray and thank Him for all that He had done for us, He had already done so much and had given us so many blessings.

Shortly after Dave's surgery, he was home and working. Well, I was driving the car on I-35 and passing another car when he decided to pass the car in front of him, I was at his side. To avoid an accident I pulled off on the shoulder and then lost control of the car. I went into the median and across the north bound traffic and down in a big ditch. I was knocked unconscious and when I came to their was a gentleman at the side of the car trying to help me. The ambulance came and took me to the hospital. They called Dave, he came up to the hospital and told me when I was in the other lane of traffic a semi truck was just feet from me. Well, guess who I gave the credit to for not hitting the car, you guessed it, the truck driver. Although I have given God credit for these for many years now.

I know God must have wondered why I gave the credit to someone else. How could I have done that? Remember I didn't have a personal relationship with God. I prayed to Him and thanked Him that the truck driver didn't hit my car. Well, at that time I never really thought about God guiding this man as he was driving the truck.

After several surgeries and a body cast I came out of all of this just fine. Praises and thanks to the Lord. He is so good.

Psalm 52:1; "Who boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually." Even though I thanked God I never really gave Him the credit in both of these accidents. I don't know how to explain other than I knew He was always with us and He took care of us but never giving Him the glory of what He did. Even after that God continued to bless us.

By this time I was beginning to put things together and knew if it weren't for God none of these would have had a good ending. Psalm 51:17; "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." I was a broken person and I was remorseful because of the way I had acted toward God and treated Him. Thanks to Debi, as she was the one that brought me back to the Lord. I have never forgotten nor will I ever forget what she did for me. Thank you, Debi from my heart. God forgave me and accepted me back into His family. I just praise and give Him all the glory for this.


When my second granddaughter, Kendil was born she was not breathing and was very black. They immediately took her to the side of the room and started working on her. The cord had wrapped around her neck and literally chocked her to death. It happened again, God was right there and in control of everything. He has never stopped with the blessings. Kendil didn't have any affects from this at all. She is married with two wonderful children and is a nurse at the hospital in Leavenworth.

The next thing that happened was with our son, Kenneth. He was married and was sick, his wife took him to the doctor. He had a bleeding ulcer, really bad. The doctor called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. When they were taking him to the hospital, Dana (his wife) asked if they could take him to Kansas City, Kansas and they wouldn't because the other hospital was closer and they weren't sure he was going to make it. Well again, God was there and taking care of everything. He had surgery and came home in a week.


Thank you for stopping by to read my story but it doesn't end here, there is more and I will finish it with my blog on Monday, January 3, 2011. I hope you have enjoyed my testimonies of the Lord's healings in my family and will return to learn of the rest of it.

Happy New Year and I pray all of you will be showered with God's blessings. God loves all of us.

Mercy

Wherever I go the Lord is with me. He is at my side continually with His faithful love and kindness. His help is constant along with His mercy, and support. For me, my life is incomplete without the Lord. When the time comes I will be with the Lord, forever. Psalm 23:6; "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."


It is comforting to know God is with me all of the time. No matter what I face God will be at my side to help me through it. He doesn't go just so far and leave me, He stays with me at all times.

Because I love Him I want to obey Him, praise Him, share His love with others and tell them of His mercies. Everyone has the right to God's love and mercy not just a select few. God is interested in all of us, when we suffer He will uphold us with His love and His mercy.

Psalm 25:14; "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them his covenant." To fear God is recognizing Him as a God who is angry about sin. God has the power to punish the ones who disobey His righteous laws. When we truly fear the Lord we will live obedient lives to His commandments and will say 'no' to sin. The fear I have of the Lord is a holy fear because He is Holy, it is not the same fear that I might have of running into another car or some other fear that can be prevented.

Christ sympathizes with our weaknesses. We should know we are able to draw near to the throne, God wants us to call upon Him, He desires this of us. This throne is what they call the "throne of grace." From this comes God's love, help, mercy, forgiveness, spiritual power, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, all that we need under any situation. Isn't this awesome?

II John 1:3; "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." The mercy given to us is free pardon and forgiveness. Grace, mercy, and peace are desired in truth and love.

Have you ever thought about all things God has given to us just so we can be close to Him? It takes so much for us to be close to Him but it is not hard to do because of our love for Him. Our love for Him and His love for us is why we want to be obedient to whatever He would ask of us. When I think about all the things that work together just for us so we can be close to the Lord I can feel the love of Jesus and my body feels so warm all over.

Our Enemy

I Peter 5:8; "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking who he may devour;"


It seems as though Satan has been walking around the Christians this Christmas season, especially on Jesus' birthday.

As Christians we have been delivered from his power but he still goes around like a roaring lion, he is a threat to us. He seeks to destroy us in different ways, by illness, family, friends, accidents, argument with a loved one, loss of a job, or our homes. Anything that is important to us, he works on this. Sometimes he finds other ways to destroy our walk with the Lord. He will do anything to destroy our belief in Jesus Christ. It is with our faith in the blood of Jesus (our spiritual warfare by the Spirit) and our prayers to God that are fully prepared to defeat Satan, we are able to resist him, and able to stand in the faith. I John 4:2; "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." It is with the Holy Spirit that we can overcome evil and the evil one in the world. This includes the tribulations, sorrow, false teaching, and even persecution. We can achieve in our lives God's will for us.

I was told a long time ago and I have even repeated it; "Why should Satan bother with the ones that don't believe because he already has a hold on them, it is the ones that believe he bothers the most." If people doesn't know the Lord they are not working for Him but the people knowing the Lord does work for Him and Satan doesn't like this, he knows Christians will be able to talk to the nonbelievers and may bring them to the Lord.

People that have no relationship with God are the most vulnerable because they don't know how to fight Satan off or they don't realize what is going on. He will try to hold these people captive because they don't know Christ. Ephesians 2:2; "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" The ones not knowing Christ are controlled by the "prince of the power of the air" which is Satan. These people are blinded by him so they can not see the truth of God. They remain in Satan's power to their slavery of sin.

Christians should have compassion for the unsaved. We need to look at the unsaved from the Bible's view of them. It is the love of Jesus in us that gives us the ability to have compassion on the lost souls. Yes, they are responsible for their sin just as we are responsible for our actions, God gives each person a degree of light and grace to seek God so they are able to escape the hold sin has on them through faith in Jesus. Ephesians 2:8; "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

Resisting Satan is an ever going thing. If he can get us just to slip up once he has his foot in the door. If he can get us to miss Sunday School and church just once, his foot is really in the door. Look out because on Wednesday night or the next Sunday he will try to get that foot in a little further. I am not saying we are fighting Satan every single minute, it is that we have to watch for him to try to trip us up and he will try every chance he gets.

Hebrews 7:25; "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." It is with the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, and the intercession of Jesus Christ working in our lives that help us to react to God. We must never stop letting the Holy Spirit help us.

So, even though Satan has been walking around like a roaring lion to see who he can destroy, we are able to fight him off. As long as we know what is going on we can do it, may not be easy but we can do it. May God bless each of you!!

Anger

Christmas has been an awesome time for me this year, it has been so enjoyable. I am wondering now if I let the 'blues' or maybe Satan (I think sometimes we give Satan to much credit) get me down. I had been happy all day and then I got a phone call. I usually enjoy talking to this person but he was very obnoxious tonight which was very upsetting to me. I guess one thing lead to another, he was upsetting because of the way he was talking and acting. It started over something that should have been fun but it wasn't for him, he seemed to want to blame everyone for the whole thing and not stop to look at what he was saying and doing.


I told him I would make a phone call to see what I could do but it gave me time enough to really get upset...., angry is the correct word.

I would like to say this man has so much to be thankful for and I know he is. He has four wonderful children and two grandchildren and another one next year and a beautiful home. He and his family used to go to church and he was a deacon in the church they went to. Something happened and they quit going. It seems things have gotten worse for them and I tried to tell him they needed to get back into church. All I got was excuses.

I have to eat my words. What does the Bible tell me? Proverbs 15:1 tells me "A Soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." I am not responsible for what he said but I am certainly responsible for what I said. We are supposed to commit things unto the Lord, Proverbs 16:3; "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." Well, I would not want my words to be committed to God. I am ashamed of the way my angry words came from my mouth.

I can think of a lot of excuses why I got so angry but none of them are worth the way I must have made God feel, He knows the excuses I would use anyway. I know He forgave me when I asked for forgiveness but I know how I am feeling and I know He must have felt worse. Before I answered this man I should have asked for God's guidance and His will in my answers, not mine. We should always search for the Lord's will. This I did not do because I was so angry. My angry words stirred up more anger and hostility.

We were both angry, when people are angry they say things that should not be said. They say of words that are hurtful, once said can not be 'unsaid.' You can say you are sorry and ask for forgiveness but the hurt and memory of the words will still be there.

Ephesians 4:31-32; "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: v.32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." I certainly didn't put away any bitterness or anger. If I would have dwelled on what we both had said it could run rampant but the Holy Spirit spoke to me, I am so glad he did. The Lord wants us to be tenderhearted and kind to one another. We also need to forgive just as God has forgiven us for Christ's sake.

Wrath is a human thing but it is against the righteousness of God. We need to ask God to remove the anger from our heart before it becomes so big and starts to rule us. Even though I got angry I don't want to stay angry as I know this is not what God wants from me. How can I be more like Jesus if I let something like anger get in my way. I will continue to pray for God's guidance when I start to get angry. If I pray I will not find the words to become angry. Praise the Lord. I wish I had done that earlier tonight. Thank you Lord for your forgiveness for my anger tonight!!!!

Our CHRISTmas Day

I trust all of you had a wonderful Christmas. We had a beautiful one, we went to Jenifer's home early Christmas morning about ten, for me to get away from my home at that time is early for me. All the kids, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were there and one of my granddaughter's boyfriend, twenty-eight of us in all. The house was full, the kids running around having fun with each other, the guys in the family room talking, and in the kitchen the ones cooking was busy getting the dinner ready so we could eat at noon.


The dinner was awesome. Everyone worked hard getting it just perfect. Jenifer had gotten the table ready before anyone arrived and it was beautiful as she always does such a beautiful job on everything, she must get some of that from her Mom. We visited somewhat during the meal, it was just great, all of us there and visiting. After the meal the table was cleared and things taken to the kitchen. The worst was yet to come, getting the food put away and the dishes washed but that was even done in a goodly fashion.

After the table was cleared off the exciting moment came. While the women had been cooking the men were talking and putting Scriptures in balloons and Jeremy (Jenifer's husband) was using helium to blow the balloons up and they were tied. Everyone had done their part to get everything ready. We all went outside with a balloon and Debi told everyone what was going on, then Jenifer prayed over the balloons and each individual prayed over their balloon silently. Then we all let them go. The beauty of seeing all those different colored balloons going up into the air was breath taking. One of the balloons got caught in a tree and burst, Clinton said, "what do I do now?" I told him that perhaps a neighbor needed a message from God or maybe needed to get to know Jesus. We just never know how God is going to go about doing things but when He does it, you know it will be done right.

This was my first time to be involved in letting balloons go up with Scriptures in them. I just can't get over the excitement of being part of this, then seeing those colorful balloons going up in the air, it was just so awesome. Just to think someone that may need something from God might be getting one of those balloons with a Scripture in it........ Praise the Lord, isn't this an awesome thought? Someone getting help from a balloon but it won't be just any balloon.

Some people think you have to do something great to be working for God but the truth is, it doesn't have to be big to be important to God. Whatever we do, we need to do it as if we were doing it for the Lord. Colossians 3:23; 'And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;' We need to make sure everything we do in word or deed is something we would do for the Lord. If it is something we wouldn't do in word or deed for the Lord, it is something we should not be doing it.

By doing the balloons like they were done, God may be using one or more of those Scriptures to get done what He is wanting done. I get so excited when I think about the Lord using me to help Him. I am just a lowly sinner that loves the Lord with all of my heart and I want to work for Him in everything I do. I want to be more like Him.

Thanks for reading about our Christmas day and I hope you have enjoyed it.

Did any of you do something on Christmas Day that you would like to share with us? We would love to hear about it.

The Birth And The Plan

Merry Christmas Eve and may the blessings of the Lord rain down on all of you!!


In just one day it will be Jesus' birthday. We celebrate His birth in many different ways.

I know we thank God for Jesus and why God gave Jesus to be Savior of the world. It wouldn't be very comforting if God hadn't loved the world enough to give His Son but
He did.

It is wonderful when we see parents raising their children in the Lord. Proverbs 22:6; 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it.' With all the evil in our world today it is a must to bring our children up knowing the Lord. This is God's will for us to do. The Hebrew word for 'train' means to "dedicate."

Godly parents will teach their children to call on the Lord in all circumstances. They will make sure they are in Sunday School and church. They will also want them to be around other Christian children. I am not saying they can't associate somewhat with children that don't know the Lord, the parents and children have to be very careful.

When my son's youngest daughter was in the second or third grade she was talking to another child, she asked her about the Lord and I guess my granddaughter didn't like her answer and she told her she needed to get to know Jesus. Sometimes children can plant a seed in the mind and heart of another child causing them to start asking some questions of the parents or another adult. Sometimes a child can also plant a seed in the mind and heart of their parents. We never know how the Lord is going to work but it is so marvelous and comforting the way He puts everything together.

God knows when something or someone will say or do something that will cause someone else to really start thinking about a certain thing, I believe God had it all planned that way. We sometimes need a little something to get us started thinking about what He wants us to think about.

If God hadn't loved the world so much, Mary hadn't obeyed the Lord, and if Jesus hadn't wanted to do what the Father wanted Him too we would be a lost world. I am so glad God loved the world, John 3:16; 'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' God also knew how things were going to be, He wants everyone to know Jesus but He knew not everyone would. I am so glad I am one of them that believes in Jesus, how about you? Praise the Lord with hands uplifted and singing in our heart. Thank you God, for your plan and that you gave me the faith to believe.

The Gospel

Christmas is such a busy time. People getting ready for Christmas, for some it is a tradition and others perhaps it is a first Christmas dinner with a special one.


For some it is a lonely time. I believe this is the worse part of any holiday, loneliness. Just knowing there are people that are alone. Some may not have a home. There are many reasons a person may be lonely.

Sometimes a person can be in a crowd of people and still be lonely. I believe some loneliness is caused because they don't have the Lord. This isn't because Jesus doesn't want to be with them but they haven't asked Him to be their Savior, it could be because no one has told them about the Lord Jesus Christ and told them what it means to have Jesus as their Savior.

People think because we live in America everyone has had the chance to be told about Jesus. I don't believe that is true. When I taught the Beginners Sunday School class a little boy came with a friend, he had never been in Sunday school or church before. I asked him if he knew Jesus and he said 'no.' I asked him if he would like to get acquainted with Jesus and he said, 'I guess so.' If he hadn't come to Sunday school with his friend he may never have found out who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us. Not everyone has the chance to go to a Sunday School class or church.

John 1:10; 'He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." There are people who reject Jesus so not everyone in the world will know Him or ever want to know Him. It is up to us to tell everyone we can about Jesus and His saving grace.

No matter where we are or who we meet we can always direct our conversation to Jesus just by asking a question or some other conversation. We can talk about joy, happiness, and even the weather to get Jesus into our conversation. If we will just allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us the conversation will be easy.

What does the Bible tell us? Mark 16:15; "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Not everyone can be or is a pastor so for us believing in Jesus this means for us to tell people about Jesus and the gospel. Not everyone is called to be a pastor but everyone is called to share the gospel.

Acts 1:8; "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Jerusalem is like our family, Judaea would be like our neighborhoods, Samaria is like our towns, and the uttermost part would be the rest of the world. Where we can share Jesus and the gospel would be our family, neighborhood, and even the town we live in. We also need evangelists and missionaries as they are the ones that go to uttermost part of the earth to tell about Jesus and the gospel.

I want to share with everyone the truth of Jesus Christ, His saving grace, all the things Jesus has done for me, and will continue to do. We know what Christmas is all about, the joy of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about how many gifts we receive, there is only one gift that really matters and that is Jesus.

Comfort And Joy

This is such a joyful season, Christmas. The birth of our Lord and Savior!


All of us have a favorite season and some of us have more than just the one. I am not really sure why but this Christmas really seems special to me. I feel so much comfort with joy in my heart.

I feel at times Satan is trying to take my joy away but I refuse to let him do it. The Lord wants all of us to be full of joy and that is what I am going to do.

Psalm 35:9; "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in His salvation." My joy is in the Lord. I know above any doubt the Lord will be with me, comfort me, will talk with me, and keep me from harm. There is no one else that will take care of me like the Lord and He will take care of everyone if they will just let Him.

II Corinthians 1:4; "Who comforteth us in all tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." How awesome to be comforted by God. Because we know of the importance to be comforted and was given the comfort by God we can comfort others that are in any trouble. We can have joy just from comforting someone that is in need. It is awesome the way God works.

If we go around thinking about the troubles we may have, you need to go to the Lord and ask Him for the comfort He so freely gives. When He has comforted you, how can you not have joy?

You need to give your troubles, sickness, anger, and bitterness to the Lord. If you don't give them to Him you are going to find yourself going deeper into these things. If you will just make up your mind and realize God is your answer, things will just fall into place. I am not saying you will never have any tribulation because you will. Our tribulations will make us stronger in the Lord. God may allow us to go through a certain thing so that it will actually help us in the long run. God never makes something bad happen to us, He will allow things (tribulations) to happen but He never makes them happen. Why is it so easy to blame God for bad things? How could a God with so much love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and understanding make something bad happen to us? He can't and won't.

I feel at times we, ourselves make bad things worse. If a person continually thinks about or worries about things in there life that are not happy things, how can they get better? They are bound to get much worse. God doesn't want this to happen as He wants us to have joy and wants us to be comforted.

It doesn't make any difference who you are, what you have done, or where you have been, God loves you and wants you to have happiness, be comforted, and have joy. Never think you can not call on Him, we are all sinners and we need the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't let the joy be taken away from you. Be joyful and praise the Lord with joyful lips.

Are We Listening

Matthew 11:15: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."


I wonder how many of us hear things but we don't really hear. Dave says I never hear anything he says. I do hear but I am not listening so I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying so I have to say I didn't really hear. Some may wonder how you hear but not listen. If a person really hears, they are going to be able to tell you what you have said or at least the majority of what you have said. Isn't this true?

How many of us have heard our pastor give a message then an hour or two later be able to tell someone what he has said. I am a firm believer there are times we are able to tell someone maybe even five or six hours later, possibly a week later, then there are times we can tell someone at least part of what the pastor said two or three weeks later but there are those times we can't remember what he has said when we get out the door of the church. I am ashamed to say, I have been there. I would be hoping and praying no one would ask me what the pastor's message was all about.

There is a big difference in hearing and listening. When you hear it doesn't mean you are necessarily listening. I can hear a noise but sometimes I can not tell anyone what kind of a noise I have heard. If we fail to really listen to what is being said we could and I repeat could allow our ears to become dull so we hear nothing, if we don't hear anything, we can't listen. I know that sounds funny but just stop and think about that, it isn't quite that funny. God certainly wants us to hear, if He didn't he would not have told us to listen.

To listen means to make a conscious effort to hear, concentrate on hearing someone or something, or to pay attention to something and take it into account.

It is really a shame when we don't listen. The pastor always has something excellent to say, the particular message may not be for you but perhaps to someone else or it could be a message for you to tell someone else about.  When other people talk to us they have something they want us to hear, they aren't talking just to hear themselves talk.

If God didn't think it was important for us to hear why would He have said 'He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' not once but many times. I believe He meant things could be hard to understand so we need to listen carefully so we will be able to understand what is meant. I am not saying every message a pastor gives us or everything a person says to us is hard to understand, what I am saying is we need to learn to listen not just hear.

Do you like it when you have something to say and then no one listens to what you are saying? I don't think any of us like it. I am sure God wants to make sure we hear what is being said so we need to pay attention so we hear and listen. I have just challenged myself to be more attentive to what people have to say to me.

A Difference

Have you ever asked someone 'do you know about God?' Almost always they will say 'yes I do.' If you ask them to tell you about God, it sometimes seems they will try to trick you by saying 'well, do you know God?' If you tell them you just want them to tell you about God, they have different answers. Some might say He is the one out there in the sky, He is the one the Bible talks about, and then they might say 'it is that God people say they talk to.' We can tell by their answers that they do know something about God but they don't know Him.

Have you ever asked someone 'do you know God?' We will get different answers on this one but they know what they are talking about. To know God is to have a personal relationship with Him. They will tell you He gave His only Son so that we may be forgiven for our sins and have everlasting life. John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The ones knowing God knows a personal relationship with Him is a very important part of our life and our walk with Jesus. They also know we must keep our eyes on Jesus at all times otherwise we may stumble. Being a Christian, we also know God gives us away to repent for our sins if we stumble and He is just and faithful to forgive us our sins. We know the way the world is today makes it easier for us to stumble but we don't have to, Jesus is our Light and all we have to do is follow that Light.

Knowing God is to love Him. He loves us very much and offers us much. Loving Him makes us want to do the things He wants us to do. He would never ask us to do something without helping us through these things. He will also help us through the darkest moments in our life, He knows when we hurt and He is willing to help us, just ask Him and He will be there. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Hebrews 13:5; 'Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' In this verse it also tells us not to be covetousness (greedy) or want somebody else's property, we need to be content with what we have.

God has given us instructions on how we should live. Those instructions are found in the Bible. It tells us how to strive to live a righteous life. We can never give the Bible up, we need to read and study the Bible continually.

We know there is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. I would much rather know God and have the personal relationship with Him. I want to be able to talk to Him and praise and glorify the one and only God. I want other people to know Him as you and I do.

Envy

You are walking down the street with your husband and you see this woman with beautiful long hair and you say to your husband how much you would love to have hair like that. Maybe you go to dinner somewhere and are seated then you see this family with the most well behaved children and you say I sure wish our kids were that well behaved. My downfall used to be when I would see a woman that really looked great in a dress, I would usually say, if I could look just have that good. I believe all of have had some type of envy.


Yes, this is envy on our part. Sometimes we don't think of it as envy but it is the starting of envy, this can be a problem if we don't get it stopped. The woman's hair probably looks the way it does because she works with it daily. The reason the kids are so well behaved is because the parents work on this daily, it isn't just an on and off job of disciplining your children. The reason this woman looks so good in this dress is because she strives to look well dressed.

These are just a few things a woman might envy another one for but there are many more reason why they envy others. By the way, it isn't just woman that envy other women or another family, men also envy things about other men, maybe it is their looks, families, or perhaps their job. Both men and women can be guilty about envy.

James 3:14; 'But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.' Envying and strife are opposite of meekness of wisdom. We can not have them both in the same heart, envy and wisdom both come from the heart. A person must decide which they would rather have. Do we want to be envious or would we rather have wisdom?

In James 3:16; For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.' When there is envy it will cause strife and then it results in confusion and evil works.. When we find ourselves envying someone else no matter how small it may seem to us, we need to start working on this immediately. The first place to start is to go to God. God is always there to help us. There is nothing He won't help us with if we just ask Him.  God loves for us to go to Him in our need.

As Christians we know we need to work on our walk with Jesus every single day. Even when we have problems and we have lots of them, Jesus Christ is the only way. As Christians we can also have lots of fun. We keep our minds on the things of the Lord, by doing this our daily walk with the Lord is refreshing and enjoyable. Praise Him!!

A Seedling

We have a Maple tree in our yard so in the spring we have a lot of seeds from this one tree. This summer there were several of the seeds that started growing into trees. There were two that I kept my eye on, I don't know why as they weren't any different than any of the other ones except they were in my eyesight and very close to the house.

I am not a gardener but I do love beautiful flowers, plush green lawns (which I don't have), and beautiful trees. I would even water these two trees when we hadn't had any rain for awhile. Well, it started getting cold and then it got colder, I finally decided I needed to cover them with some leaves to keep them warm. One seedling died but I still have the other one left. One night I covered the tiny tree with leaves and went into the house not giving it another thought. Later that night I went out and the leaves were no longer on the tree so I covered the tree up again. Later when I went out to feed my cat I noticed the leaves were off of the tree again. I was getting upset by this time. Then there was a gentle breeze (was God trying to get my attention) and I saw the leaves being blown further away from this seedling. Well, this tiny tree is still there and I do hope it survives through the winter but if it doesn't I know God has a reason why it didn't.

I thought I was doing something good for the tree, after all I was shielding it from the cold wind and keeping it warm. Then I started thinking, how many times have we thought we have known best in a situation so we didn't think to ask God about it and to ask for guidance? This is what I was doing for this tiny tree but now I can see that perhaps I could be harming it. I looked at the trees around and they had all grown from seeds and they survived.

Well, we may survive a situation that has come up but because we didn't ask the Lord for guidance in the situation maybe we suffered needlessly or perhaps we missed out on a blessing God had planned for us. God knows best. He sees the whole picture where we only see what is in front of us but one day we will see more, I Corinthians 13:12; 'For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.' One day things to be known will be open to our eyes and knowledge will be free from darkness and inaccuracy. We will see God face to face and we will know Him as we are known by Him. This will be an awesome time.

I was looking at what could be seen instead of looking at the things that are not seen. I was looking at the tiny tree thinking all the time I could protect if from what I thought might kill it but I should have looked to God for His protection of the tree. We do this with our lives. God is our protector. God is concerned about us and wants us to give our cares to Him. I Peter 5:8; 'Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.'

When will we learn our Father will take care of us in all situations if we just let Him? I am working on this with things that happen in my life, most of the time I know He will take care of me no matter what but ever so often the doubt arises and that is when I need to get down on my knees and talk to the Lord, He will help me through it. I want to say "Thank you, God for your love, kindness, mercy, understanding, and your forgiveness in my short comings and I love You with all of my heart."

Who Told You That

Excuses and more excuses. How many times have we heard excuses? There are several things that really are hard to understand with all these excuses.


Have you ever asked someone to go to Sunday School or church with you and they give you an excuse, this time it is one excuse and then next time they give another? I think the excuse I hear the most when I ask someone to go to Sunday School or church is "I just don't have the time." I mentioned this to my Sunday School teacher and he said ask them "who told you that?" That is a good question to ask them as they usually have no answer for it. We know God would never tell them this, after all it is just an excuse so it must be coming from Satan, he is the father of lies.

I wonder if these people that say they don't have the time ever think 'I need to make the time.' I am sure they don't or they wouldn't say they don't have the time. There are so many ways to learn about the Lord. Going to Sunday School and church are the beginning. Mark 4:9; 'And He said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' They hear the Word, and if the are listening they will want to read what the Bible says. Now in II Timothy 2:15, it tells us " Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. We know we should study the Bible as we learn the things God wants us to. "In Romans 10:17; it tells us, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." This all works the way it should, now we just need to get them to go to Sunday School and church and the rest should fall into place.

We know God wants Christians to have fellowship with one another. I John 1:7; 'But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' When we have fellowship with one another we also fellowship with Jesus. When we fellowship this is an association with, sharing experiences with the same interest. We find out what Jesus has been doing in one another's life.

We can lift a fellow Christian up when they are down. We can all praise the Lord together, and we can have a joyful time fellowshipping with each other. Being a Christian can be so much fun and we feel the presence of the Lord. What an awesome time we can have.

Friends

We all love to have friends, right? To have a friend is to be one I have been told. Some like to have lots of friends while others are content with just a few.


Are we sure of our friends? Are they godly, are they stuck on themselves, are they ready to help you when you need them? So many questions to ask ourselves. We certainly need to know what kind of a friend we have.

James 4:4; 'Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.' Is this person a friend of the world? If so, this person is an enemy of God for friendship of the world is spiritual adultery . We may think this person would never turn us away from God but God does warn us of this.

I Corinthians 15:33; 'Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.' We can be misled by friends that do not know God and His righteousness and they may tell us everything is okay when it is not. We have to be careful, the Holy Spirit will guide us.

It is great to tell them about the Lord and all of the benefits from knowing Him and accepting Him into their lives but if they laugh at you or make fun of the Lord, it is time to walk away. It is better to leave them than to lose Jesus. We must never give up praying for them or for others unless for some reason the Holy Spirit would happen to tells us to.

I have had a friend since my high school years. She is the sweetest and dearest person. If I ever needed her all I would have to do is call her. She may not be able to come to me at that very minute as she lives in another city but I know she would comfort me over the phone and via email. I have all the confidence that she would come to help me as soon as she could, she is that type of a friend. Proverbs 27:6; 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.' She would tell me if I were wrong even though she knew it would hurt me but she also knows in the long run it would benefit me. I can always count on her. She is very special to me and always has been.

I have an other friend that I can count on, my husband. I know he would always tell me what I need to know even though it would hurt but he would be there to comfort me. My daughter is another friend that would help me in anyway she could as it seems she is always helping me out in one way or another. I have a granddaughter that I call on quite often and no matter what she is doing she has time for me, but if for some reason she can't talk she calls me back. My list could go on and on, forever and ever.

Even though I have all these friends and I hold them dear to my heart, I have this really special friend, His name is Jesus. I love that song "Oh, What A Friend I Have In Jesus." I know Jesus will be by my side at all times, He will guide me through anything I go through, no matter what, He will love me. Proverbs 17:17; ' A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.'

I wish everyone knew my friend, Jesus.

Our Gift

Have you ever been setting in church listening to what the pastor is saying to you and all of a sudden your heart just seems to be so warm, I mean actually feels warm?


This is what happened to me today as our associate pastor was giving the message. It is a feeling that I enjoyed very much. I have thought about this message this afternoon and wanted to share some of it with you.

We were given a gift before any of us were born. The gift of Jesus. God didn't have to give His Son for us but He loves us that much. None of us deserve such an awesome gift. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23.

The gift God has given to us is the most awesome gift anyone could receive. Yet there are people out there that just doesn't want to receive this gift. I just can not understand this. My heart and prayers go out to the ones that refuse to accept Jesus, the Gift. They have no idea what they are missing.

There are many benefits to this gift. Of course there is love and forgiveness. There is also guidance, joy, understanding of others, fellowship with God, that in itself is awesome, and what about that awesome home, heaven? Just think what heaven will be like for us when we go home. The happiness and joy is out of this world.

If you were to give someone a gift from the heart, this gift was very important to you yet the one that it was intended for just simply refused it, wouldn't you be hurt? Some say God doesn't hurt, I believe He does hurt as the Word of God says He doesn't want anyone to go to hell. John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So, when we don't accept the Gift God has given to us, I believe He hurts.
I pray a lot for the people that don't know Jesus. It is so sad to think they will not have a home in heaven with God and us. It saddens me to think of them being in hell where there is fire, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13:42; "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

It is not that God doesn't love these people because He does but they have refused the gift God has given to them. John 3:36; "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

If a gift is given to someone and they refuse the gift, it is no good to them. They could care less about this gift. I believe it is up to us to pray for them and try to guide them in the right direction, Jesus Christ. I am so glad that I accepted the gift God gave to me. I thank God for my gift, Jesus Christ and give Him glory and honor for His gift.

P.S Go to created to see Debi's comment on God's personality.

Being A Christian

Sometimes it just seems really hard to be a good Christian. That is why Jesus left us with a comforter, the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit to guide me continually, I don't need Him just a couple of times a day.


Sometimes an evil thought can come to our mind and if we don't watch it we will yield to that thought. He will take it from us if we just ask the Lord to be with us (He already is) and ask Him for guidance in our thoughts.

When someone does something to us that hurts us, sometimes our first thought is to do the same to them. Whoops, this is evil for evil. What is it the Bible tells us? Well, it tells us not to return evil for evil, this is found in Romans 12:17; "Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men." Romans 12:29; tells us "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Even though our mind says 'get even' we know in our heart it is not the right thing to do. I am not saying this is an easy task to do especially if it is the same person doing the same thing over and over, but we know what the Word tells us and with us having the Holy Spirit it is easier and it is the right thing to do.

Prayer is such a wonderful and powerful thing. We can overcome so much easier when we pray. Prayer is something no one can take away from us. The Holy Spirit will help us as we are praying if we just let Him.

When we show kindness towards others and yes, this means the one that has done us wrong, this is showing the world what Jesus can do in our lives. It is easier to do wrong than to do what is right when we are hurting but Jesus is with us. It is He who encourages us and gives us His strength. We learn about His encouragement in II Thessalonians 2:16-17; "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, v.17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." We know Jesus would never encourage us to do wrong, that is what Satan does.

Our enemies need our love and prayers as well as Christians. Who better than us to pray for them? Matthew 5:44; "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you:"

It is expected of us to pray for the ones we love and care for, even our enemies do this for the ones they love and care for. Matthew 5:46 says to us; "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?"

Won't you join me in showing the world what Christians are all about?

Second Grade - Did We Do Right

When I was in the second grade, my sister and I were waiting in the foyer at school. If the kids got to school before the doors were unlocked this is where we had to wait. I can not remember what time it was but it had to have been before 8:30 AM. That was when the doors were opened for us to get in the main part of school.


It was in the winter, snow was on the ground, the wind was blowing, and it was very cold. The foyer was heated so that was good. While we were waiting for the doors to be opened a boy came in that was about two years older than us, we knew the boy by sight only. As usual we all spoke. My sister and I looked at each other, this young boy didn't have any shoes on and he only had a light jacket on. He must have guessed what we were thinking. He said and this is a quote "I bet you aren't as tough as I am." I remember saying "what do you mean?" He said, "could you walk to school without shoes and a heavy shirt?" He called his light jacket a heavy shirt. My sister said, "no, we couldn't have done that." He went on to say, "other kids don't have to know."

I felt this young boy was to proud to tell us his parents didn't have the money for shoes and a winter coat for him and his siblings. Of course we didn't want him to think we would tell anyone about our conversation and we didn't. We did go to our teacher and tell her about the boy that came to school without shoes and a light jacket, all the while we wondered if we had done the right thing. The teacher told us not to discuss this with any of the other school children. We hadn't planned on talking to anyone about him.

Before the end of the school day our principle had gone to the store and bought him some socks, shoes and a winter coat. The principal asked the teachers to 'pass the hat' so the siblings would be able to have shoes and a winter coat. All of them received the shoes and coats.

My sister and I told Mom and Dad what had happened. There was a discussion between them after dinner that night. The next morning Mom gave us an envelope to give to the principal, she said there was some money in it and be sure not to lose it. I am sure there was a note in there also but Mom didn't say there was.

The boy wasn't in school for several days, I have no idea why, back then and to this day I have prayed that he didn't get in trouble. No one else seemed to know why he wasn't in school or at least it was never mentioned but when he came back to school he showed off his new shoes and winter coat.

The Bible tells us to help those in need. One of the verses can be found in Luke 3:11. This particular one says; "He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hat meat, let him do likewise."

I did not know this principal other than from school but I would like to think he gave to this young boy and made it possible for his siblings to have some shoes and coats because his heart was full of love for Jesus and he was showing this by what he did. Not grudgingly or out of necessity but because of his love for Jesus. II Corinthians 9: 7; "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

I wonder if the principal ever knew of the impact he made on my heart and mind for what he did.

Do you know of anyone that needs shoes or a coat?

Who Is God II

Yesterday I was writing about Who Is God, today I am writing on the same subject. If I were to write about Who Is God I would have to write about it everyday for quite some time. There would never be enough time to write about Him. So, this is only things in part about who God is.

God takes care of us. As God picks up a lamb and carries it close to His heart to protect it, He does this with us also. God cares for each of us in a personal way. God is so great but we should never feel He ignores us as His children. Isaiah 40:11; "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." What an awesome thing for Him to do for us!

God showers us with His love. I John 3:1; "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." I am so excited just knowing that I am a son of God, but so many things about God can really get me excited.

Matthew 6:31-33; "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? v. 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all things. v.33 Bust seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." If we should feel we need something then pray, God already knows what we need and He will provide. He may not provide exactly what we want but he will provide. The next thing we need to do is to give Him praise and thank Him for what He does provide for us.

We receive blessing after blessing from God and He continues to do for us in abundance. It says in Ephesians 3:20; "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." This would depend on the degree of the Holy Spirit's presence, power, and grace operating in our life.

I John 4:16; "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." God's love for us is far beyond our understanding. As I stated yesterday, He gave His only Son for us, this was so we could be reconciled with Him. This is a love that is far beyond my understanding even though I know He loved us that much.

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever," this is found in Hebrews 13:8. How many times have we said to someone, "boy she/he has sure changed?" Yes, we do change from time to time and sometimes more often than that. But God is the same today as He was when the world was created and He will always be the same. We don't have to worry that one day He will come up with something else and then we have to start all over again. Isn't it great to know this?

As I said in the beginning, there is not enough time to tell everything about God. We just know He is great, awesome, wonderful, merciful, forgiving, helpful, loving, and the list could go on forever. Isn't it wonderful that we have Him in our lives?

Who Is God

The name of my blog is "Who Is God," so I would like to tell you some things about God. I want to say He is an awesome, wonderful, merciful, and precious God to me.

God is the one who created everything. He created heaven and earth, light and darkness, firmament, dry land, light bearer, fish and birds, animals and humans, then He rested, creation was complete and it was good. This is found in Genesis 1.

God knew us before we were ever conceived. Jeremiah 1:5, there are other verses found in the Bible also. If God knew us before we were ever conceived then He had to have planned for us to be here. We are not here by mistake. God brings us into life with a purpose. God has a plan for us. He knows everything about us. Psalms 139:3-4; "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether."

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God's work is marvelous. This is found in Psalm 139:14; "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." We are made in the image of God. When we think about this we should feel proud to have been made in His image, Genesis 1:27; So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created He them." We should give Him praise and glory continually.

God loves us with an everlasting love; this is found in Jeremiah 31:3. How could anyone love us anymore than this? He has so much love for us that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This is extreme love, I don't know that I could give my son for people that would deny, spit upon, laugh at, and mock him.

The thoughts of God toward us are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalm 139:17-18 tells us; "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with thee." Isn't it awesome just knowing God thinks about us?

God comforts all of us who have troubles, II Corinthians 1:3-4; "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; (v. 4), Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." By Him comforting us we will know how to comfort others who may need comforting. There are times when God will allow afflictions in ours lives so that we will be able to respond to others. What better way for us to learn?

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights. with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." This is found in James 1:17. Every good gift comes from our Heavenly Father, could we expect anything less from Him?

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our Heavenly Father. I will share a few more things about Him tomorrow. Would you please join me in praising our Heavenly Father?

Our Future

Have you ever stopped to think about tomorrow or your future? I have many times and along with that I have thought about the past.

Did you ever think that you are the one that may dictate tomorrow what you think about today?

If we have negative thoughts about what might happen tomorrow you will probably have a negative tomorrow. If you think about the happy thoughts of tomorrow that is what you will have.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Found in Proverbs 17:22. I think Dave, my husband, lives by this as he always seems to have merry thoughts no matter what the circumstances, so most all the time he has a merry tomorrow.

In Proverbs 15:15; it tells us "All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast." We need to have our thoughts on the Lord and His love, also in what way we might serve Him and bring glory to Him.

Proverbs 15:14; "The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness." With so much on television, internet, and the radio we really need to guard our minds and hearts. When we watch and hear these evil things we offend the Holy Spirit and it shows disrespect for the righteousness of God. A wise Christian fills their thoughts with what is good, true, and pure.

We can not change what has happened in the past but we can learn from our past and put an effort into our thoughts and what will happen because of our thoughts. If you need help in changing your thoughts Jesus is only a prayer away, after all He is always with you. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28; "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest." We need help from Jesus to keep us from sinning, when we watch or hear things that are unbecoming that will cause us to sin, we must never be afraid to call upon Jesus.

I used to watch a couple television shows that is comedy but they started showing things that God is against, it seems television is showing a lot of things that are against God. I don't believe we should watch these shows. Believe me I really liked those two shows but one night the Lord spoke to me, it was in the middle of one of the shows and I set straight up and I knew if I watched them anymore I would be sinning. I have not watched those shows since then. These shows could make people believe that the life style they were showing was okay. I praise the Lord that he spoke to me.  Jenifer of Sweet Blessings had a blog named  Entertainment, click on this to see what she had to say entertainment.

There are so many shows that should not be watched and if we are watching them we need to pray and leave them at Jesus' feet. Are you watching any of those television programs? If you are, won't you give them at the feet the Lord?

A Season For Everything

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" This is found in Ecclesiastes 3:1. I believe almost everyone has heard or read about this. It tells us much about different things.


In our lives we have different seasons. Learning, growing, happiness, sadness, and other ones. Just as the earth has four seasons during a year. They are different from one another but they overlap, sort of speaking. As does the seasons of our life. There is spring, this is the season for planting, rain and new life, summer is for the growing of the harvest, fall is the changing of things, bringing in the harvest, and winter is for cold, freezing, and snow with all of its beauty. Each of these seasons have their own beauty. Different people prefer only one of the seasons or perhaps two.

During the spring the rains bring freshness and new birth such as crops, leaves to the trees, and the beautiful flowers, the smell of the new life is in the air. This brings to my mind babies as this is new life and it is a freshness. This is just the beginning of life and is so exciting.

The summer is the growing of plants. This is the growing season for the babies that were born. They learn new things, the most important thing is about Jesus. They learn this from a young age so that it will stay with them for their lifetime. This in itself is very exciting. Just think, this is what we are doing for the harvest.

Fall is an exciting time. Everything is changing. The colors are bright and brilliant, so exciting. This is the time for harvest, the time when many are ready to receive the gospel. Jesus says in Matthew 9:37; "Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;" Galatians 6:9 says; "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season w shall reap, if we faint not." I Corinthians 15:58; "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Now that the harvest is over, winter is here. To me, this represents the time for judgment, this is the time we find out where we will spend eternity.

Each of the seasons in our lives are very important. We need to be working for the Lord at all times, not just when we feel like it. Whatever the Lord gives us or ask us to do for Him, He will give us away of doing it. He would never ask us to do something for Him and then leave us to do it ourselves without His help.

So, in our life we have birth, growing, accepting the Lord and going home to our heavenly Father. During each season of our life, it is important for us to keep our eyes and mind fixed on the Lord. Are we doing our part getting ready for the harvest?

Appearance

I waited for the Lord to reveal to me what I should write in my blog, well, I have waited and prayed and no answer or was there an answer and I wasn't listening?


Dave and I had gone to the store and I saw some apples and they looked so pretty and good. Thank goodness we only bought one. We were eating the apple and I told him the apples looked so good but I sure didn't care for the taste. The Lord spoke to me, it isn't what is on the outside that counts, it is what is on the inside. This brought to mind an email I had gotten four or five years ago with a story. The name of it was 'My Friend Ugly.'  The story is said but has a true meaning!

It was about a big old cat that people had named Ugly as he had scars from fights, a twisted leg, and had lost an ear. The parents warned the kids not to bother Ugly, stay away from him they said. Rocks were thrown at him and the parents would spray him with water when he would try to go in the house. Ugly would just stand there getting soaked until they tired of spraying him.

Whenever he spied the children he would run up to them bumping his head against their legs, begging for love. If you dared to pick him up he would begin to suckle on your shirt, earlobe, or whatever he could fine.

One day Ugly tried to share his love with some huskies (dogs) but they didn't respond to his love and Ugly was badly mauled. Someone heard Ugly's screams and rushed to his aid. It was apparent that Ugly's life was almost to an end. This kind person picked him up to see what they could do for him.

Then, a familiar tug was felt and a sucking sensation on the ear, even though he was in severe pain, he was giving some affection and was purring because he felt someone loved him. This person thought Ugly was the most beautiful cat they had ever seen. He died in the arms of this person that was giving him love.

We need to look beyond the outside of a person, this person that is not the most beautiful, popular, successful, or well liked may have more to offer than the person that might have some or all of these qualities and not have the inner beauty. The beauty of a person is what is on the inside and what comes from that person's mouth. The person not having beauty might say things that would sound like beautiful music to our ears. Jesus speaks in Matthew 15:18 about what defiles a man, also in Mark 7. Things said are the things which are in the heart and you react to them accordingly.

So, the next time we see someone that doesn't appear to have any beauty just remember it may be on the inside. Isn't this what counts?

Faith

Dave, my husband, and I have been in Israel several times. These were the most wonderful trips we have ever taken. Just to think we have been where Jesus had been and walked where Jesus had walked. I thought how exciting it would have been had we been living at the same time Jesus was living. Then my heart saddens to think, what would we have done if we would not have believed Jesus was who He said He was. This saddens me very much because as I am living today I know who Jesus is, that I love Him with all of my heart, and it is only because of Jesus that someday I will be home in heaven with the Lord. I am so glad I have the faith to believe in Jesus even though I have never seen Him, I know He lives in me.


Jesus' disciple, Thomas didn't believe it was Jesus until he touched Him. John 20:27; Then saith He to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." It was only then that Thomas believed. In John 20:29; Jesus saith unto him, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." I give all the glory and thank the Lord for my faith that I am able to believe.

Without faith we are unable to be saved. Ephesians 2:8; "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." This is an awesome gift to receive from our Lord. With the faith we have in a definite person (Jesus Christ) who died for us, shouldn't it become stronger with our everyday living? We should develop an intense feeling of love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 5:7; For we walk by faith, not by sight.

I would much rather be walking by faith than sight. I am thankful I have the opportunity to hear, read and learn the Word of God. Romans 10:17; "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." God is so faithful to all who believe and obey Him. Why would we not want to walk with the Lord? I know our walk with Him is not always smooth but we have the assurance He walks with us and know whatever comes our way we will be able to handle it because of our faith in Him.

Even though I think it would have been exciting to live and walk on earth at the time Jesus was here, I am thankful I am living my life now. I know I have the faith to believe who Jesus says He is and I am thankful for my salvation.

What about you?

What Joy

The joy of serving a magnificent Lord. Is there any greater joy?

Joy never ceases to come to a person that has given their life to the Lord. We know at any time day or night all we have to do is call on Him. We don't have to be in distress to call on Him. When everything is going fine is a great time to call on Him. Let praises come forth from our mouth. Let Him know how important He is to us and how much we love Him.

When we speak about the love God has for us, so much love that he gave His only Son, Jesus Christ for us, John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We should shout with joy at the top of our lungs. While talking to someone about our salvation do we speak with joy and excitement? Our salvation is something to shout about. I like to think people can see the love of Christ and joy in me.

When serving the Lord the joy and excitement should shine in our eyes, He is a mighty God we serve. Is there anyone else but God that we can expect guidance, loyalty, assurance, everlasting love, compassion, and blessings from that continues and continues?

Perhaps there is someone that is needing help of any kind and you are the one to help them. This brings joy not only to you, the person you help, but the Lord also. You are serving Him.

You meet someone on the street and you smile at them and say hello to them. They may see the Lord in you. Perhaps they needed that beautiful smile and a friendly hello. You have just shown them a blessing,. You are serving the Lord. What joy this is!

Serving the Lord doesn't mean you have to be a pastor, teacher, deacon, but someone that is able to show the love of the Lord. We can serve Him in many different ways. Use what the Lord gives you and show the joy that He gives you.

When we have sinned and ask the Lord for forgiveness and it is given to us, it is enough to shout at the top of our lungs with joy.

When we are in prayer we can feel the presence of the Lord, what joy this is! Even saying a short prayer can bring the presence of the Lord. We don't have to say a long prayer, just talking to Him brings joy to our heart.

Will you show joy to the next person you see and greet them with a big smile and hello?

Taming Our Tongue

How many times have we gotten angry and then allowed ourselves to say things that should never have been said. I believe everyone of us have done this at one time or another. I know I am guilty of this. It was not to long ago that I made a remark and the minute it came out of my mouth I thought "why in the world did I ever say such a thing?" The Holy Spirit made me aware of this immediately. Once it is said there is no taking it back, yes, we can tell the person how sorry we are but it has been said and it probably hurt the person deeply.

The Word of God tells us in James 1:20, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." Satan will and does everything possible to keep us from living a life God wants us to. I believe Satan causes our anger to grow, he will do anything to keep us from living a life God would have us to live. Anger can and will make us say and do things we would normally not do.

James goes on to tell us in chapter 3 verses 5-6, "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."

When speaking harsh, unkind, gossiping, slanderous, or boasting words this is sinning. We need to learn to keep our tongue under control. The Holy Spirit will guide us and will bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, if we will just listen.

There is a righteous anger. Matthew 21:12-13 speaks of this. Jesus went into the temple and cast out all that sold and bought and then overthrew the tables the moneychangers were using. When we get angry because of something someone says or does to the Lord this is a righteous anger.

Saying sweet words is better to speak than the words of anger. Sometimes this will take a lot of work and prayer but it certainly is worth the effort. We need to turn away from evil in both words and deeds. If we are saying unkind words how can we say nice things? Evil and righteousness can not be said at the same time. Wouldn't you rather hear the sweet and righteous words than evil and hurtful words? It only takes a minute to think of words that will not hurt someone. I for one would rather say something nice than hurtful or unkind. What about you?

Studying The Word Of God

What is more exciting than reading and digging into the Word of God? When I really want to read and study the Word I get really excited. Now, there is a difference in just reading God's Word and really studying and getting into it.

I believe reading the Word is better than not but I do believe when really studying the Word it is so exciting. No matter how many times you read the Bible there is always something new to learn about. Perhaps you read and read and it really doesn't seem to help you understand a certain verse but then there is, THAT day you read it and WOW you know exactly what it means. Perhaps God was allowing you to dig deeper into His Word so that you would learn what you didn't know and then it was time for you to understand that verse that you just couldn't understand. That is God. He works so wonderfully for each of us. There is no two people that He teaches exactly the same way.

II Timothy 2:15 is a verse each of us can learn from. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth." If we study the Word of God we will be prepared for what might arise. If we don't know what the Word talks about we will not be able to tell people about the Lord.

The Lord has given us so many things to know, how do we learn these things? We read and study the Word of God. I have heard many people say the Word is to hard to read. I don't believe that. If we pray for understanding the Holy Spirit will reveal the true meaning of the Word. We are given a strong assurance of the divine origin of the Scripture.

The Word of God tells us how to live every day of our life. Isn't it exciting when we know how to live. It tells us to love one another, to forgive. everything has a season, and the exciting part is, it tells us God the Father loves us very much. He wants us to know everything about Him and we will someday have a permanent home to live with Him.

When we read and study Scripture we are showing faithfulness to the Lord. Aren't we supposed to please God? If we don't read Scripture we have no idea how to please Him. By knowing the Word we will not be compromising the truth of the gospel. We need to obey God and remain loyal to all truth.

One of the things Scripture warns us about is false teachers. How else are we really going to know about these false teachers if we haven't read and studied God's Word? We need to know so much about Scripture and I believe no matter how long/often we have read and studied the Word we will never know everything about them. That doesn't mean we should just give up and not want to learn. On the contrary, it should make us want to read and study every day. Get excited for the Word.

How do you read the Word, do you just read or do you read and study and expect the excitement of learning more about the Word and God?