You never know

Everything in life starts small, humans as babies, plants as seeds, companies all have a day one, a first day of school. Everything starts somewhere and its all the little things that make the big things happen.

Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t reached your dreams yet.

David beat Goliath with a stone, and when he got up that morning all he intended to do was bring food to his brothers and he still waited years till the word spoken over him to be king came true. Big dreams rarely happen overnight.

It’s the little things in life that make us who we are, the everyday things that make an impact.

It was the time David spent daily shepherding sheep following God’s plan in God’s time that made him who he was.

It was the time that Jesus spent each day with Father God that gave him the wisdom to know what to say, when and where to go and who to talk to.

We need those same moments each day where we let God lead us and direct our steps, the turn in our drive that helps us avoid the car accident or the mom with screaming kid that we open the door for. It’s the little things that make the difference.

Ask God what the little things are that we can do each day that will make the big things happen. You never know what one stone can do till you see a giant fall.

You are worthy

None of us are beyond saving. We all have the opportunity to feel free and find new life in Jesus.

The beauty of His sacrifice is that when He died, we died.

“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:39

When we try to live without Jesus we are always striving to feel worthy, valued, loved and wanted.

But Jesus sacrifice already paid our debts and He gives us our worth and our value. He sees us as priceless, that’s why He gave His life for us. So that we could stop striving and start living in Him.

No matter you’ve done or how unworthy you feel, God will always see you as priceless and worthy because of His sacrifice, if we accept it.

https://youtu.be/H-iPu2WjqdM

Start the conversation

The movie War Room is about the power of prayer. But what is prayer? And how do you do it? There are so many that think it has to be perfectly worded, like it was a magic spell or something.

But prayer is simply a conversation between you and God. It doesn’t have to be scary or intimidating, just a simple conversation.

So what is that conversation about or for? Prayer is to develop our relationship with God as any conversation does. We can talk to Him about anything and everything. Prayer helps us to know God better so that we can see things through His perspective, so we can choose to let Him change us to be more like Him.

Prayer should be a constant in our lives just as we stay in communication with our closest loved ones, God wants to stay in constant communication with us, but we don’t need a device to do it.

You can pray in the line at the grocery store or at your desk at work or even while changing your kids diaper. The point is, you can have a conversation anywhere, anytime, while doing anything. He is always there, always wanting to talk, all you have to do is allow Him in. And don’t forget to listen!

 Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God’s got your back

With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. 

Psalm 18:29

God is who we draw our confidence and sometimes our feeling of invincibility from. When know who we are as His kids, who He has made us to be and what He’s called us to do. It gives us a firm foundation to stand on, to know that the creator of the universe has got our back.

Imagine if everywhere we went and with everything we did, we had a fifty foot angel standing behind us backing us up, giving us support and encouragement. That’s what it’s like when we trust God to lead us, but even better. Even a fifty foot angel fails in comparison to God and He is with us all the time.

We are never alone if we have Him by our side, if we look to Him for guidance, for the right words and for each step and each action each day. He created the universe, He can handle our daily schedule. And with Him, we can tackle what seems impossible, because nothing is impossible to him.

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Before Creation

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ~Ephesians 1:5

Amazing to think that God knew us even before you were born and he decided before then to make us part of His plan. 

We are not a mistake, we were thought of by the creator of the universe before we were even born. That’s how important we are to God. 

Stop thinking no one cares or you’re not important because it’s simple not true. Each and everyone of us is precious to God.

We all can worship

Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

1 Chronicles 16:23-24

Worship crosses all boundaries, language and cultural. We all have the capacity to worship God.

It doesn’t matter if we know the words to a song, if we like the style of the music, if we’re rich or poor, what we look like or where we grew up. We all can worship.

Worship is about putting God first in our hearts. It’s about surrendering to Him and giving Him the glory.

It doesn’t matter where we are or who we’re with we can worship God anywhere anytime, with anyone anywhere in the world. Because we are all His children and He loves each of us.

We worship Him because of His who He is, not what He’s done for us. Just as He loves us not for what we’ve done but who we are to Him. His beloved creation.

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Find Freedom

Rehearsing over and over again our mistakes in our head just allows guilt and shame to have control over us. Even rehearsing the wrong doings of others against us gives them power over us. When we allow these things to dictate our decisions we give them control over us.

But when we surrender them over to Jesus and accept His grace for us and for them, we find freedom.

When we die to ourselves and allow God to live through us, His love and His grave cover our mistakes so that we can be free of guilt and shame, because we are dead and the dead can’t be offended, guilty or ashamed.

Instead we can rejoice in the freedom, joy and peace of God’s grace.

Surrender over to God whatever is holding you back, whatever you think you did or you are, that stops you from being who God made you to be.

Free and forgiven.

What are you sacrificing?

Star Wars is a great example of the battle of good and evil we all face.

Selfish choices, even if they are for someone else, they change who we are for the worse are not worth it. We devalue the person we are trying to protect because we compromise ourselves to do it.

Anakin changed the selfless path he was on, to save Padmé but his decision to compromise actually ended up being what harmed her.

Even in what seems to be the worst circumstances we need to trust God to lead us out of it.

God knows us and knows what best for us, His plans is not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.

I can’t even count the number of times God has brought me through valleys.

Losing our faith in Him is what got us into the valley and it will never help us move forward.

Don’t despair the journey and it’s trials

There is a story about a servant carrying two pots from the river each day to bring water to his master. One pot is broken and only brings half the water from the river that the other pot carries. But along the path the servant planted wildflowers for the broken pot to water as he carried it.

Jesus does the same in our lives he uses our brokenness to pour out His life giving water. He fills us up so that we can water the seeds in others that he has planted along our path.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ~John 4:13-14

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What are you sharing?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ~Colossians 3:16

We as believers in Jesus are meant to teach and encourage each other, but we need to make sure we are teaching what Jesus has taught us, not what the world has taught us.

How do we separate the two, how do we know what God is teaching us and what we’ve learned from the world.

By asking the Holy Spirit and testing what we’ve learned against these verses.

 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ~Philippians 4:5-9

AND

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ~Galatians 5:22-25

When your worn out

God is the one we can always count on. We don’t have to do or be anything to come to him.

We can be in our worst state and he is there for us. No matter how tired or exhausted we are, he is not looking for deeds to earn his love and attention, just our hearts surrendered o Him.

Don’t worry about accomplishments. Just go to Him, He’s happy just to spend time with you.

God’s love concurs fear

The love of God transform us. It gives us boldness, strength and confidence in the toughest moments. God’s love not only cancels fear, it removes it. God’s love is all encompassing.

It gave David the strength to face Goliath, Daniel the stamina to face the lion den and Shadrach, Mesach and Abednigo the confidence to face the fire.

God’s love gives us all we need to face or overcome the trials we face in life. He gives us peace in the storm when we fix our eyes on Him. Like Peter walking on the water. When he had his gaze fixed on Jesus he was able to do what defied logic and understanding. But when Peter took his gaze off of Jesus and focused on the storm around him (his circumstances) he began to sink. So no matter what your surrounded by fix your gaze on Jesus and He’ll teach you to walk on the water and find peace that surpasses understanding.

Second chances

As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

John 8:3-11

We have all done something wrong in our lives and none of us is without blemish. None of us could cast the first stone at the other for their mistakes because none of us are without them. But that’s the beauty of why Jesus came to redeem us.

He came to do what we could not, to live a life without blame.

That’s why second chances and believing in the others is so important because we all were given a second chance from God so how could we not do the same for others.

I watched a movie the other night about a basketball coach who saw potential in his players to not only do well as athletes but he saw beyond that, that they could exceed the expectations of others around them in their education too.

That’s how God is with us. He sees way more potential in us then we or others see in ourselves. That’s why he never gives up on us and he is always our biggest cheerleader because he made us and he knows that we are capable of far greater then we can think or imagine. If we will just trust him to guide us to it.

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Find peace in identity

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
—John 14:27

God’s peace is not something you earn, but a gift he freely gives, if we will let Him provide it by trusting Him.

Jesus is always looking to bless us, to shower His love on us. We are the ones who hold Him back, by trying to keep control of our lives.

His blessings are peace of mind, peace in our heart and peace in our soul. By finding our confidence and identity in Him. He teaches us to be without fear or worry.

When you know who you are in Jesus, nothing can shake that and no one can take it.

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Freedom from trying

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—  “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”  (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 2:20-23

When we die to our selfish nature it’s to stop trying to achieve salvation on our own. We humble ourselves by acknowledging that we cannot achieve it by our own self abasement. So why after receiving God’s gift of forgiveness would we one again try to earn it.

The choices we make to abstain from things in our lives are to help us develop a deeper relationship with Jesus; building more dependence on Him and less on our selves. Things like fasting are to show us that God can sustain us, not to show others how devout we can be.

Our choices to abstain from things are for our focus to be undivided. If we focus on trying to redeem our past we will miss what God is doing in our lives now. If we look to darkness for light we are missing the point that He delivered us from darkness.

Stop trying to earn salvation and accept the free gift that it is and enjoy the freedom from darkness that Jesus salvation gives.

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His love endures

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Act 16:25

The love of God is so overwhelming that even in prison his disciples still worship.

You have to wonder what is so great about God’ love that people would be willing to be imprisoned for it and still praise him in that prison.

When I read the book Heavenly Man, the true life story of a leader of the underground church in China and the multiple imprisonments he endured, beating and mistreatment. I was moved by how he still shared God’s love with the very men that beat him.

Enough to know that I would be willing to endure the same.

But that’s God’s love, it endures everything and anything.

Jesus was falsely accused, beaten and died the death of a murdered all for us, because he loves us.


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That love is worth sacrifice.

God’s love endures.

It endure our constant rejections, abuse, neglect and straight opposition.

His love endures.

No matter what his love for you never changes, no matter what you say or do he loves you and it is that love that holds us together.

His love endures all things

If his love can endure all, isn’t it worth giving him the chance to love you?

We all just need more Jesus

So often we focus on the problem instead of the solution. Jesus is always the solution.

We all always just need more Jesus.

When were having ‘bad day’ and cant get out of our own funky mood, we need more Jesus.

When someone is getting on our nerves and we don’t know why, we need more Jesus.

When were in a circumstance and don’t know what to do we need more Jesus.

Jesus is the solution.

He can bring us joy and peace on the ‘bad days’, he can show us what is really bothering us and helps us find he root cause, and he can change circumstances.

We all always just need more Jesus.

He’s our attitude adjustment, our perspective changer and he can move mountains.

Because we all just need more JESUS!

Love and respect can’t be forced

We can’t change other people but we can choose how we treat and react to other people.

I recently watched a great movie on Pureflix called ‘How to train your puppy husband‘ I thought it would be funny as we currently have two puppies I am training and I would never train my husband. But it reminded me of an important lesson.

We can’t change other people, but we can choose how we treat and react to other people. When you’re training a puppy you are actually modifying how you treat and react to what your puppy does.

You should never try to train or change your spouse. But you can change how you treat them and react to them. We are to love God and love others as ourselves. So think about how you would like to treated and treat your spouse that way. If you want to be loved and respected, love and respect them. You can’t get what you don’t give. When has demanding, berating and manipulating ever really resulted in exactly what you wanted.

Forced behavior is never really what we want, what we want is for others to do things for us because they want to, so we must do that for others. If we want others to care for our needs and wants, we need to put the other person first and care for their needs and desires.

Love and respect can’t be given by force.

Be known

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139:23-24

God knows us. He knows every single thing about us down to the number of hairs on our head.

And he loves us, knowing all our faults.

But that’s not how he sees us, he sees all that we could be, he sees what he intended us to be. He sees our full potential.

There is no reason to fear God knowing you because that is what makes him love you. He sees each of us a unique and special to him and we are all valuable.

So if you want to feel loved, valued, desired, cared for and known then seek God and let him show you all that he made you to be.

Love above all

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Colossians 3:14

Love is what bind us together, love heals us, love fulfills us.

We can have all we ever wanted in life but if we don’t have love, we will still be lacking.

We can try to do and be the humblest, most compassionate, kindest, gentlest, most patient and forgiving person. But if we don’t have love we will only be striving instead of thriving.

Love shows us others as God sees them, love gives us the drive to put others first, love fulfills us so that we don’t need the approval of others.

Love is all we need.

you can be vulnerable

We all need a place where we can go to refresh, a safe place to let go of all our worries and concerns and just feel restored.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is that place.

In God’s presence we can let go of everything (because he already knows everything) just let his presence refresh and restore us, energize us and renew our passion.

No matter what’s going on, how, stressed or busy we are, we need to make the time for his presence.

Because the presence of the Holy Spirit is that place of vulnerability where we can be real and raw, we don’t have to hide anything because he knows everything and we can pour out our souls and be made whole in him.

Jesus is all you need

The best part about Jesus is that he is what we are not. So when we say we do it feel like, that’s ok, we don’t have to, because he is what we are not. He is our strength, our peace and our joy.

We have to stop trying to be what we think God wants us to be and let him be in us what he is.

When we surrender our lives over to him we need to fill that up with something but we often make the mistake of filling up on the things that got us to where we were in the first place before Jesus.

We need to fill up on him, to fix our eyes on what draws us closer to him not further from him. We have this problem of trying to imitate God instead of letting him be God in us.

We need to get out of the way.

If his intentions was to have us fix ourselves, then why did he sacrifice his life for us.

Don’t say we’ll that just the way I am. Because when you gave your life over to God you gave up that person, to be the person he created you to be.

That person is loving and peaceful and fearless and joyful.

So stop saying less of me and more of him and say none of me and all of him.

Stop running

I love watching movies and having God teach me something through them. The Lion King has so many moments that are teachable. Simbas overall life lesson is what caught my attention this time.

He tried to run from his problems, only to find out later that he didn’t even do what caused him to run. Many of us do this especially when we are kids, we run and hide thinking the consequences will be worse then they actually are or that our parents couldn’t possible forgive us. But things always go so much better when we own up to our actions and deal with the consequences.

We often do this with God, we run and hide from Him. Thinking that He could never forgive us or that He doesn’t love us or want us, because we messed up.

But nothing could be further from the truth. He loves us no matter what, He knows that we will make mistakes and He has already forgiven us.

Once we realize this, we can find freedom and become who He made us to be and come in our inheritance like Simba because we are God’s kids and He has so much He wants to bless us with.

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Who you are

God can speak to us in ways we may not expect, if we look for him.

While watching a popular sci-fi TV show he brought this quote to my attention. “To resist the influence of others, knowledge of ones self is important.”~Tealc

It’s easy to be influenced by whatever is around us, if we don’t know who you are. But how do you know who you are?

First we are all God’s children. Each one of us is important, valued and loved by him. We are his kids and heirs to his throne. Once we know who we are to him, he can begin to show us each how unique and special he has made each one of us.

That knowledge of who he made us to be, is what we can stand on when our identity is attacked.


What pours out?

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience

Colossians 3:12

Sounds exhausting right, and it is, if your try to do and be these things on our own. But that’s not what God intends.

He wants to be these thing in us and through us.

When we give our lives to him he lives in us, that’s why we die to ourselves (not literally, spiritually) We let Jesus live through us.

But we have to nurture that relationship and feed it. By reading his word, talking with him and surrounding ourselves with what draw us closer to God not further away.

The more time we spend with God, the more we know him the more he pours out of us.

Abide in Jesus

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:1-11

Ask and it will be given.

Keep my commandments.

These statements have been used and abused to justify our selfish desires.

Abiding in the vine, in Jesus, changes you. It changes your wants, your desires, and the way you think. If we abide in the vine, we abide in the love of God. Jesus’s desires become our desires.

So that keeping his commandments is out of love, not status or achievement.

Abiding in the vine is about, literally growing as a branch to reach out and grow fruit. If we are each a branch then how many could we reach.

We are stronger when we abide together in the vine to bear fruit.

It great to have alone time with God but we draw so much strength from gathering together too.

Abide in the vine that is Jesus. Abide in his love and you will bear his fruit.

God’s not done with you

It breaks my heart when I hear people say that God can’t use them, because they are too old, too young, too poor, too shy, too broken, too busy.

As long as there are people who don’t know Jesus, God can use you.

We all have something to share, God changed our lives some way some how and we can share that.

The old have years of experience to share, decades of how Jesus has impacted their lives, the young have faith that can move mountains, the broken can share how God healed them, the busy can invest in those that keep them busy and anyone can give.

We can all be used by God.

True identity

God gives us our identity before we are even born, we are sons and daughter of him, because of Jesus sacrifice he made us co-heirs with him.

But when we face problems in life, it’s often easier to run away from our problems and believe what others says about us, instead of staying and fighting for what is ours.

Like in The Lion King, when Simba lets Scar take his birth right of ruling Pride Rock because he believe the lies of who Scar says he is and goes and lives with Timon and Pumba while it is fun for a while, he isn’t fulfilling his true purpose.

We are the same we can try to find our identity in our work, our friends, our family. But we will never really feel truly fulfilled until we find our identity in Jesus because he designed us to only be fulfilled by him.

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Fight fearlessly


The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?

Psalm 27:1

Have you ever meet someone truly fearless? Those that never back down from a challenge, nothing seems to worry them or catch them off guard.

Imagine if you had the grandest, most cunning, most skilled, undefeated warrior backing you up. What would you ever be afraid of?

That’s what we have when Jesus lives in us. He is our defender and our strength. He gives us the confidence to face giants and the fearlessness to concur mountains.

Knowing who we are in Jesus, that we are God’s kids and who he made us to be and what he call us to do, gives us that confidence to fight fearlessly to be and do what he’s called us to. Because if he’s called us to something he will provide and protect and back us up.


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Jesus was not a back up plan

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

Jesus was not a back up plan, he is God, he is creation, he is the very word that created us.

He loves us and in loving us gave us choice. For it would not be love if we were forced. God is gentle and he will never force us into anything we do not choose. We make choices in life that either brings us closer to him or further away from him.

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He knew we would make mistakes and he planned from the very beginning to sacrifice himself for us, to make a way for us to come back into right relationship with him.

Jesus choose us because he loves us. We either choose to accept his sacrifice or we don’t but in choosing we also choose to let him love and forgive us or we choose not to.

Weakness is strength

Hear my cry, O God;
    listen to my prayer.

 From the ends of the earth I call to you,
    I call as my heart grows faint;
    lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
 For you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the foe.

 I long to dwell in your tent forever
    and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Psalm 61:1-4

Even on our worst day, when we feel we have nothing left, we always have God. He will be our strength when we are weak. He will lead us to the firm foundation that lifts us up and shelter us from the storms.

Jesus did not fear weakness, he fasted for forty day and forty nights because he knew that Father God would sustain him. He allowed himself to be beaten and killed because he knew God would raise him. Showing vulnerability shines God even brighter when he lifts us up, he gives us the strength and stamina to continue to share him with others despite our own iniquities.

God is always listening to us, always ready to answer our call for help, for wisdom, for protection, for strength and for shelter.

People often see weakness as a sign of failure. I see it as a sign of strength. The bravery to be vulnerable enough to show your weakness is strength. But its what we do with that weakness.

Do we just curl up in a ball and call it quits or admit our weakness and ask God for his strength. Strength is knowing that the smallest amount of God’s strength can out due us on our strongest day. Knowing where your strength comes from, makes being vulnerable easy.

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Jesus Friend of Sinners

Jesus friend of sinner by Casting Crowns perfectly describes how we have become towards non-believers and contrasts how we should actually act.

Jesus befriended sinners.

Think about it this way. Has being poking at, people pointing fingers at you, being teased, being told you are wrong, or protesting ever convinced you that you are loved by God. Then why would we think that it would convey that to anyone else.

Did Jesus do anything of those things? No.

When people met Jesus, they changed their ways by their own decision. The tax collector gave back the money he stole with interest and Jesus never asked him to. Jesus didn’t throw rocks at the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery, he defended her.

Jesus causes people to change their ways just by being love. It’s the love of God that causes people to choose to change, not condemnation.

Isn’t that what brought you to God?

His love and forgiveness.

We are not meant to be judge and jury. We are meant to show God’s love.

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

You’re never truly lost

“Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn’t mean their lost forever” (Professor X, X-Men: Days of Future Past)

While cooking lunch I heard this quote from the movie my husband was watching.

Reminding me that God never sees us as permanently lost.

We have all stumbled in our lives or we wouldn’t have needed forgiveness.

But we must remember that when we look at others they may be stumbling and lost now but they don’t have to stay that way.

We must never give up on each other.

We all have friends or family that we ache for them to find freedom.

But having been that person for several years I know both sides of it.

What helped me the most was not people pointing out what I was doing wrong (I knew it was wrong, I didn’t care) but it was the people that were there for me when I was ready to make a change.

It was that support system that helped me to stay committed to the changes I had chosen too make.

We must remember we can’t force anyone to change but we can encourage and uplift them in their decisions to change.

One wrong turn

It’s amazing how one turn can change your whole path.

One choice, one decision can change your direction and ultimately your destination.

When driving one wrong turn can send you in a completely different direction. You may pass by things you would have never seen or known before just because of one turn.

Our life is the same, one wrong decision can lead us into things we never thought we would say or do, we may feel trapped like there is no where else to go, all because of one decision.

But there is always a choice to turn around.

It may be hard, an up hill battle, you may face opposition, but the end destination changes from bad to good.

My life changed when I turned my back on Jesus and tried to live my life without him. I made bad choice, after bad choice, that led me to do things I once said I never would. I made compromises to try to attain my goals, eventually hitting my rock bottom.

It wasn’t until I hit my rock bottom, that I realized I needed Jesus. So I turned my life back to him and he pulled me out of the pit I had dug; almost instantaneously. It took time for me to fully surrender different areas of my life before he could heal the damage I had inflicted on myself, but he was there and is still there continuing to heal me as I surrender more and more to him.

You have a choice.

If you made one wrong choice or dozens God is always there waiting to show you his love, grace and compassion. He is always ready to help you turn around

Who are you?

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:5-11

Its easy to excuse away our behavior by saying ‘that’s just the way I am.’

But if we are are made new in Jesus, then we are not who we used to be. We are like him.

By saying ‘that’s just the way I am’ we are resurrecting our old self and saying that Jesus in us, is not enough to kill off our old selves.

Jesus makes us new when we invite him into our lives, he gives us new life a new identity.

When we say we die to self, we are spiritually no longer that person and are given new life in Jesus and that new life is to be him.

So when we find our selves reverting back to our old ways and our old habits we don’t need to try to change, we need to realize that, that is not us anymore.

That’s why knowing Jesus is so important, because the more we know him the more we know our new selves, its how we find our identity in him.

Photo by Loverna Journey on Unsplash

You can’t surprise God

It’s easy to feel alone and like no one understands, because no one really knows what every moment of your life is like.

But God does…

…He knows because he was there with us whether we realize it or not. God is the only one who can and does understand, but we often feel afraid to go to him because we’re worried about what he would think. But he already knows it all so there is really nothing we can hide from him.

And even in knowing everything he still loves us.

We don’t have to be afraid of him, because he is love. Nothing about God is something that we should ever fear.

Because he is love, joy, peace, patience, kind and good.

So what about that is scary?

He is the one that we can always turn to no matter what.

So no matter what is running through your head or your heart, you can’t surprise God. But you can let him in.

I’m proud to be a “Jesus Freak”

Jesus Freak by DC Talk was one of my favorite songs when I was in junior high, when I started to make my faith my own.

I was proud then and I’m proud now to be a “Jesus Freak.” Because that means that others see him in me and through me.

We are supposed to be different, we are supposed to stand out for Jesus. People are supposed to see us different and it’s supposed to be desirable.

That doesn’t mean that we wash down the gospel so that it’s palatable to people in there current point of view, it means that we show them that they can have peace and joy and hope and love through relationship with Jesus.

Being a Jesus Freak should be something we are proud of, not something we are ashamed of.

Warnings are there for a reason

Warnings are there for a reason. They keep us away from danger and help us to go the right direction.

In ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ Aslan warns Mr. Tumnus that he is going the wrong direction by following the orders of The White Witch. Mr. Tumnus had never meet a human before and didn’t know what they were like or if they were safe. But he did know the source of the request to kidnap Lucy.

When we are completely unaware about something we need to look at the source for the answer.

Mr. Tumnus knew the witch was not good and he knew that Aslan was nothing but good, even though he had not meet him yet. Mr. Tumnus knew that Aslan was good.

When we are unsure of things in life, we must look to the source for guidance. The Holy Spirit is that for us. He knows what is good for us and what is not. He keeps us safe from harm and looks to do nothing other than bring us closer to God.

In this world where new things arise everyday. Trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance and he will lead you to the feet of Jesus.

No worrying or anxiety allowed

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

In our current climate it’s easy to become worried and anxious but does worrying or having anxiety accomplish anything besides causing us stress. No.

We need to remember is there is a big difference between want and need but God always provides. As adults we all wish we could go back to a day before bills and responsibilities when all we needed was provided. 

We can in a way, if we look to God to provide all we need. He will. He is our heavenly father and he loves to care for his kids.

Don’t be discouraged about wants either. He loves to bless his kids. You’ll be amazed at the blessings he provides when we seek him and put him first instead of worrying.

Our focus should always be on him first before anything, he sets our mood and attitude if we let him. When we start our day with him and let him permeate our whole day, he provides all we need. Trust him and let him relieve all your stress. Don’t worry God’s got this.

Through heavens eyes

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

We are meant to think like Jesus, act like Jesus and be Jesus. But we are not meant to play act, we are supposed to let him shine instead of us.

Think of Jesus as your boss in a way, but imagine he is the best boss ever, who only ever wants the very best for you and others. You wouldn’t make decisions without your bosses approval so why would we make decisions with out first going to Jesus.

He knows everything and therefore knows the best way, the most efficient way and the funniest way to do things. So why wouldn’t we look to him for guidance.

We are meant to set our mind in heaven where Jesus is and bring heaven to earth to those around us.

Jesus is with us all the time. He is our constant companion. We can talk to him anytime anywhere, in a traffic jam, at work, with our family, anytime he’s like your best friend that you can text anytime but you don’t need a phone to communicate with him.

We have the creator of the universe with us at all times, why wouldn’t we use that to our advantage?

We are meant to see the world through his eyes not him through the worlds eyes.

My everything

When you love someone you want to spend all your time with them. That’s what I love about God. I never get tired of spending time with him and he never grows tired of me.

To have someone that you can always go to no matter what, whether your weak and tired or thrilled beyond belief. The one you love is who you want to share that with.

God is that one.

He is always there, always waiting, wanting to spend time with you. He rejoices in your successes and comforts you in your sadness.

He is my everything. Is he yours?

with everything

Sometimes we can be worried about what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. So here’s my question. Whatever your doing or saying, can you do it with Jesus? Can you say it to Jesus?

I am not perfect and I can honestly say that their are moments when I couldn’t say I would be proud to have Jesus with me when I’ve said somethings, or put my self first before others.

But the reality is that if we believe, then he is with us every moment. He’s with us when we brush our teeth, when we yell at the driver in front of us, and when we hold the door open for the next person.

He’s always with us so why don’t we act like it.

Honestly I think we forget sometimes, but what if we lived are lives like we we never alone, like he was always with us, not as this overwhelming presence, but as our constant companion, someone who is always here to help us, to uplift and encourage us, so that we are never alone. He’s our best friend to protect when we’re scared or intimidated, to love us at our worst and celebrate with us at our best.

See your life different, as never before, as never alone. But with Jesus always.

God is bigger than the boogie man

We teach our children that they have nothing to fear, there is no monster under the bed or in the closet and that God is with them. But do we use the same reasoning with ourselves?

God is always with us and that should make us fearless, but often we let our imaginations get the best of us.

In the those moment we need to change our focus to the reality of our situation instead of our fear of the possibilities.

The reality is that God is with us and that he does and will provide everything we need in every situation if we just look to him first.

The little things matter

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

Psalm 139:1-4

God knows and cares about every little aspect of our lives. He is our heavenly father and if earthly parents care about the little things, how much more does God care.

I’ve heard it said ‘God is to busy’ or ‘he doesn’t care about every little detail’ but you need only to look at the complexity of creation to see that he is meticulous he cares more then we ever could about every singe little detail. To the point of knowing the number of hair on our heads.

God cares about you, he loves you and he wants every moment of everyday with you. He wants to go to the grocery store with you, to pick up your kids from school, to go to your job with you. Spending every moment of everyday with God doesn’t mean that we stop living it means that he is there and in every aspect of it. He is there to help us, to guide us, to uplift and encourage us.

God knowing every little detail of your life isn’t about judgement it’s because he loves us.

Let God in every aspect of your life and let him bear your burdens. With him your never have to feel alone, scared or worried again because you always have the God of the universe by your side.

Photo by redcharlie on Unsplash

Written by: Rebecca Darga

What fills you up

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:8-10

Everyone fills their heart and their head with something.

What we focus on first in the morning will be with us all day and what we focus on at night will be with us in our dreams and may even wake us up.

How we start and end our day impacts how our day goes. That doesn’t mean that we can’t change our focus through out the day, but we will be trying to counteract something instead of starting out on the right foot.

Starting our day with God sets the tone for the day, putting him first gives us the energy, wisdom and stamina to not just get through the day but to strive.

When we let him fill us up in the morning and ask him to direct our step through the day, our days go smoother. We have more peace and calm, because he gives us all we need, helps us do what we need to better, more effectively and more efficiently and helps us to avoid the pitfalls that can drain us or steer us in the wrong direction.

Let God direct your steps and you’ll be surprised how amazing your day will go.

Photo by Luís Eusébio on Unsplash

Change the atmosphere

The beauty of the kingdom of God is that’s its infinite and we don’t have to strive to bring his kingdom to this world.

When we accepted Jesus into our hearts, when we accepted his loving sacrifice, he came to live in us. When we allow the Holy Spirit to flow thru us and stop trying to do it on our own. Peace and joy can abound through us.

God’s presence is amazing and beautiful, peaceful and joyful all at once.

When we bring God into a situation he changes the atmosphere.

When we allow him to build his kingdom in and through us, nothing can hinder us, when we give him full freedom in our lives he gives us freedom.

When Jesus said he would destroy the temlpe and rebuild it in three days, he did. He destroyed the temple and tore the veil so that we all can experience his presence. When he rose from the grave he built his kingdom in our hearts, so that he can be everywhere and in all of us.

No matter where you are, if you have Jesus in your heart his kingdom is always with you. Share his love and peace, his grace and beauty, his peace and joy with everyone around you, because he is always with you.

Fear

Fear your not welcome here

The breakup song by Francesca Battistelli is a great anthem for those moments of fear that sneak up on us.

The reminder that we have the power to tell fear to leave.

We don’t have to let it over take us every moment of every day you have the choice to let your self be ruled by fear or to choose your feeling and refuse to let fear control  you.

Listen to the song sing along a tell fear to leave.

Let Jesus be the change

‘Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn’t mean their lost forever’ (Charles Xavier X-Men Days of Future Past 2014)

I was that person that stumbled and lost their way. But I had friends and family that we’re there ready and waiting to help me find my way back when I was ready. But it had to be my decision, my choice.

We can’t force people to change; because if we try and even if they seem like they are changing, its not really change. Because its not their choice. I know its hard to watch others make bad choices, but we can’t force them. Forced change is always worse; because they are still going to be opposing you on the inside or resenting you.

But if we present options and support. When they are ready, they may make a change and they will know who to turn to.

Praying for them is also a big part but our prayers should not be God please change them or make them see that I am right. But God help me to see them as you see them, help me to love them as you love them.

Most of the time in order for someone to change we need to change too. None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes even with the best of intentions.

Our Pastor when we lived in Tennessee used to say ‘come as you are and let Jesus mess you up.’ Isn’t that what we all did? We came to Jesus with our junk and mess and let Him change us. So why don’t we encourage others to do the same?

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

roots

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Where we draw our strength is what lets us stand in the storm.

Our faith is built on Jesus and when we root ourselves deep in him, we can weather the storm. When we draw our nourishment from Jesus, our roots grow strong in him and we can withstand more then we can imagine.

Photo by Max LaRochelle on Unsplash

When the storm is over we may see damage to branches and leaves but its what you can’t see deep down the roots that give the us strength to grow back bigger and stronger that matter.

Let’s root ourselves in Him.

So when the storm comes it’s his words, his love, his strength and his character that we depend on to weather the storm and come out stronger.

Reaching even One Matters

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:6-7

In our current time of social media and constant self promotion it can be hard to be humble.

We can be so worried about how many likes, shares, hits, retweets we get that we can lose sight of who and what we represent. As believers in Jesus we are meant to shine him to others. And we can be discouraged when even our posts about him get little traffic. 

But we must remember that what we write/post/share for him isn’t about us, it’s about him. And even if it reaches just one person, it might be what that one person needed more than we could ever know.