Author: Rebecca Darga
You are worth the sacrifice
Today marks the day Jesus sacrificed his life for us.
He endured beatings, ridicule, shame, false accusation and died the death of a murder to atone for the sins of the world. Because he loves us.
He loves all of us, each and every one of us and he would die for just you if you were the only person to ever live.
He loves you that much.
His sacrifice proves that. His sacrifice shows how much he loves you.
Don’t you want to know the one that would sacrifice everything just for you.
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Find new life in death
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Life and death reverberate throughout all creation. In creation the dead brings life to the living. Plants draw nutrients from the compost of the creation that has died and gone back into the earth.
If you look and listen God is always teaching us, echoing his message throughout all creation.
Death brings life.
Jesus died to bring us new life. His sacrifice paid for our mistakes and makes us new creation before God, so that we might have freedom from guilt and shame, so that we may have a pure, loving, deep, intimate connection with him.
Jesus’s death brings life and so does our own. When we die to our selfishness and let him live through us it’s like a light being turned on in dark room, we can finally see and find freedom from the darkness that once surrounded us.
Find freedom in him and let his love and sacrifice lead you to the light of forgiveness.
worship is how we reflect God
DO your words and your actions reflect Jesus?
If you looked in a mirror and a list of your characteristics appeared what would it say? Would you use those words to describe Jesus?
This may seem like a lot of pressure. No one’s perfect, right.
But God doesn’t ask us to reflect Jesus on our own, but to die to ourselves and let Jesus live through us by listening to the guiding of the Holy Spirit.
Reflecting Jesus to others is not meant to be following a list of rules in the Bible, but listening to the Holy Spirit and testing what he is saying against the word of God given in the Bible.
Following Jesus is not a list of Do’s and Don’t but a relationship built by spending time getting to know the character of God so that we know who he is, how he would react and what he would say.
Reflect Jesus by knowing him, not by trying to imitate him.
Baggage and Beautiful Messes
Why do we only see the flaws when we look in the mirror? Why do we carry around all the baggage of our past pains and hurts?
Beautiful Messes by Hilary Scott & the Scott family talks about laying down all our baggage at the foot of cross and giving it to Jesus, because to him we are never lost causes.
God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves, he sees us as beautiful messes. He see the beauty he created us to be, that is bogged down by the baggage we choose to carry with us. We are the ones that choose to walk around carrying all our hurts and pains, lugging around the baggage of our past.
But his burden is light.
God doesn’t want us to carry all that around with us. He wants us to lay it all at his feet.
Baggage can be many things worry, anxiety, past hurts and pain. It’s anything that holds us back from exseding the joy, love and love that come from knowing Jesus.
One of the secrets of our marriage is that we don’t carry our baggage with us. My husband and I both go to God first before going to each other or anyone else, when we realize that something bothers us.
We ask God, why? Whether it is something someone said or did or even our own mode or attitude that we know is not from him. We go to God first and ask what the root cause of the pain is. Then after we’ve sorted it out with God we go to each other or the person that hurt us and talk it through, if necessary. Many times we’ve worked things out with God and don’t even need to talk to the other person.
We don’t have to walk around with all the hurt and pain of our past or even our present if we lay them at the foot of the cross. He is always with us, always accessible and always wants to help us.
Next time you feel someone poke an old wound or make a new one go to God first and find freedom.
Prayer makes an Impact
We never know the impact our prayers may have. In Facing the Giants a faithful man prays over the lockers at the local school for years and doesn’t see the impact till revival hit the students. Another story is from the book Children and the Supernatural when prayers in the US impcat the life of missionaries on foreign soil.
Prayer makes an impact, whether we see the results immediately or never.
My friends and family prayed for me for years during the time in my life where I rejected God, but their prayers made an impact. There were key moments during that time when I know their prayers made an impact.
When I was in Uganda, speaking at a women’s conference, at the end myself and the others speakers prayed for many of the women there for healing and many other things. We each had a translator that gave us a quick snap shot of their requests for prayer. But there was still a language barrier. As I prayed, I prayed in English and in tongues.
I didn’t understand everything the ladies were saying to me and they didn’t understand what I was saying, but God understood it all; lady after lady came up and they were either healed or their prayer was answered. It wasn’t about the words, but about our hearts and the openness to allow the Holy Spirit to work through me and in them.
Prayer is a conversation with God and we may not always like or understand the answers, or we may be completely astounded and overwhelmed by the answers.
But the one thing I hold true, is that prayer is not something to be afraid.
Pray for those you love and pray for those you don’t, you never know the impact.
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No longer burdened by life
One of the best ever explanations on forgiveness.
You can always go to Him
The one thing I always know to be true, beyond a shadow of a doubt is that I can always come to God for anything.
No matter how bad my day is, or what I have done. I can always go to him.
We can always turn our hearts to God.
He is always there. He always wants to talk to us, be near us, comfort us and love us.
So no matter how your day is going just take a moment, close your eyes and listen to this song. Let his love melt over you and take moment to love him back.
Temporary fixes and gripping chains
Why do we keep trying the same temporary fixes to fill the holes inside us and expect different results?
We all have times when we want to escape, from work, school, home, kids spouse. Everyone needs a break sometime.
But is what we run to really helping? Or is it just a temporary fix, like putting tape on a busted pipe it may work for a moment but eventually the pipe is going to burst again, and if we keep using tape it’s never going to solve the issue.
The lyrics of the song Chain Breaker by Zach Williams describes the cycle we go through in life so often searching for the solution but never finding the answer in the same process.
But there is a better way, a better life.
God is a chain breaker he made a way for us to be free to not feel tied down but to find joy and peace in our homes, in our work and in our families.
He is the way.
When we go to him, when we need rest, he lifts us up, he takes our fears our worries and our frustrations when we give them over to him.
If we grip onto the chains that our strangling us he can’t remove them. We have to surrender them over to him so he can remove them.
What would you do to avoid pain?
In the Silver Chair from the Chronicles of Narnia series Prince Rillian in pursuit of trying to heal from the lose of his mother, allows himself to be seduced by the queen of the underworld. He gets so caught up trying to escape his pain that he lets her twist his perspective on the world and feed him lies about who he is.
We can do the same in our lives, if we look for the quick easy fixes to cover up, ignore, or push away our pain instead of dealing with it we can be so caught up in the lies of others or even the lies we tell ourselves, that we can allow our whole environment to change right around us, till we begin believe they are the lies are truth.
We as human will do almost anything to escape pain.
But no matter where we are or what we’ve allowed ourselves to get into. Jesus is always there. You can always call on his name and he will be there for us. He will send others to help guide us out of the darkness and into the light.
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What draws us together
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
When we hear of new believers there is an excitement and a joy that comes with knowing that others have found the same love and peace that we did when we surrendered our lives Jesus. Knowing that more people have found Jesus and are in turn sharing Him with others is something that over joys all believers.
Often we divide ourselves by what church we go to or what denomination. But God never intended for us to be divided. We are all believers in Jesus and His grace and that is what brings us together.
Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how when we meet other believers our first responses is usually. ‘What church do you go to?’ And then we immediately begin to either bond or judge each other based on the answer to that question.
But what if our first question to other believer when we find out we share faith in Jesus is.
“What has God been doing in your life or teaching you recently?”
This question can direct our conversation to encourage and uplift each other by focusing instead on what draws us together, instead of what separates us.
Rest to walk upon the waters
Resting in the presence of God is what gives you the trust to walk on water.
How else to would you build that trust.
You wouldn’t do something deemed impossible without some sort of faith in the one who asked you. But where does that faith come from.
It comes from spending time with God, from resting in His presence, from just being content to be with Him. Because you know Him, and you know His character. You can trust Him when He asks you to take those big leaps of faith that to others seem impossible.
Listen to this song and take some time to rest in His presence, and let Him lead you to walk on water.
need you now
Everyone has a story to tell, everyone has a moment when they hit their rock bottom and cried out to God “I need you now.”
My moment was in 2008. I was in a 6 year relationship that was going nowhere, when I had a pregnancy scare. This woke me up almost out of a slumber. I realized I didn’t want this man to be the father of my kids, but I knew I wanted to raise my kids in church.
So I decided to go back to church.
I was terrified and convinced that I would be met with glaring stares and rejection but I wasn’t. Instead I was welcomed with open arms. My friends from the church I grew up in, never gave up on me, they were always there for me during the years I intentionally choose to ignore God. But when I choose to come back to church they welcomed me back with open arms and no judgement.
That is how God is, when we choose to say “I need you now” He leaps for joy and runs to embrace us. He throws a party in heaven rejoicing over His child returning home.
Who or what do you turn to when you hit your rock bottom?
Why not, give God a chance to show you how much He loves you.
How we fight
How do we fight for our families? Prayer!
Sounds wimpy and ineffective. No.
Praying is the second best thing you can do. Loving them is first.
But if you love them you pray for them.
Prayer is what my friends and family did for me when I made bad life choices.
And prayer is what I do for my friends and family that I love and even for the people I can’t stand. I pray for them!
I pray for God to show them His love for them.
Prayer is a conversation with God.
Prayer is where I hand my friends and family over to God and say I can’t change them but you can.
Prayer is where God changes me and my view or perspective of those I am praying for. Prayer is where He shows me how He sees them.
Prayer is how God changes me
Prayer is how we fight
hangry for God
When we get hangry (angry, because we’re hungry) we get irritable and edgy, we snap at people for the littlest thing and react in ways we would not normally act.
But we are the same when we are starved for God, if we don’t get enough of God we get irritable, edgy and snap at people for the littlest thing.
We all have different degrees of hanger for God and we all display it a little different, but we all have the same issue we need more Holy Spirit in our life.
When you notice your not your self, realize that you just need more of God in your life and make a point of making him more a priority in your life. Take a moment and ask for his help, for more Holy Spirit in your life and surrender your self over to him.
In the same respect, when you encounter people that rub you the wrong way, look at them with a different perspective, that they just need Jesus in their life.
When we know God, who he’s made us to be and feel completely loved, accepted and valued by him, we don’t need others to show us our value because we know our value comes from him and its priceless.
Cherish those who faithfully serve
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 0because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
Ministry is so much more then the person with the microphone.
There are always others, working to make events, outreaches and ministry happen.
When was the last time you thanked the person who faithfully makes the coffee each Sunday or the person who cleans your church, how about the person who opens their home up for your small group. Ministry is a group activity, we can reach other on a one on one basis but to reach multitude is hard without a team that supports each other.
Paul acknowleded that in this passage. He appreciated the work and support of Epaphroditus.
If you are a leader remeber to thank those that make it possible for you to do what you do, if you serve encourage and lift up those who serve with you.
A simple thank you can go a long way.
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Why I worship
The thing I love about worshiping God is that it’s an exchange. As you surrender yourself to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit envelope you; as you pour your life out as an offering he fills you up to overflowing more than you gave.
You can’t out give him; so stop worrying about what your giving up and starting focusing on what he’s doing in and through you.
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What love is this
I’ve never known a love as deep, as pure and unceasing as the love of God.
We are his and he gave everything for us, even his very life just to have a relationship with us.
He died because we are valuable to him, we are priceless.
And his love is more than enough for us.
God’s perspective
Seeing life from God’s perspective can change your whole view of life.
Prayer isn’t something to be scared of
Those moments when you’re lost, tired, confused and stressed. There is one thing you can always pray, Jesus.
In times of stress and worry we often neglect prayer because we think we need the right words or we don’ know what to say. But we don’t really have to say anything. We can simple call on Jesus and let him do the talking.
Prayer doesn’t have to be some eloquently written poem. Prayer is a conversion between you and God.
Don’t worry about what to say.
You can be open, honest, raw and say anything, he can handle it. The most important thing is that we are opening the line of communication to him and that we are giving him a chance to talk to us.
Help in trouble
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1
No matter what I always know that I can count on God. I know I can always run to him when I feel weak and exhausted, stressed or worried or in over my head, and he will be there to help as long as I seek him.
How do I know this? Because he has been there for me time and time again. On the days that I stressed and overwhelmed he gives me peace, calm and perspective. When I feel weak he is my strength.
He is always there for me even when I think I don’t need him he’s there.
Jesus gave his life to have a deep intimate relationship with us, so that he could be our everything. So he could lift us up when we feel burdened and give us relief from our troubles.
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Eagles sore above the storm literally, they fly above the clouds, lifting up above the storms, to clear skies.
God does the same for us, he lifts us up above the storms of life when we depend on him.
More than Hello
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Have you ever thought about how we greet other believers.
We are really good at saying a quick ‘hi’ or ‘welcome’ on Sunday morning. But do we ever ask how people are? Or do we just plaster on the fake smile hiding what’s going on in our life or let others pass by with the same fake smile hiding there own struggles.
We are the body of Jesus. We are meant to help each other.
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Asking each other how we are doing and actually paying attention to the answer can help so many people and even ourselves.
We can encourage those you see are having a rough day or might even get some encouragement from others.
Jesus’s grace is in all of us lets share it with each other.
Love is a choice
God is endless in his pursuit of us, each and everyone of us has our own special place in his heart. We matter to him.
Even when we feel like no one sees us, hears, us or knows us. He does.
He loves us and will pursue us to our last breathe. He will always seek to show us how much he cares, how much he loves and how much he gave to be with us.
But he is never forceful.
The gift he gave us was choice.
What could be more loving then the right to choose?
God is Good
There are so many songs that talk about how good God is and each one resonates because he is good. King of my Heart by Bethel Music repeats how good he is to us in everything that we face. He is the anchor in the storm, his is fire in our souls and the mountain where we run.
We know that we can run to him no matter how we are feeling and he is there for us. There to comfort us when we are sad, or shield when we’re weak. He anchors us when we start to stray and he is who we run to and thank for his blessing beyond our expectations of belief.
He is good, because he has proven it to me more times then I can count. He blessed with amazing friends that never gave up on me when I ran from , God, he blessed me with an amazing husband who has strength and character that I didn’t know I wanted or needed. God is good.
He has been there for me in some the hardest moments of my life, and helped me find joy and peace when I saw none.
God is good.
When we feel broken
No matter how low or lost we feel God is always right there waiting for us to turn to him.
We can feel worthless and unworthy but that is not how God sees us. He sees who he made us to be. Who he paid the price for us to be.
He sees opportunity to reach people through our healed scars, not our old wounds. He sees us. Not our past, not our mistakes but our future.
“Behold, I am making all things new.” Rev 21:5b
Believe in him and find rest
Even on our worst days. When we feel like nothing, doing nothing, being nothing, talking to no one. We can depend on one thing.
Jesus loves us anyway.
He is always there for us. Always loves us. Always loves for us to spend the day curled up with Him, letting His love give us rest.
So no matter how bad your day is or how much it hurts. We can always find comfort in Jesus.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace, the classic song that most people know, is one of my favorites because of what it means.
God’s amazing grace that saved, a wretch like me. Every time I hear this song, I want to sing it.
Everyone who has ever lived, except Jesus has done something wrong at some point in their life and needs forgiveness for something.
God’s grace does just that. He forgives us for everything we have ever done wrong. He wipes our slate clean and makes us white as snow before God.
I know I’ve done plenty of things wrong in my life, but He forgave me and made me new in Him. Because of His forgiveness I get a do over, a fresh start, I get to be new in Him.
Often I find memories of my past that try to come back to haunt me. But I know that, that person died on the cross with Jesus. I am no longer that person, because Jesus makes me new and clean with His grace and forgiveness.
Next time you find yourself caught up in your past mistakes, surrender them over to Jesus and let Him remind you that, that person died on the cross with Him and that He lives through you.
Find Freedom
2Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
Yesterday I talked about not earning God’s love. All he asks is our faith, our believe in the sacrifice he made for us.
The apostle Paul before he met Jesus followed all the rules and regulation to try to earn his salvation. But once he me Jesus he realized it was all in vain.
God gives salvaion freely, it can’t be eaned by good deeds and following the rules, because we have all done something wrong in our life and we can’t make up for that to a holy and perfect God, but he can. Jesus being both God and man lived a sinless life and paid the price for us so that we could find righteousness through him. He did what we can’t, because he loves us.
Stop striving to earn salvation and accept what he freely gives.
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Praise HIM
The first exegetical (which simple means using the whole text and in context) sermon I ever preached was on Psalm 150, the last of the psalms. It cries out the heart of the book of psalms Praise HIM, no matter what, no matter how you feel, Praise HIM.
Praise HIM everywhere in every way, all the time. With singing, with instruments, with dancing, with focus and undivided attention.
Praising God isn’t about the perfect song or if the band is on key, or if you sit, stand, kneel, dance or jump about. It’s about your heart.
Worship is about God, not us.
Are your words and your actions reflecting God? Are you shining glory on him? Are you taking time to solely focus on God, thanking him, praising him and giving him the glory? That’s what he deserves.
How are you praising HIM?
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Choose JOY
It’s easy to get bogged down by the responsibilities of life and to feel sad, anxious, worried overwhelmed by the pressures of the holidays or just by the state of the wold.
You can look at the media and think what is there to be thankful for or to rejoice over.
But our joy doesn’t come from the world it comes from Jesus.
Joy by For King and Country reminds us that we can CHOOSE JOY!
Joy because Jesus came to give us a better life that doesn’t always mean our circumstances change, sometime it just means he can be or joy in the storm.
So CHOOSE JOY!
Hope in darkness
We can find hope in some of the worst circumstances, if we look for it.
Jesus is that hope. He can do anything, no matter how impossible we think a situation is.
Bart Millard of Mercy Me shares his story in the the movie I Can Only Imagine. His inspiration for the song that inspired the movie was his dad. Bart never believed his dad could change. But to his surprise, when he was at a low point, when his band looked like they had lost their chance at success, Bart went home to repair his relationship with his dad and found a changed man when he arrived. The one person he thought could never changed and had come to believe in Jesus and become the father he had always hoped for.
God is always full of surprises and when we place our hope in him he does more then we can ever hope or imagine, even in the bleakest circumstances.
ABBA Father
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16
The intimacy of calling God “Father” is the privilege we get when we come into the family of God.
Unfortunately sometimes people see God as this big dictator in the sky ready to strike us down when we do something wrong.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
We are invited in and adopted into God’s family. He is seeks a deep intimate relationship with each of us to the point of calling him Daddy!
The God I know is loving and kind, sweet and generous.
He doesn’t look down at us like slaves to be bossed around, living in fear of our master. But as his beautiful children.
He is our Abba, Daddy and he wants to nurture and help us grow in a safe loving environment, just as any father does.
We get to call him Daddy, so seek him out as a child and look for that loving embrace of our heavenly Father.
Baptism and Circumcision
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Circumcision and baptism sound like religious terms that many of us don’t understand the reasoning behind.
Circumcision and baptism symbolize our choice to die to our selfish ways, cutting ourselves off from our old life and being reborn into a new life in Jesus.
That new life in Jesus frees us from the guilt and shame of our past mistakes.
Jesus dying and being raised back to life gave us the gift of doing the same spiritually. We can die to our old selfish ways and be reborn into the new life that he gives us.
It is a spiritual circumcision, its cutting ourselves off from who we use to be and finding new life in Jesus.
Baptism is a public declaration, a symbolization of that new life, of being made new, being reborn into the life Jesus paid for and originally interned for us to have. A right relationship with him.
One where we can laugh and talk with God, where we can feel free from our past and share that same freedom with others.
Don’t shy away from what you don’t understand or think is just tradition or old ways. Talk with God, ask him what it means and let him show you his true intent.
Spiritual thirst
Feeling like you are dry spiritually or not hearing God, is often because we are not making time for Him or listening for the answer. We may be too busy or overwhelmed with all our obligations and responsibilities.
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But if we take the time to give God time he makes those obligations and responsibilities easier and even joyful.
Spending time with Him and letting Him fill us up with His presence gives us joy, peace, love and perspective. When we look to Him moment by moment He changes things.
The change He brings may not be a change of location, job or responsibilities, but a change of perspective, of how we view, and react to those same situations.
The thing I love about worshipping God is that it’s an exchange. As you surrender yourself to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit envelope you; as you pour your life out as an offering He fills you up to overflowing more than you gave.
You can’t out give God; so stop worrying about what your giving up and starting focusing on what He’s doing in and through you.
Seek God and let Him transform your life.
Where’s your focus?
Seeing God in the happy times is easy, but when we feel like we’re in the midst of a storm it’s hard to focus on what’s really important.
JESUS!
When we fix our eyes on Jesus he lifts us up.
Like Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter walked on water but as soon as he took his focus off of Jesus and onto the storm around him he began to sink. It wasn’t until he cried out to Jesus, that he was lifted back up.
God gives us choices and He’s always there to help us, but we have to ask. We have to let Him in and trust His solution.
Sometimes it’s a simple answer and sometimes it’s going to take some faith. Trust that Jesus will provide even when we don’t see the immediate result.
IF you look for Him in everything in your life He will shine thru.
Alone
How do you act, speak, think when your alone? Is it the same way you are in public, at work, at church?
Would you be ashamed to share who you are at home or what you do?
Does who you are change depending on where you are? Or who your around.
If we have Jesus living in us and we are living by the guidance of the Holy Spirit we should be the same person whether we are alone or surround by thousands.
Speaking in Tongues?
This is the simplest and best break down I’ve heard about Speaking in Tongues. Enjoy!
What if I’m wrong?
What if you’re wrong? What if I’m wrong? The question that plagues most of us when it comes to eternity.
If I’m wrong, then I will have lived a life that is amazing, that has caught me by surprise, a life that I would not trade for anything.
Because life with Jesus has been a grand adventure more then I ever could of dreamed or imaged for myself. Even during the toughest times in my life I find joy and peace in Him; and my happiest moments are beyond my wildest dreams, because of Jesus.
Are you so afraid of Jesus that you aren’t willing to give Him a chance? What do you have to lose?
He is the most loving, kind, gentle, beautiful and gentle being I have ever know. Why not give him a chance, right now.
Take a moment and talk to Him, about anything you want, scream, yell, whisper or just talk to Him in your head.
He’s listening, He wants to talk to you, but you have to listen too.
He speaks in so many different ways, though our thoughts, through others, through dreams and through images.
Be open and willing to let Him in. I bet he’ll surprise you.
Seek to know God
All I want is that you seek the lord and that you trust him. (Courageous 2011)
That’s all I ever want for anyone. Because in seeking God you will come to know His character, how much He loves you and that He can be trusted.
How many of us get our perception of God from others. We all have had our perception of God influenced by someone either in a good or bad way. But how many of us really seek to know Him intimately, to learn His character for ourselves and make up our own minds instead of what others tell us.
That’s my hope with this blog that we would see God for who He is and seek to know Him more intimately and deeper then you even have before.
The legacy we leave behind
When my grandma went to heaven to be with Jesus. I shed tears for how much I miss her. But I found comfort in knowing that she is at peace and pain free in heaven. She’s having the best time of her life spending every moment with Jesus.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t do what she taught me to do.
Love people and show them Jesus.
She always had a smile on her face and she always knew how to make the mundane joyful. She taught me how to welcome everyone into my home as if they were family, how to be creative and how to put windshield wipers on, amongst other things.
There was always enough space for everyone in her home and at her table no matter who or how many showed up.
She taught me generosity and kindness in her heart and her actions. She always shined Jesus and I always want to do the same
She did what we are supposed to do. She welcomed everyone and shined Jesus to all. She had six daughters, three step children, nine grandchildren, six great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren and she always had room for more. She always treated everyone like family and had so many more adopted in Christ-children.
Just as she did we should too, teach our children, our grandchildren and all around us about who Jesus is and what He has done for us and how that makes us all family.
It’s so much more then words, it’s our actions, our demeaner, our attitude. Jesus should be reflected in every aspect of our lives. So even if we don’t say a word He still shines through.
What’s your legacy?
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
When we are in leadership we should be the example of how to serve others and how to put others before ourselves. We should be cheering on those that we are leading. Guiding them to achieve more then we have. How else can we grow if we don’t encourage others to go further then we have.
Paul saw the potential in Timothy and Timothy was sent to help the Philippians. The Philippians in turn were to lead others to learn about the gospel.
If you are a leader in anyway, as a boss, parent, mentor or coach. Your legacy should be that you taught others how to do what you do better then you do it.
Paul was a leader in the early church and he never lorded it over anyone, he lead by example and humbled himself over and over again.
What legacy will you leave behind? What will people say they learned from you?
Where I find my confidence
When I was young, I was shy and insecure, lacking confidence, always looking for approval and to feel wanted.
But when I found my identity in Jesus and I got to know Him, to know His love and His unconditional love. Knowing God loved me no matter what, that He would always protect me, keep me safe and never leave. That’s when I found my confidence. My confidence grew because it was in Him and who He is, not me.
When we know God’s love for us, it bolsters us, gives us strength and confidence to be who He made us to be. That’s why spending time with Him and learning who He is, is so important. It gives us the confidence to do and be who He made us to be. His children.
We are each so important to God. He wants to spend every moment of everyday with us and He will defend us even to death, because He already did.
That’s love and that’s where my confidence and joy and peace come from. They come from the one who gave up everything to be with me, to be with you. To have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with every single member of humanity. He is our creator and He loves each and every one of us, that is who we find our confidence in, the one who loves us, all of us.
Never underestimate an Open Door
Run the Race is a great movie about the power of forgiveness and the bridges that forgiveness can build. It’ a great story of how no one is beyond saving and we should never give up on people.
My childhood friends from church never gave up on me. They were always there for me and never stopped praying. They never compromise themselves or approved of my choices during my time of ignoring God. But there were always there.
When I finally made the decision to change my life. They immediately jumped in to help and encourage me to stick with my decision.
My friends and my mom never gave up on me and so when I made that choice I knew that I could go to them without any fear or condemnation.
Extending forgiveness and keeping the door open, creates a safe place for people to come when they have questions or choose to make a change.
Never under estimate the power of prayer and an open door.
Like leaving the door open when you baking cookies, eventually someone is going to smell the warm comforting sweetness and come in.
Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash
Humility over honor
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus never demanded respect or to be worshiped or honored. He came to serve. Not to be served.
Have you ever demanded to be honored or respected? Did the actions of the person you demanded respect from fulfill that need or desire. Or did it leave you still wanting more?
When we force appreciation from people it teaches them that honor and respect are demanded, instead of earned.
So in turn they will go and do the same to others.
But when we get our value from God, as Jesus did, we don’t need the approval or appreciation of others to feel honored or respected.
Getting our value from God turns the moments when we are honored or respected by others into ‘life bonuses’ that mean so much more when they aren’t demanded.
How do you see yourself?
It’s easy to struggle with how God sees you when you get wrapped up in how others see you or how you see yourself. But how God sees us is what matters!
He is our creator and a creator always knows how something was meant to be used. It’s us or others that misuse ourselves and see ourselves not as we were intended to be.
God sees us all as His beautiful kids that He loves. We need to ask Him to show us how He sees us each day. Then we can fulfill the purpose He intended for us when He made us.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
Nerves are good for leaders
“I don’t think I’m ready” ~Prince Caspian
“It for that very reason you are” ~Aslan
Often when we don’t feel ready to do what God calls us to, it’s then that we are ready. Because it’s that insecurity in ourselves that makes us depend on Him. So we cannot boast in ourselves but in Him alone.
One of my teachers when I first started preaching, reminded me that nerves are good when preaching, because it keeps us conscious of God, His will, His words and His direction. If we were completely confident in ourselves, we would have no need for Him. But it’s because we know our own imperfection and instead find our confidence in Him, that we can shine Him best.
Don’t let nerves hold you back from what you know God has called you to instead, use those nerves to depend on Him and shine God to others not ourselves.
Expressing Jesus (part 2)
When you look at people, look at them through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to show you how He sees them.
Each one of us is a part of the body of Jesus, so we all matter. Every person on the planet is given the opportunity to be a part of the body of Jesus.
Therefore we all are important!
There is not a person on this planet that isn’t important to God.
So why do we treat each other with so much callus and disregard?
Everyone matter to Him, so they should matter to us.
That may sound overwhelming. But if you have the Holy spirit guiding you its not as daunting as it seems.
Kindness can go a long way. Like the small things, opening a door for someone, even something as simple as a smile (even when you think you’re having a bad day) can go a long way for the person you are kind to, you never know it could be the worse day of their life and you made it better just by being kind.
Trust the Hoy Spirit and let Him lead you to be a light to someone, you never know the difference you could make till you try.
Jesus Humbled Himself
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Even Jesus didn’t consider himself equal with Father God when he came to earth as a human. He could of been born to the highest king in all the world, He could of come as an adult.
But instead He choose to come as a baby, to a young girl and her fiance with no notary or status.
He choose to start with humble beginnings.
He never demanded to be worshipped, glorified, honored or respected.
He simple came to serve us in love, to do what we couldn’t, to live a sinless life and then die falsely accused the death of a murder.
All to give us the opportunity to have right relationship with Father God. To not have to earn anything, simple to let Him live through us and He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Jesus did the hard part.
We need to stop striving and start surrendering, to let Him work through us, not us work for Him.
God KNOWS You
God’s presence is the place where we find ourselves. He sees the mess and gives us the grace to overcome it and get out of it. He doesn’t want us to shove it aside or stuff it deep inside or try to fix it on our own. He wants it to be resolved and no longer affect us. So we don’t have to be ruled by our past mistakes or even the mistakes of others.
We get to choose.
Choose to let God’s grace be enough for us and for others. When we forgive, we free ourselves from being slaves to bitterness, anger, resentment and rage. It can no longer have power over us; because we won’t let it.
Finding our identity in Jesus makes us more us than we were before. He uniquely designed each of us and He know exactly what gifts and talents He gave us; to be and do what He designed us for.
When we choose to let God’s grace to be enough we are free to be who He intended us to be. To be loved, strong and confident and not held down; but to soar above the storms.
What binds your marriage?
A good marriage has to be worked at and fought for, it’s easy to take your spouse for granted because of the natural ease that brought you together in the first place.
Just because something is easy and comfortable, doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be cared for. The movie Fireproof is a great example of how going though the motions and taking advantage of a comfortable situation can result in collapse.
Marriage is a bond that makes the two, one. Your spouse is your other half and when you neglect them, it’s like not taking care of yourself.
I have to be honest, I don’t have a perfect marriage, and I don’t always put my husband first. But when I do, I never regret it. I have, regretted not putting him first and neglecting him.
A strong marriage has to be built and maintained. But it also has to have something that binds you together. God is that binder. Putting God at the center of your marriage draws you closer to Him and each other.
Photo by Gabby Orcutt on Unsplash