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.

Stop rushing

What do you do when you feel worried and overwhelmed, like the world is spinning faster and faster?

I wonder how Mary felt when she was carrying Jesus. She had all the reason in the world to feel like she wasn’t enough or that she couldn’t do it.

But she didn’t, she surrendered her life to bear Jesus in her womb and raise him.

God has a plan for our lives, he has chosen each of us for a specific task, a calling specific to be who he made us to be.

He knit us together in our mothers womb.

He made us to bear Jesus in us, to shine his light an his love.

Stop rushing around trying to do all that the world expects and take a moment listen to this song and ask God what he has for you.

God first

Putting God first can seem overwhelming, but if we put him first we will find that he’s essential to our lives, like that first cup of coffee. Putting God first sets our day off right. Just shifting our focus to him can change our whole, mood, demeanor and mindset about the day. Even if it’s just a moment that shift can change our whole day if we let it.

He provides-

peace that surpasses understanding

love that trumps all love

joy that overflows our hopes

Who doesn’t need more love, joy and peace in their day.

So put him first and see how your days exceeds your expectations.

The Birth of Jesus

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,  to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:1-20

The angels said ‘fear not.’ Often we shy away from God because we feel we don’t measure up, but that’s the beauty of why he came, to make us free of shame and guilt and to know him deeply.

Jesus choose humble beginnings, lived humbly and counted not even his own life beyond sacrifice. He held back nothing so that we could have everything.

His gift to us is salvation and righteousness so that we could live a life filled with his love joy and peace.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

O Come let us adore him

As the Christmas season begins. Remember the reason for the season. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed with the shopping, decorating, gift giving and parties.

Instead keep your focus on Jesus, he is the reason for the season. Make him the focus of all you do.

If your shopping for gifts ask him what gift that person really needs and trust him to help you. Ask God to give you opportunities to share about him to the store clerk or the people in line with you.  While decorating sing Christmas songs as worship songs.

Make him the focus this season, and ‘Adore Him’.

https://youtu.be/StjSsCbvavw

Count Blessing instead of Woes

It’s easy this year to get caught up in what we can’t do or can’t give during this Christmas but are our family traditions or gift giving really the purpose of Christmas? As wonderful as they are.

No. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus birth and it’s his life that we should celebrate. A man who was poor and even had times with no where to sleep, but was forever kind and generous. It’s he that we celebrate, one that loved all humanity so much that he came to serve us, not allowing selfish moments but letting his love for us guide him.

Even if we were have nothing this Christmas season we can always be grateful for our friends and family and for Jesus birth. 

So this Christmas no matter how different your celebration may be you can always count your blessings.

Do you know him?

The humility of Jesus birth speaks volumes to his character. Jesus is the very creator he is the word that was spoken that created us. And he choose to be born in a glorified cave surrounded by animals, by his creation not by man made structure.

He came to do his fathers work not what we thought he should do. He came to bring peace, joy and gentleness. So that all may know him.

Read about him, really study his words and actions, not what man says about him but he says.

People are fallible

Listening to the song Last Christmas by Wham reminds me that we as humans are fallible, we all make mistakes and disappointment each other.

But the one that we can always count on is God. He is love, joy, peace, patience, kind, good, faithful and gentle. He knows what we need and when; and he’s always ready to love us when we let him in.

We as humans have misrepresented him because we are not perfect and we make mistakes. So please don’t let people keep you from knowing him, let him prove who he is to you himself.

Give him your big questions, he can handle it, but make sure you listen for the answers.

This Christmas give him a chance to share his love for you with you.

Watch this movie to help you learn how to hear God’s voice.

Gift for Jesus

With all the gift giving this season. Don’t forget the reason for the season, Jesus.

What gift could you give him?

You may think you have nothing to give, but like the little drummer boy you give what you can, you give your gifts, your talents, your time, your life. Everyone has a life to give. And he deserves it because he gave his.

Even if you think you have nothing to give, Jesus says otherwise. He created you, he gave you gifts and talents you may not even know exist.

When you follow God’s plan for your life he uses those gifts and talents for him.

God gave me the calling to ministry ten years ago. And I didn’t start my blog till this September. He had to take me on a journey to teach me and grow and develop me into the woman that I am today. I am a very different person then I was ten years ago, because he had to mold me into who he made me to be and he’s still molding me.

That’s why I started this blog to use the gifts he’s given me to help others see God in their everyday lives.

The gift you can give him this Christmas is YOU!

You don’t have to have all the answers

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:5-6

We are not meant to know everything or the answer to all of life’s questions. but we should know how to respond. even Jesus didn’t always respond with words. Sometimes all people need is someone to listen, a shoulder to cry on or someone to cheer them on and encourage them.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

We have the Holy Spirit with us at all times and he is the one with all the answers. But even his response is not always what to say but sometimes what to do or what not to do.

How to react to a situation usually makes a bigger impact then words. that’s why building a deep intimate relationship with God is so important. So that in the hardest and most influential situations we can hear him and follow his leading.

Next time your in a situation and you don’t know what to do, ask the Holy Spirit and trust that he knows how best to react.

Would it kill you to dance?

Our worship should be ingrained in us, so much that everything within us cries out to God. Every fiber in our body should be yielded and shout out to him “you are HOLY.”

King David danced because he wanted everything within him to praise God. “Who decided that reservation is worship? God gave his everything for us. Why shouldn’t we do the same in our worship?

Photo by David Calderón on Unsplash

What will happen if you lift your arms. Will the world end?

If you jump for joy, will the ground fall out underneath you? No. God gives a firm foundation.

If you dance for joy. Will God turn from you in shame? No, he will dance with you!

So what’s stopping you? You?

God Loves YOU

Yesterday I talked about having the faith in God to make the big sacrifices and that, that starts with conversation, with talking to God.

But there is so much more, it’s more then taking to him its about knowing him. I have trusted God when he asks me to make big leaps of faith because I know him.

I know that he loves me and that he will not let harm come to me. I know that he has brought me through some crazy impossible situations and that he will continue to do so. Because I know him

I know that he is loving, kind and gentle, that he provides all my needs when I trust him and that he never leaves me.

Jesus made his acrifice because he loves us and wants us to know him.

Take a chance and give him a chance to show you just how much he loves you.

How I Fight My Battles

Surrounded (fight my battles) by Michael W Smith may be the simplest lyrics ever written but they are powerful. The song talks about our times of struggle when we feel a heaviness, no way out, surrounded by nothing good or positive. We fight with praise. We fight by rejoicing in Jesus, the only one who is always constantly there for us, always fighting for us.

The simple repetition of theses lines

“It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You”

“This is how I fight my battles”

Over and over again has such power in it because it reminds us that we don’t fight with anger, hate, malice and judgment.

We fight with love, joy, peace and patience.

That’s why when we feel surrounded, we fight by giving praise to God.

We shift our focus to the one who fights for us, so that we can allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and to show us the true perspective.

When I was in Honduras, we were working at a Christian school that also hosted youth nights. One night when we were praying before one of the youth nights a mob came to both of the gates of the fenced in facility and tried to break down the gates.

Our pastor told us what was going on and our response was not panic or worry but to pray. We trusted that God had brought us there to make an impact for Him and that He would protect us and He did.

As we were praying the Holy Spirit showed showed me a vision of the compound surrounded by 30 foot angels guarding and protecting us.

Not for one moment did I feel fear or worry because I knew God would protect us. The mob eventually dispersed and we were able to have the youth night.

God always provides for His children when we turn to Him.

So no matter where you are, what your doing, or how hopeless you feel you can always count on God to be there for you.

Give out of Him

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,  of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,  the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:24-29

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

When you know God, sacrificing for him is easy. Putting others first, before yourself, giving of all you have and loving as he loved, comes easy because it’s him through us.

And we know that no matter how much we give or how empty we think we are he will fill us up and bless us all the more.

When we give out of him he fills us with his abundance and we lack nothing, because he always takes care of his kids.

Jesus is enough

When you love someone and they love you sometimes all you need, sometimes all you want is to just sit with them and enjoy their presence.

Jesus is like that.

His love is so pure, so true, so comforting that all I want to do sometimes is just sit in his presence and drink in his love, joy and peace.


Photo by Luis Alberto Sánchez Terrones on Unsplash

Sometimes that the best thing for us.

Just to sit and enjoy his presence, no talking necessary just drink him in.

No matter what is going on, when you don’t have the words or the strength you can just sit in his presence and that is enough. Because he is enough.

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.

Colossians 1:21-23

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.

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worship is how we reflect God

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror  and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:19-27

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?

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

 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.

Photo by Tommaso Pecchioli on Unsplash

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.

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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. 

Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash

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.

Colossians 1:3-8

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.

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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.

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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.

Philippians 2:25-30

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

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.

Isaiah 44:3

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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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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but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:30

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.

Philippians 4:21-23

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?

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.

Psalm 46:1

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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.

Phillippians 3:2-9 (MSG)

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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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.

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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. 

Colossians 2:11-12

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.

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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.

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.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV)

Alone

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Phillippians 2:12-13

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.

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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.

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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.