Conversation With a Friend

My best friend Lyn killed herself last week. I can't imagine the hopelessness and pain she must have felt to do such a thing. She left many friends, family and 2 children behind.


This is what I would tell Lyn if she were still here.


Trust in Jesus. Yes, it really is that simple if you are Gods child. If you have asked Him to come into your heart.


God made promises to us, He promises to Protect us, Provide for us and that He has a plan for us. We get into trouble when we think we know more than He does and we stubbornly go our way instead of trusting Him and going His way.


When we put our trust into ourselves, into having "Stuff" or into other people, we fail miserably. But when we trust that God does have a plan for our lives, and that no matter how bad we think it is right now, God WILL see us through. 


Romans 8:28 And we know that in ALL things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 


So chill, take a deep breath, there is a plan and it will all work out in the end. Sometimes, things are going to go badly, they aren't going to go the way you want them to, but remember Romans 8:28 and remember, God is still in charge. 


Max Lucado reminds us, “It all works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, then it’s not the end.”


Psalm 37:4,5 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and He will do this


Notice these verses do not say we can do anything we want and God will be like a genie in a lamp and give us everything we want. It says we are to COMMIT and TRUST. It really is easier than to trust in our own imperfect way. We humans can sure make a shambles out of our lives when we take matters into our own hands.


If we are delighting in our Heavenly Father, do we have time to be looking at our own shortcomings, our own failures? Will we think it is hopeless? No, not if you trust and commit to Him.


Phil 4: 6-8 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God, And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus


If we commit to Him and we trust in him, that means we give our anxiety, our worries over to Him to handle for us. Nothing is hopeless if we trust Him. 


Lyn my beautiful friend, I am so sorry you didn't know the peace of trusting in our Lord. I am so sorry you hurt so badly and felt so hopeless.  I miss you Lyn and I wish I could have held you here until we talked this over until you understood Gods grace. I know God will use this in His plan, whether I can see it right now or not. Love always xo

What is your Passion?

Checking in with friends on Facebook and Twitter yesterday, I noticed something; My friends have many passions.

One friend posted how proud she was of Phillip Phillips.. I looked him up, I thought he was a member of the family. Evidently he is a contestant on a reality show.


Another friend tweets and posts almost daily about her favorite musician, a previous reality show contestant. She requests people pledge money for his next album and attends every gig she can. 

 And lets not even talk about all the posts and tweets and excitement that sports fans exhibit! Have you ever seen a football fan sitting in freezing cold weather covered in paint?? Now that is passion! 

What is your passion? How does your passion for Jesus, your Savior, the one who died for you, how does your passion for Christ compare to your passion for football, reality show stars or whatever you prioritize?

Exodus 20:3 "you shall have no other gods before me" .  

What if we spent as much time speaking to Him, talking about him, Posting about Him or tweeting about Him. What if we read His word and talked to Jesus as much as we watched our passions on TV?

We want people to like our passions, but so we tell anyone else about the One who should be our main passion? 

Imagine what the impact there would be on the lives around you if you spent as much time and energy on Jesus as you do on football or celebrities or parties or... whatever it is you prioritize. 

What is you talked about what Jesus has done in your live, Tweeted about Jesus, posted statuses about Jesus, sang praises to him, what if? Can you see what  a difference you could make in others lives as well as in your own?

He died for you. No man comes to God except through Jesus Christ. John 14:6

Or could it be you don't truly know Jesus? 

Are you wondering how to come to Jesus?

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God

Ok, simple enough, you know you are a sinner and you know that because of that you can't get to heaven.. right? 

Romans 6:23"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

ok, so you know there is nothing you yourself can do to get into heaven.. doing good works or being a good person, will not do the trick. 

Romans 5:8 "but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins and gae us the gift of salvation


Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - and we will be saved!


Romans 10:13" for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"

Now tell me that isn't the easiest most awesome thing in the world!


Do you see? All you have to do is acknowledge you are a sinner. Then ask Jesus .. confess with your mouth that that Jesus is your Lord and you believe He died to pay the price for your sins.


Have you accepted Christ? I would love to hear about it!

Do you have a Value Above Rubies?

I have been thinking a lot in the past week or so about what it takes to be a Godly woman. So today, I decided to do a short study on what God says a Godly woman is. 

First of all, a Godly Woman is greatly valued and very precious. I certainly would not want to be an ungodly woman! 

Proverbs 31:10-28

10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. A woman of noble character has a very high value. I think we all want to be women of value, don’t we? A ruby is more precious than gold or diamonds.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She has her husbands confidence, he doesn’t have to worry about what she is up to when his back is turned.  She would never stray from the marriage bed in thought or deed

12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. This Godly woman doesn’t say spiteful mean things, she doesn’t do spiteful mean things and she would never think of harming her husband in word or deed.

13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. 15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She works and is not lazy. She is a saver, not a spender, she can see the future and not live only for today

16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She makes good financial decisions.

 17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. 18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.  19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. It is obvious God values a woman with a strong work ethic who is more concerned with enhancing her family than she is with spending the family money. Her lamp doesn’t have to go out at night because she has made good financial decisions and is prosperous as a result.

20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. She gives back to the community. She has learned to have a Spirit of Service.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.  22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. She has made sure her family is healthy and clothed. She is well groomed and takes care of her appearance.  She would never dream of going in public looking slovenly

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. In other words, she isn’t out running her husband down to her friends. She is supportive and loving. She is faithful to her husband and he can be proud of her. He prospers from this support and love.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. Once again, you can see God values a woman who makes good financial decisions. 

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. Because of her work and dedication, she can anticipate the future with joy, free of worry.

26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She is not silly and vapid. She knows Gods Word and can instruct others instructs others about it

27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Again with the idleness, She not eating bread from anothers table or benefiting from someone elses hard work. She has no need to beg or borrow as she has worked to take care of herself and family

28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: For the married women. If a woman does all of this, she will have loving children and husband if married.

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. While she is well groomed and cares about her appearance, she understands that the most beautiful part of her is her close walk with God.

She is not contentious. It is better to live in a desert land, Than with a contentious and vexing woman (Proverbs 21:19).

A constant dripping on a day of steady rain and a contentious woman are alike; He who would restrain her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand (Proverbs27:15-16).

No wonder she has a value above rubies! 

Dear Lord, help me as I strive to be a Godly Woman. I want to do what is pleasing in your sight.

Thank you for giving me the instruction manual in your Holy Word, so i know what to work toward.

Prayer and Confession/Repentance

#3 in the series on Prayer 


When you come before God, it is important to approach with a pure heart. 
Remember, prayer is actually speaking to the living God and being in His presence. 


Prayer is hindered by sin. God wants us to confess and repent of our sins so He do what He has promised, and that is to forgive us and cleanse us. The Heavenly father we pray to knows what is in our hearts, we can not hide it from him. but we can confess and repent. 


Psalm 139:23-24 Search me oh God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting


Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from Gods sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 


Psalm 66:18 plainly tells us God does not listen to us if we are cherishing sin in our hearts. If we are not confessing our sin and repenting of it, we are cherishing it. 
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened


Are you just praying for your want without confessing the sin in your life? Could that be why you feel God is not answering your prayer? 

So, now we know. In order for us to receive answered prayer we must

1.  Praise Him and give thanksgiving

2. Confess and repent

3. and finally, we must be praying for what God wants, which may not always be what we want. 

1 John 5: 14-15  This is the confidence that we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us

Will you change how you pray to our loving Father? 

Prayer and Thanksgiving

As I said, we are doing a short series on prayer. This is #2 of the series


In the previous blog, I posed the question, "Does God answer your Prayer and if not.. why not? 
We talked about how you may not be asking for what God wants for you. God knows what is best and sees the big picture. God has a plan for your life.


Here is something else to consider:


The Old Testament teaches us that prayer is actually the act of coming into Gods presence. If you start thinking of talking to God and actually being in his presence, I think you will begin to understand why amazing things happen when we pray.


We are told in Psalms 100:4 Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise; Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 


Do you remember to thank God or is your manner of prayer just a litany of wants and complaints? 
Do you merely thank God for prayer He has answered the way you want it or do you thank Him for everything in your life? 


We should be thanking God because of who He is, not because of what He does. ( Avery Willis Jr) 


Hmm, Think about that for a minute!


1 Chronicles 23:30 to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening


We are told to thank God morning and evening. When was the last time you spoke to God without a request on your lips but in order to thank Him and give praise? 




There are many verses in the Bible telling us to thank God. 
1 Chronicles 16:34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

Thank you oh Lord, for having unending mercy on us.

Will you stop and give Thanks and Praise today and every day? 

The cracked jar

     There was once a man who carried water to his village every day, in two large jars tied to the ends of a wooden pole, which he balanced on his back.  

 One of the jars was older than the other, and had some small cracks; every time the man covered the distance to his house, half of the water was lost.   

  For two years, the man made the same journey. The younger jar was always very proud of its performance, safe in the knowledge that it was up to the mission it had been made for, while the other jar was mortified with shame at only fulfilling half of its allotted task, even though it knew that those cracks were the result of many years hard work.    

  It was so ashamed that one day, while the man got ready to fetch water from the well, it decided to speak to him:     - I want to apologize, but because of the many years of service, you are only able to deliver half of my load, and quench half of the thirst which awaits you at your home. 

    

The man smiled, and said:     - When we return, observe carefully the path.     And so it did. And the jar noticed that, on its side, many flowers and plants grew.      - See how nature is more lovely on your side? - commented the man. - I always knew you were cracked, and decided to make use of this fact. I planted flowers and vegetables, and you have always watered them. I have picked many roses to decorate my house with, I have fed my children with lettuce, cabbage and onions. If you were not as you are, how could I have done that?     

This is how we are to God. We are cracked and leaky jars. But God takes us and uses us, flawed as we are, to further His plan. 

Does God answer your Prayer?

I would like to do a short series on prayer. 
Does God answer your prayer? He does mine. 
Why is it you think God doesn't answer your prayers? 


In John 15:7, Jesus says "If you remain in me and words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it ill be given you." 


Pretty powerful isn't it? Are you remaining in Christ? 


We want what we want and we want it now don't we? But if we are remaining in Christ, we won't want anything that God hasn't in His plan for us. 


Shouldn't we instead be asking what God wants for us? 
How can we know what God wants for us? Well, for one, we need to be remaining in Him. We do that by obeying Him, by reading His word and speaking to Him daily, And we ask Him what His will for us is instead of telling Him what we want. 


If your daughter or son asked you for chocolate cake and cherry cola for dinner from now on... you most likely would tell them no. Wouldn't you? Why would you disappoint your child like that? 


Could it be because you see in that childs future a strong healthy adult instead of the child she/he could be with such a poor diet? And would you be more or less apt to allow the child you love so much to eat chocolate cake and cherry cola dinners because she/he stomped, cried and demanded? 


It is the same with God. He sees the big picture and has a plan for you. A disappointment now, a prayer answered with a no or a not now, is merely Gods way of preparing you for the big picture.


Remember in Matthew 14:22-36 when Peter stepped out of that boat and walked on water to Jesus? What happened when Peter took his eyes off Jesus? He saw the wind and became afraid. Once he took his eyes off Jesus, Peter began to sink and cried out to Jesus to save him.


Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”he said, “why did you doubt?”


Keep your eyes on Jesus. Remain in Him. Start spending time with Him every day, and stop stomping, crying and demanding chocolate cake and cherry cola dinners. 


Happy Easter. Hallelujah Christ Arose