Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Dec 19th Monday’s Blog: CHRISTmas – Our True Inheritance

With Christmas coming up this week, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas is meant to honor Christ, yet He is often overshadowed by Santa, gifts, shopping, holiday festivities, and other non-Christian holidays fighting to be recognized and honored. Every year, I am just bewildered at the growing opposition trying to take Christ out of Christmas. This just seems so crazy to me because without Christ, there isn’t even a CHRISTmas. I am not sure exactly what all those who oppose Christ in Christmas are actually celebrating on Christmas then.

Even though I know that it is all about Christ, I do have to admit that I often get caught up in all the glitz and glam of Christmas. Our family absolutely loves Christmas time. We love decorating and shopping for months in advance. We love baking cookies and watching Christmas shows all through December. We love piling all the kids up in the car with their hot chocolate to go driving around looking at lights only to quickly return home because someone always has to go to the bathroom. I love watching my kids take all the leftover decorations and using them to decorate their rooms, and then watching me get tangled up in them in the middle of the night trying to maneuver through their obstacle course of lights.

I love leaving my parent’s house on Christmas Eve with presents filled to the roof of our car because they still give me and my siblings the same amount of gifts they gave us when were kids. Only now, it’s also extended to our spouses and our children. I love the yearly battle between me and my husband over a tree. Fake vs. Real! Who will win this year?? My husband always tells me that he doesn’t want a fake Christmas. I tell him that I have enough in this house to feed and clean up after. Besides, he always waits until mid January to take it to the curb and of course by then they stop picking up the trees. Therefore, it sits in our back yard until who knows when. Actually, I think we still have last years back there, and maybe even the one from the year before.

With all of that, it’s easy to lose focus on what Christmas is all about. So today I want to step away from all of the holiday craziness for a moment and redirect my focus toward Jesus and give Him His due honor this Christmas by recognizing what He has truly done for us.

We know that Jesus was born to be the Savior of the world, to set us free from sin and death by paying the penalty for our sins, and in doing so, opened the ONLY way for us to be reconciled to God, just as it was at the beginning of creation. But, do you know how much more Jesus has given us along with salvation? I remember as a new believer reading about all the promises of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Bible, and I used to think to myself…Heaven is great but what about now? What do I have to live for in this life now? Surely, there has got to be more.

Jesus didn’t come to earth to just give us eternal life after we die. He came to literally give us eternal life now. He came to give us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and everything in it, which means that we have access to the same authority that He had when He walked this earth. Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:19, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven (AMP).

This wasn’t just available to Peter. It is available to all who receive Jesus. In Luke 12, when Jesus was telling His disciples not to worry about their life necessities, He told them in verse 31-32, But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

Jesus came to give us all that God has given Him. Everything that He has is now ours through our faith in Him. We are co-heirs in His inheritance, because we are now God’s children, just as He. The amplified version of Romans 8:16-17 says, The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.

Jesus being born in the flesh was the greatest act of love our God could ever do for us. He humbled Himself to be like us, to feel what we feel, to be tempted like we are tempted, to hurt like we hurt, to struggle like we struggle, in order to set an example for us to follow by showing us the power that is available to us, through Him, to overcome everything in this world. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

When Jesus walked this earth, He had victory over everything, though in the natural it may have looked like He didn’t because of the great suffering He endured. That suffering however had a purpose, which is why He endured it even though He actually had the power to stop it. He overcame the world for us through that suffering. 1 John 5:4-5 says, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

The authority Jesus has given us means that nothing in this world can ever have authority to rule over us without our permission. We can overcome everything through Christ’s power in us. Nothing in this world has the authority to steal our righteousness, our peace, our joy, our hope, and our inheritance in Christ. We are truly kept safe in Him.

1 John 5:18-20 says, We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

So many Christians are not living to their full potential because of the mindset that Christ just came to give us salvation. Their sins are covered and they are going to go to heaven when they die, but they aren’t living in any victory now. What would motivate us to live our lives uncompromisingly for Christ if there was nothing more to receive in this life? Paul said in Philippians 3:12-16, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

So what was Paul pressing on toward? What had he attained that he was striving to live up to? He had salvation but why would he have to strive to live up to that when the Bible says that we don’t work for salvation, we receive it freely. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Paul knew his inheritance in Christ. He knew the very Kingdom and power of God was living inside of him. He was straining toward knowing Christ through God’s fullness reigning in and through him. He knew his flesh often hindered that fullness, but he still pressed on toward it until he’d reach that complete total fullness when he’d meet God face to face. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Christ demonstrated God’s power reigning fully through man by living with the complete fullness of the Holy Spirit in Him. We who receive Christ have that same Spirit and power within us. It may be buried under sin, but it’s still there and still available to us if we turn from our sinful ways and live our lives following His Spirit in us and not our flesh. Feeding His Spirit in us with the Word of God and not feeding our flesh with things that contaminate us and hinder His Spirit. Asking God to fill us with the fullness of His Spirit by surrendering our whole hearts, undivided, over to Him.

Luke 17:20-21 says, Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” What an amazing responsibility God had given each and everyone of us. We are literally walking around with the Kingdom of God inside of us. Therefore, we should always strive to live up to what we have within us.

Colossians 1:9-14 says, For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

God has not only saved us but qualified us to share Jesus’ inheritance! Romans 8:32 (AMP) says, He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things? As we strive to put Christ first place in every area of our lives, we will start to grow and see more and more of what we have inside of us. We will start to see what all those “other things” God has given us are. As we start to use that power that is within us, we will perform the miracles that Jesus did on earth and potentially even more than Him. John 14:12 says, I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

The more I follow God’s Spirit in me and not my flesh, the more I start to see His power growing stronger in me. I start to see Him doing amazing things through me that I never knew I was capable of. The more I see God’s power in my life, the more I want to strive to press on to reach my full potential in Christ. The more of Christ that is displayed in us, the more people God can reach through us. Ephesians 2:10 says, For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Christ sacrificed all for us, so let’s honor Him this Christmas by honoring Him with our lives each and every day. Let’s follow what God has already prepared for us to do by striving to reach our full potential in Christ so that we can truly give honor to our Lord and Savior.

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

Just think about Jesus and enjoy your inheritance in Him. May God richly bless you all this Christmas!

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:18-23

**Share with others what their inheritance is by sharing this message through the share tabs below**

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted

Dec 13th Monday’s Blog: God is our Healer

The last two weeks, I talked about loving and forgiving those who have hurt us. Today, I want to finish up by focusing on healing from those hurts. As I shared in last week’s blog, there are different areas that we can get hurt in. Though some may be more painful than others, hurt is still hurt. It is important that we understand that God wants to heal all of our hurts, whether great or small.

Healing is something that we are going to need throughout our life because we are jars of clay that break very easily. We have a lot that we have to deal with and battle with in life. We are imperfect people in an imperfect world and we hurt one another. We also have an enemy who seeks to hurt us (1 Peter 5:8). And we have a battle within us between our own flesh and our spirit (God’s Spirit in us). They are in conflict with each other so we hurt ourselves because we don’t always follow His Spirit and do the good that we want to do (Galatians 5:17). God is the only One who is perfect and constant and stable in our life. He is our rock and our healer.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2

I want to share with you what I have personally learned about healing through my walk with God. First and foremost, I learned the importance of acknowledging our hurt to ourselves and before God. In 2 Samuel 13, the Bible tells us about David’s son Amnon and how he raped his half-sister Tamar. When Tamar’s brother Absalom and her father David found out, they were both very angry, yet neither of them did anything to help her. Absalom’s response in verse 20 was “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” The verse then ends with…And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

I had always thought that the best way to get through a hurt was to ignore it. As you can see from Tamar’s story, it only hurt her more and stole the rest of her life from her. What happened to Tamar is not God’s will for us. God can’t heal us when we keep our pain hidden inside of us. God wants us to fully expose our hurts to Him so He can completely heal us. He doesn’t want us to hide it under a covering of shame and live our lives desolate inside. That is not what God desires for us.

Once we acknowledge that we have been hurt, we need to know that Jesus has already healed us. In Luke 4:18 (NKJV), Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 saying, The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. He then said in v. 21 “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus has already provided our healing. It is just a matter of working with God to bring it to pass within us. The amplified version of 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). When we receive Jesus, we receive His Spirit. Therefore, we have His healing power literally living inside of us. Once I learned this, it was such a pivotal point for me in moving forward with my healing. By knowing that you are already healed, helps you persevere and take hold of that healing because you are confident that it is there and available for you.

The next thing that I have learned about healing is the importance of sharing our hurt with someone. I think that when we get hurt, we often make the mistake of continually sharing our hurt with everyone. This actually hinders our healing. It keeps us focusing on the hurt instead of focusing on God and His healing. It also opens us up for ungodly counsel. It is important that we ask God who He wants to direct us to for support. We should only confide in those who we know God is leading us to, because just like Tamar, those who we think would help us the most, may just let us down and hurt us even more. Always seek God first.

Lastly, and the most important, is to always go straight to the Word of God. Proverbs 30:5 says, Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Because we have the potential to get hurt daily, we need God’s word daily. The Bible is healing to us. Psalm 107:14 & 20 says, He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. There are times where I have felt so beat down that I didn’t think I could take another day of it and then I’d read the Word or hear it preached and it would literally lift me up inside.

God’s Word has power. Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. It is important that we read the Bible with God, asking Him to reveal to us the root of our pain, because our hurt may actually be a result of sin in our own lives. God may be trying to discipline and work in us and we may just be fighting it and hurting ourselves even more. This is why we need to keep moving forward with God and following what He show us, because He’s the only one who knows our hearts. He knows what is hindering our healing and He knows the way to our freedom.

When we are moving forward in our healing, we will start to see the good God brings about in us through our hurt. Romans 8: 18-21 says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

When we are healed, God can use us to bring that same healing to others. I am not sitting here writing this to you out of head knowledge of the Bible. I am able to share this with you from my heart because I have been hurt and I have seen the glory and the good God can bring out of pain. God takes our wounds and heals us and glorifies us and then sends us out to lead others to Him to be healed and glorified and used as well. God brings beauty for us and for others out of our ashes.

…and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 61:3

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to encourage you to press on and take hold of that healing available to you through Jesus. Cling to God and allow Him to heal you. Carry Genesis 50:20 with you this week and be encouraged that God works all your hurts out for your good.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:20

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.

Dec 6th Monday’s Blog: Forgiveness

I talked last week about loving our enemies. I want to continue this week with forgiveness and I’ll finish next week with focusing on healing, all three of which are tied together. God’s will for us is to forgive everyone of every wrong ever done to us. I know in many cases, it is very difficult and may even seem impossible for you, but always remember that God will never ask us to do anything that He hasn’t already provided His grace and His power to help us. As you lean on God, He is faithful to help you to forgive.

FORGIVING OURSELVES

The first person that we need to forgive is ourselves. If we don’t ever learn how to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness for ourselves, we will have a hard time forgiving and being merciful toward others. I used to have such a hard time receiving God’s forgiveness that it did in fact affect how I was toward others. As God worked in me in this area, I learned to receive His forgiveness and it gradually became easier for me to forgive others.

Even though I now know that God forgives me, I still sometimes struggle with actually forgiving myself. God has been teaching me to give myself mercy instead of beating myself up over every mistake that I make. I’m learning this by seeing how much God teaches me and how much He helps me to grow from my mistakes. A lot of things that I know now, I would have never learned had I not slipped up. Most of my mistakes are what God uses to open my eyes to certain areas in me that are wrong and displeasing to Him. I am realizing that I have two choices when I slip up, I can choose to beat myself up and keep making the same mistake, or I can choose to pick myself up and work with God to help me to not do the same thing over again.

Luke 6:37 says, Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. We know that we are supposed to forgive others and not judge and condemn them, but yet we tend to not think much about doing it to ourselves. Why would God ask us to forgive others if He didn’t also expect us to forgive ourselves?

FORGIVING DAILY OFFENSES

Forgiving the everyday annoyances and offenses is probably the most common area that people struggle in. Too many people, including Christians, are walking around offended all the time. If we stop right now and think about how many people have hurt us or offended us in the last year, we can probably come up with a hand full right away off the top of our head. Now if we think about how many WE have hurt in the last year, we’d really have to think about it and we’d probably only come up with maybe one or two.

Why is that? Is it just because we are blinded to what we do to others as I explained in last Monday’s blog? I think in many cases, yes, but I also think that most of the time people just take things the wrong way. I honestly don’t think that most people intentionally set themselves out to hurt others. I don’t ever wake up and think about who I would like to hurt or offend today, and I don’t think most people do either. A lot of things that we say or do wrong, we never intend to do. Our hearts may very well be right, but our actions and words may sometimes come out wrong or be perceived wrong by others.

I believe this is one of the ways that Satan gets a foothold into our lives. He likes to manipulate us into perceiving things wrong. He knows what will push our buttons and he will bring the right people, who he can also manipulate, to say or do something that he knows we will perceive as offensive. We always have to remember that our struggles aren’t really against other people. The Bible tells in Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Satan deceives us into believing lies about each other to create division and strife, and he especially does this among Christians because he wants us divided against each other. He knows that it hinders us from reaching out to the world. The New Living Translation for Proverbs 17:9 says, Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. By staying offended and angry, we just give the enemy even more of an opportunity to come in and steal from us. The Amplified Version for Ephesians 4:26-27 says, When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down. Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

The devil wants to keep us angry and bitter so that he can steal our joy, our peace, our time, our relationships, and even our health. Bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness are poison to our whole body. When my husband and I have an argument, I cannot be mad at him for more than a few hours because I literally start to feel so sick that I have to run and quickly apologize, even if I wasn’t wrong, just so I can get that poison out of me. I can recognize it now because I used to live with bitterness and unforgiveness. Now that I don’t anymore, when just a little bit of it creeps up in me, I am reminded of what it did to my body all those years.

I wonder how many sicknesses and diseases people have today due to anger, resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness. People think that by staying angry, they are hurting the one who offended them, but they are actually just hurting themselves. Also, many times, the person who caused the offense doesn’t even have a clue that they offended anyone. What’s the point in staying mad at someone who doesn’t even know why you’re mad at them? I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone say something to someone and they perceive it completely wrong. They then get offended and proceed to go and tell others about the offense. Then everyone knows about the offense except the one who actually did the so called offense. Now you have a bunch of people angry at someone who has no clue they ever did anything wrong. It’s just amazing how deceived we can really be at times. This is why it is best if we just ALWAYS believe the best in each other and trust God with the rest.

FORGIVING THOSE WHO HAVE DEEPLY WOUNDED US

By knowing that Satan uses our weaknesses to get us to come against each other, this has helped me greatly in forgiving those who have done great harm to me, whether physical, mental or emotional. I can now see that Satan was actually the one trying to harm me. The acts done to me were harm in itself, but I also saw that the greater harm done to me was actually by Satan trying to get me to hold on to anger and unforgiveness. So you see, he manipulates people to hurt us, but then he also manipulates us to hold on to that anger and bitterness so he can steal even more from us. This is why we have to stand up against him and follow God by forgiving others, for our sake.

You may be wondering how to forgive someone when you don’t actually feel like it. I believe that forgiveness starts in our mind, which then automatically leads to our heart. If we don’t allow ourselves to think bitter thoughts toward others, our hearts will not be bitter. Proverbs 4:23 says, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it (TNIV). Whenever we are tempted to think bitter thoughts toward those who have hurt us, we can instantly stop the thought by choosing to pray for them instead. When we are tempted to talk bad about them, we can speak something positive about them instead. By consistently doing this, after time, it will soften our heart toward them.

I have also found it helpful to think from the perspective of the one who did me harm. One time, God actually showed me the wrong that was done to a person prior to them hurting me. This showed me that they were hurting, which explained why they had hurt me, because hurting people just end up hurting other people. God has also made me aware of how I feel when I wrong someone. This made me realize that the people who have hurt us may actually be in a lot pain from remorse and guilt. Knowing that you have hurt someone is one of the worst feelings in the world, so the one who hurt you may be seriously grieving as well.

2 Corinthians 2:6-11 talks about forgiveness for the sinner. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

This shows us that Satan wants us to be unforgiving. He knows it hurts us even more. This is why God tells us to forgive. He tells us because He knows that it is for our own benefit. He doesn’t want us to allow the enemy to steal anymore from us. We tend to think that if we forgive then that releases the one who hurt us and justice will not be served. However, it actually does the opposite. When we don’t forgive, we are basically telling God that we will repay, so we stand in the way of God vindicating us and we also stand in the way of our healing which God has already prepared for us. We can’t be healed from the wounds when we haven’t forgiven those who have wounded us. Forgiving and loving our enemies, and healing, are all provided for us in Christ. It’s just a matter of working with God to release it into our lives. When we hold on to unforgiveness, we are not working with God to move forward into our healing, we are just staying in our pit of hurt and pain. We need to cling to God to get us out of that pit and allow Him to help us to forgive. God will always be faithful to help us.

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to encourage you to take note of your thoughts this week, and the minute you get a wrong thought toward someone, immediately stop and pray for them or think something positive about them. Ask God to show you them through His eyes so that He can help you see them in a different light. Carry this verse to remind you to keep bitterness and unforgiveness far from you.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:30-32

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted

Nov 29th Monday’s Blog: Love Our Enemies

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28

I always thought if God told us to do something, there didn’t have to be a reason why. I just associated God as a parent saying, “Because I said so and that’s that!” As I grew closer to God, and started following His teachings, I started seeing the great benefits behind His commands.

I have seen the amazing benefits behind loving others, particularly those who are not so easy to love. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

For a long time I sincerely loved God, but I couldn’t sincerely love my enemies. I’d still try to show love toward them because I knew God told me to, but I never actually felt love for them.

I’d read about Jesus and how He asked God to forgive those who were crucifying Him (Luke 23:34). I’d read about Stephen and how he cried out to God as He was being stoned saying, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:59-60) I’d read about David and no matter how many times Saul was after him, he continued to respect and honor him (1 Samuel 18-2 Samuel 1). I couldn’t understand how anyone could find the courage to pray for and sincerely show love for those who were trying to kill them.

God eventually showed me how, but it wasn’t until after I made the choice to love others even if I didn’t feel love for them. 1 Peter 1:22 says, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”

We don’t have sincere love for others because our hearts are hardened by sin. Jesus is the only one who can purify our hardened heart. When we turn to God, and walk in obedience, He purifies our heart to love others sincerely. 1 Timothy 1:5 in the Amplified Bible says, “Whereas the object and purpose of our instruction and charge is love, which springs from a pure heart and a good (clear) conscience and sincere (unfeigned) faith.”

We will never feel love for others until we chose to be obedient and show love toward others. Love can only spring from a pure obedient heart. Every act of disobedience pushes us further from God and hardens our heart. Whereas every act of obedience pulls us closer to God who purifies our heart. 1 John 1:5-7 says, …God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can purify our hearts. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” We should be patient with those who are disobedient, because their hearts are hardened by sin. We are not to judge them because we were the same at one time, and can easily fall back into it.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:1-5

If God is patient and merciful with us, we need to be patient and merciful with others. If we need Jesus to purify our hearts, then we shouldn’t judge others who also need purifying. A person who is hard-hearted is not obedient to God, so they are blind to what they are really doing. When we refuse to love them, we are also not being obedient and we blind ourselves as well. Therefore, we are just as wrong as them.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? Romans 2:1-4

I have a great example to illustrate this verse. Years ago, my husband and I met a woman who was very harsh and bitter toward us. Others warned us about her as she pushed them away. Regardless of what they said about her, my husband and I still respected her and showed her love by doing kind things for her. As I was doing something for her one day, one of them saw me and asked why I was helping her. They told me to watch out because she’s fierce and will turn her back on me. I laughed to myself and thought..I’m not expecting anything from her, so it doesn’t matter what she does to me.

I was there to obey God by showing her love and respect. The rest was in God’s hands as far as I was concerned. He is the only One who truly knows her heart. He knows why she’s hard to get along with. God would be my vindicator if she did have wrong intentions toward me. It wasn’t for me to decide and judge her heart and her motives.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:17-19

Our love for this woman eventually softened her heart. We have a great relationship now, and she adores our family. I also found out she was a believer. She may have just needed to see God’s love in action to draw her heart back to Him. Romans 12:21 says, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

When we start to love and bless our enemies, God purifies our heart and melts away our bitterness. Then we can feel love for our enemies.

The Amplified Bible in 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

We are supposed to love and believe the best of everyone! When we find something wrong in someone, we are supposed to give them over to God by praying for them. 1 Samuel 12:23 says, As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you…. By letting God judge their hearts, and their actions, we remain clear of adding wrong on top of wrong. This keeps our conscience clear and our hearts pure before God.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Mark 11:25

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to challenge you to show love toward others this week. Whenever you have a chance to get offended, be respectful and pray for them, and God will handle the rest.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:31

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted

Nov 22nd Monday’s Blog: Thanksgiving – The Reason Behind Praise

I pulled out my journal I have been writing in since 2002. As I was flipping through it, I noticed on every page I had written about some trial I was going through at the time. Reading some of the trials brought me to tears. I wanted to say to myself, “Look ahead! Stop worrying! It works out on the next page. God got me through it!”

If we could all write down our problems today and then flip the page ahead and write down: “It all worked out. God got me through it.” how much more would we find ourselves praising God instead of worrying.

…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

—1 Thessalonians 5:18

I used to wonder why God told us to praise Him. I remember thinking “Does God say that because He needs our praise?” But I knew in my heart that wasn’t the reason. I knew it had to be for our benefit.

God soon revealed to me why He desires our praises. Several years ago, I created an online praise report group where people could come and share their stories about how God was working in their lives. When I wasn’t seeing God work in my life it often encouraged me to see Him work in the lives of others. I knew God was not partial to anyone, so it helped me keep the faith, believing He would work in my life as well. So I created the group to bring encouragement to others.

The site started out well, but then slowly came down to only me posting. During that time of praise I noticed there was a significant difference in my life. Another woman who had shared her praises expressed the same thing. She felt more joyful when she lifted her heart in praise.

We often wait to praise God until something good happens in our lives, when we should be praising Him before it happens. Praise keeps us looking expectantly to God instead of focusing on our problems.

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

—Psalm 9:1-2

I believe praise shows God that we trust Him. When we trust Him, we won’t be stressed out trying to solve our problems on our own. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

We tend to bring God our prayer requests more often than our praises. Jesus said in Matthew 6:9-10 this is how we should pray, beginning with: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are also told in Psalm 100:4 to: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to HIM and praise HIS name.”

Our prayers seem to mostly be, “Father, help me … Give me … Provide for me … What about me….” I had a revelation of this as I was at a church play one year. In one scene, all the individuals on the stage were crying out to God at the same time, each separately sharing their own troubles. Being in the front row, after about a minute of listening to their moans, it started to get overwhelming and I thought, “My gosh, is that how we sound to you, Lord?”

If I had created a prayer request group, I don’t think it would have ended like my praise report group did. We are gladly willing to share our requests, but not as willing to share our praises.

With Thanksgiving coming up, we often think about what we are thankful for. What if we challenge ourselves to be thankful the other 364 days a year?

I believe we would see our lives dramatically change for the better. We would be happy and enjoying our lives, instead of worrying and being upset all the time. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus told us not to worry about our lives and not to worry about what we need. He said in verse 33, “seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and ALL these things will be given to you as well.”

If we spent our days praising God and seeking Him we would find our needs being met. When I am filled with praise and enjoying God, my faith grows and I start trusting Him to provide for my needs. Praise strengthens our faith which opens the door in our hearts to receive what Jesus died to give us.

2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” Everything God has promised in His Word has been given to us through Christ. So when a situation comes up, we should praise God that He has already provided the solution through Jesus.

The solution may not always be what we think it should be, but it will be what we need. In my journal, all my trials didn’t necessarily work out on the next page the way I wanted them to. They did, however, work out for my good. I may have not seen the good right away, but looking back now, I can see how God used those trials for my benefit.

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.

—Romans 8:28

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to challenge you to ‘flip the page’ today and fill your heart and your lips with praise that God has already provided the solution to every situation you will ever face.

Carry Jeremiah 29:11 with you to remind you this week, and every day after, that God is for you and wants the best for you. Thank Him! Be filled praise! And have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

—Jeremiah 29:11

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the TNIV, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 18th List of Lies (adding to Monday’s Blog)

I wanted to share with you a few lies that I believe the enemy frequently uses on believers. These are lies that I had believed at one time. I thought this would be helpful to add to go along with this week’s blog (Tearing Down the Lies). See if you can recognize any of these lies that you may have unknowingly accepted.

LIE: I have to clean up my act before I can fully commit myself to being a true follower of Christ.

TRUTH: We can’t change ourselves. We have to commit our hearts to Christ first, in order for HIM to change us, not the other way around. Galatians 5:4-5 says, You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. I also love how the Amplified Bible explains Galatians 3:3, Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?

LIE: I think I am saved but what if I am wrong? What if I didn’t say the right prayer or what if I didn’t say it the right way?

TRUTH: Romans 10:9-10 says, That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. I accepted Jesus into my heart probably about fifty times in the last ten years. I felt like God finally told me one day…Enough already! I’m living in you and have been since the day you first accepted me.

LIE:  I have to constantly ask for forgiveness.

TRUTH: Hebrews 10:17 says,“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Furthermore, Romans 4:7-8 says, “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” We have already been forgiven ONCE and for all through Jesus. Therefore, we don’t have to constantly ask for His forgiveness. When His Spirit convicts of sin in our lives, we confess it to Him and repent (turn to Him and asking Him to help us turn away from the sin), and we receive His forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I never knew the difference between conviction (God making me aware of my sin) and condemnation (keeping me guilty in my sin). I used to ask God to forgive me all day long because I constantly felt guilty. Half the time, I had no idea what I was even saying sorry about. I just figured in case I missed something and sinned unknowingly. I used to think that if I died right then, what would happen if I missed confessing a sin? Thinking back to that now, how tormenting that was for me, constantly living in condemnation and fear. I wasn’t living in freedom and enjoying following Christ and growing in Him. I was constantly worried that God was always mad at me. Now looking back, I know that it was Satan accusing me (see Revelation 12:10). Christ has already set us free from all accusation and guilt. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22).

LIE: Now that I know I have been forgiven, I can live however I want because my sins are covered.

TRUTH: Just because Jesus paid the penalty for us sins, doesn’t mean that we now take sin lightly and deliberately continue in it. We would be foolish to do that and we’d only be opening the door to the enemy and hinder the power of God in us. Hebrews 10:26 -29 says, If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? If we deliberately refuse to turn from our sins, then we stand with the enemy and make ourselves an enemy of God. I have been there and I can tell you that it was not fun. During that time, I felt like I was literally dying inside. It was horrible for me to know God and fight against Him by doing what I knew was wrong. Galatians 5:13 says, You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

LIE: I didn’t turn from my sins and I deliberately refused God, now He will never truly accept me back.

TRUTH: God always accepts us back. Look at how many times Israel turned away from God in the Old Testament, and how many times they cried out to Him and turned back to Him, and He delivered them. They still suffered great consequences from rebelling, but God still welcomed them back. Also, look at the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:11-32. Verses 17-24 read, “When he came to his senses, he said…I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

LIE: I know that God accepts me back, but I mess up so often that there is no way God will ever be able to use me for anything.

TRUTH: God takes all of our mistakes that He already foreknew we would make, and He works them all together and uses them for our good and for His glory (see Romans 8:28). Actually, we should rejoice in our weaknesses just as the Apostle Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I wouldn’t have anything to share with you if I didn’t fall so many times. Actually, the times where I had fallen the hardest is my greatest testimony of God’s grace and power. The fact that God brought me out of those things, instead of leaving me in my messes, is just absolutely amazing to me.

So, how about you? Have you ever believed any of these lies for yourself? Are there any lies that you have believed that you want to share to help others? Please, feel to share your thoughts and comments.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Nov 15th Monday’s Blog: Tearing Down The Lies

I had a great blog already planned for this week when something happened last week that made me strongly want to share it with you. In the past year, my daughter has been slowly becoming negative toward herself. I’ve noticed it here and there, but had been casually shrugging it off as just a childhood phase she’s going through. Well, in the past few weeks it was happening increasingly more and more. Then one day last week, she was so negative that no matter what positive thing I said to her, she wouldn’t snap out of it.

One of the things that she was down on herself about was her schoolwork. I always tell her to just try her best and that is all I want. I tell her that it is okay if she gets answers wrong, as long as she tries. She was crying to me telling me that she’s not smart and she can’t read good enough and she’s not good at anything. It suddenly hit me and God revealed to me what was really happening. I looked at her and asked her…what does God say about you? I started telling her all the things God says about her. I told her that God says that we can do ALL things through Him! God gives us everything we need to be the best that we can be. Each one of us is gifted in a different area to do what He calls us to do.

That didn’t seem to change anything until I then told her that if God says these things about her, then those things that she believes about herself are lies. I told her that Satan gives us those lies and I asked her if she was going to believe what Satan says about her over what God says about her. She looked at me and right away said “NO!” Right there, she recognized the lies and refused to believe them and chose to believe the truth, what God says about her. Once she made that choice, she was completely happy and joyful and back to her old cheerful self, and has been since.

John 8:44 says that the devil… was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

It’s often uncomfortable for us to talk about the devil. You may even be feeling uncomfortable reading this. But do we ever stop and think why it is uncomfortable? It’s because he deceives us into thinking it is uncomfortable because he doesn’t want us to expose him. Once we see the lies for what they are, we will tear them down. Speaking positive words to my daughter didn’t break her free. Telling her that God loves her didn’t break her free. Exposing the liar and his lies, along with showing her the Truth, is what broke her free.

Jesus revealed God and His Truth, AND exposed the enemy and his lies, in His ministry on earth. How many things has the devil told us that we have believed and accepted about ourselves? How many of his lies have we believed about other people as well? James 4:7 says, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. To resist something doesn’t mean to just passively turn away and completely ignore that it exists. Resist means to boldly to stand firm against something. My daughter submitted to God and accepted His truth about her and she resisted accepting those lies. Because of that, she was set free. There was instantly a complete change in her.

The truth is what sets us free. As we put our faith in Jesus, His light exposes those lies so we plainly see them and we can tear them down. I would have never recognized that was going on with my daughter without Jesus revealing that to me. She wouldn’t have either.

Now this doesn’t mean that we have to walk around fearing the enemy. This just shows us another reason why we need to draw near to God and learn from Him so we can recognize what is a lie and tear it down and replace it with the Truth, just like 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

When we allow ourselves to believe the enemy’s lies, we open the door for him to get a foothold into our life and eventually create strongholds. For example, I used to battle with extreme insecurity and low self worth, and this was going on even as I was a Christian. I even got to the point of accepting that I had no gifts and no talents and that I was not meant to do anything in life. The more I started studying the Bible and growing closer in my relationship with God, the more I started seeing these lies that I had accepted through the years. Gradually, God worked with me to tear down the lies that were deeply rooted in me. As God was uprooting those lies, He started helping me to replace them with the truth, what God says about me. I started thinking and speaking what God said about me, and as I did, my confidence started growing in Him. I then started to see that I did have purpose and did have talent; they were just buried under a bunch of lies to where I could never see them until God worked with me to clear them out.

The Bible tells us to put on the full armor of God so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11). We need to take off those lies and put on what God says about us. As we start to do that, we start to see God’s truths become a reality in our life. As I started putting on the truth, I started to see my worth and my gifts in Christ. I started seeing doors of opportunities open in my life to lead me into the plan God originally had for me. I started gaining confidence in who I knew that I was in Christ, not my worldly worth, but my worth in Him.

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to encourage you today to draw near to God and study His word with Him, praying and asking for Him to help you understand the truth. If you are a new believer, start studying the New Testament and learn what Christ has given you. Ask God to help you break down the lies that Satan has sown in your life. Remember, Ephesians 5:13 says, But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Here’s a verse to carry with you this week to remind you that you are a new creation in Christ:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 8th Monday’s Blog: Ask and You Shall Receive!

I was talking to a woman recently, and she said she was in the grocery store one day when she was having a hard time finding something. She thought about asking God to help her, but quickly changed her mind and thought…why would I bother God for that when I can find it myself?

It’s funny how we think we are bothering God when we have a request. Do we honestly think God is too busy to take the time to help us find something in the grocery store? Do we really think God is inconvenienced by us when we have a need? On the contrary, God wants us to seek Him and depend on Him for everything!

Why struggle doing it ourselves when we can have God helping us? He knows everything, so why not seek Him first in everything? Asking for God’s help and guidance doesn’t mean we are lazy and shifting our responsibility off on Him. It means we are relying on Him to help us do what we need to do.

For instance, if I lose something and ask God to help me find it, I don’t just sit there and wait for it to appear out of nowhere. I still look for it, but I rely on God to direct me to the right spot. God created us to be dependent on Him. We still have our responsibilities, but we depend on Him to help and guide us in those responsibilities.

A man told me recently that he started asking God for wisdom in his job. He has a job where he has to troubleshoot and come up with new ideas. He said it’s often difficult and stressful for him. As he started asking God for direction and wisdom, he started noticing a big change in his ability as he was coming up with great ideas and solutions. He said he knows that wisdom is coming from God and is not his own. This man still has to think and do the work, but God supernaturally supplies the ideas.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

God’s wisdom is far beyond our own that we should gladly take it over our own wisdom. Even the areas we think we’re so smart in and don’t need any help. God is smarter and His way is above what we could ever come up with on our own.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

When I first started walking with God I knew I could come to Him with everything. However, I had a hard time putting my trust in Him because I struggled with patience. I needed to see it happen right away otherwise I would quickly lose faith and try to handle it on my own. This led me to make a lot of wrong choices.

One example was that I used to worry about our finances. Every time we got hit with something I would become stressed trying to figure out how to come up with enough money to make ends meet. I’d ask God, but I wouldn’t even wait for the answer. I would immediately search for my own solution. Most of the time, it would be extreme and something I would end up regretting. At one point, I was seriously considering selling everything in my house just to pay our bills.

James 1:6-8 says, But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

As God was working in me through the years He didn’t not give up on me. He still kept tugging at me to turn to Him and receive His help. He kept telling me to give my worries over to Him in exchange for His wisdom, His guidance, and His help. God showed me that my way wasn’t getting us anywhere except deeper in the hole and leaving me a stressed out mess. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The more I started giving things over to God, and trusting Him without doubt, my faith grew to see He was providing. Seeing God work every time I did seek Him, helped me to become more dependent on Him. I think back now to all the days I wasted trying to figure everything out on my own, only to find myself frustrated and burdened greatly. Now I can honestly say I enjoy giving things over to God and seeking His help. I enjoy the peace He gives me in exchange for my worries. I also enjoy seeing how He works it out. It becomes exciting depending on God. You never know when and how He will show up.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:8

Now this doesn’t mean God gives us whatever we want, whenever we want. It obviously has to be in His will and in His timing. Nevertheless, as God works in us and changes us, our desires begin to change into His desires. We start to ask for things He puts in our heart, which line up with His will for us. However, we will never grow and start to see those desires become a reality in our life if we never become dependent on Him.

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to encourage you to seek God in everything you do. Put your trust in Him and look to Him expectantly. God will out do your expectations when all your expectations are in Him.

Here’s a verse to carry with you this week to remind you God is always there to guide you.

I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

Proverbs 4:11

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 1st Monday’s Blog: What Does Destroy Us?

In the last blog, I talked about God wanting to protect us from the things that are destructive to us. Today I want share with you exactly what those things are. I lived most of my life in ignorance to the things that I now know were literally destroying me, and my relationships. Everyone knows the obvious things like alcohol and drugs are destructive to us, but what about all the other things that the Bible tells us not to do. How do those things really harm us?

First of all, we need to understand that there’s a ‘who’, behind the ‘what’, that is the destroyer. Jesus said in John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The thief is Satan and his plan is to steal the fulfilling life that Jesus died to give each and every one of us. How exactly does he do that? He does it through deception, by using our weaknesses in us to tempt us to choose sin over God’s ways. The Bible tells us that no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other (Matthew 6:24).

We only have two choices in life, we can choose to follow Jesus, or we can ignorantly choose to follow Satan, by following our own fleshly desires. The Amplified Version of Romans 6:16 says, Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?

Furthermore, 1 John 3:8 says, He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. Satan can only work in those who allow him to, other than that, he has no real authority over us. With Christ living in us, we have His power in us to turn away from sin. Without Christ, we have no power to resist the devil’s influence on us.

Ephesians 2:1-2 says, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

The Amplified version for the end of this verse says [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].

Notice how it says that Satan constantly works in those who are disobedient to God? To be disobedient to God is to blatantly refuse to obey God and His Word. Obedience is not about perfection. In fact, as Romans 6:16 above says, obedience is what leads us to righteousness. It doesn’t say obedience is righteousness.

Obedience is our heart attitude of reverence toward God. Obedience is actively pursuing to live our lives each and every day for Jesus, by putting our faith in Him. Obedience is surrendering our whole heart to Jesus, and allowing Him to work His perfection in us. We allow Him to work in us by doing our part and ridding ourselves of the things that are destructive to us, the things that hinder His perfection from being displayed in us.

Obedience is a daily journey with Christ. It’s about taking one step at a time and following what He reveals to us and teaches us each day through His Word. 2Timothy 3:16-18 says that… All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Psalm 19:11 says, By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Once we know that God loves us and wants to protect us from the one who is trying to deceive and destroy us, we will want to be obedient to God. We’re foolish not to.

Romans 6:21 says, What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

Death is darkness, and darkness makes you blind so that you can not see what is really going on around you. Jesus said in John 8:12 …“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

When we follow Christ, we have His light in us to see what is wrong in our life. His light drowns out all the darkness in us. When we choose sin over obedience, we cover that light in us and we become blind to the enemy’s deception and influence in our lives.

John 3:19-21 says, This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

In the past, whenever I was purposely disobedient to God, I found myself deliberately not wanting to draw near to Him. I also did not want to read the Bible or listen to a preacher’s message. I didn’t want to stop what I was doing so I didn’t want God to expose it to me. I knew that once I drew near to God, I’d see it for what it was. Now looking back, it seems completely crazy to me, because what I was doing was making me miserable anyways, and I was hurting myself and those around me. I think we just get so stubborn and deceived when we allow the enemy to influence us, that it literally does blind our eyes.

Psalm 19:8 says, The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. When we turn from our sins and turn to obedience, it lightens the path before us so we can clearly see the enemy’s influence and deception for what it really is.

When we are disobedient, we can’t see God’s direction and hear clearly from Him. John 12:35 says that the man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

My kids just watched a cartoon recently that portrayed this perfectly. In the cartoon, they showed two men who lived in separate houses next door to each other. Both of the houses were without electricity. In the dark, the men couldn’t see in front of them. They stumbled around, bumped into things, got hurt, made a mess, and struggled with every step they took.

An electrician then came to both of the houses offering to turn on their power and give them light. One openly accepted him into his home and he received power so that the light drowned out all the darkness in the home. This man was then able to walk freely around without falling, without creating a mess, and without struggling. He was able to clearly see his steps before him.

On the other hand, the other man told the electrician that he could give him power, but he had to do it outside, he was not welcome in his home. Therefore, that man stayed in the dark, because the electrician was unable to give him power from the outside, he had to come into his home. We can only have Jesus’ light in us by welcoming Him into our home, which is our hearts.

Now just because the one man had electricity, didn’t mean that he could never walk in darkness. He could still chose to turn off his lights whenever he wanted to and therefore, be in the same situation as the man next store that didn’t have any power. They would be living the same, even though the one had power in his home to turn on the light. It is always just a light switch away.

When we accept Jesus, His power is in us, we just have to use it by turning it on. We turn it on by following Jesus. We keep it on by putting on what Jesus teaches us and putting off what He tells to put off. Following Jesus keeps our path lit before us so we can see where we are going. When we really look at it this way, why on earth would we walk struggling in the dark when we can walk freely in the light!

…I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Acts 26:17-18

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

I want to challenge you this week to allow Jesus to turn on the light in you by following whatever He teaches you. Rely on Him to help you lay down whatever He shows you that is displeasing in you. It may be hard at first, but as long as you try to do what you can do, Jesus will do what you can’t do. Job 12:22 says, He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light. God will show you what is hurting you and He will help you turn from it.

Here’s a verse to carry with you this week to remind you that God’s light is in you!

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Psalm 18:28

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and comments throughout the week that correlate with each Monday’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

Oct 24th Monday’s blog: God Loves YOU

God wants YOU to know how much He loves YOU!

You have probably heard this over and over again, so much that it may not seem to penetrate deep into your heart. It’s sometimes hard to be moved by something when you just don’t feel it. There are times where hearing isn’t always enough, sometimes you just need to see it. I want to take you deeper in the knowledge of God’s love for you, beyond just hearing the words “God loves you.”

I have four children and through the years God has often used my relationship with them to reveal a greater depth of His love for me. For example, I had an incident awhile back as I was getting ready to bathe my infant. As I was preparing the bathtub, our water valve malfunctioned unbeknownst to me and the tub filled up with scalding hot water.

While I was cooling the water, my son proceeded to try to find a way to climb into the bathtub. He was so determined to fight me that I had to do everything I could to keep him from jumping in and getting burned. As he was screaming at me, he managed to pull away and I was able to catch him by his legs just as he was heading face first into the water.

God used this incident to reveal to me how great His love is for us. He showed me that we are just like my infant. We often want to plow right through Him and jump into things that only end up hurting us. God tries everything He can to stop us, deter us, warn us, and hold us back, but we plow right through Him with determination to get to what we think we want or need.

God holds us back from certain things and warns us for our protection. It’s not to keep us from what we want. It’s to keep us safe. These things may not be so obvious to us, but God knows the danger that is behind the things that we just don’t see. Just like my baby, I wanted to protect him, though he didn’t understand why I was holding him back. God loves us so much that He wants to protect us from everything that is harmful to us.

When we refuse God, and do not listen to Him, we not only hurt ourselves but we hurt Him as well. God said in Jeremiah 13:17, But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be taken captive. Just as I would’ve cried if my son had fallen into that water and gotten burned, God even more so weeps for us when we fall into things that are destructive to us.

If God made us in His image and He knows how many hairs are on our very head (Genesis 1:27, Matthew 10:30), then how valuable and precious we must really be to Him! Because my children came from me, I deeply love them from my heart. If I could love my children so deeply, then how much more can the God who actually created us love us!!

We see the greatest display of God’s love for us in Jesus. There is no way I would ever even think of giving any of my children’s lives for anyone. Yet, God’s love is so great that He gave the ultimate sacrifice, His only Son, in order to save us because He deeply loves us.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:9-10

Though Jesus was sinless, He paid the price for all our sins so that we, who would receive Him, would be made completely holy for our Holy God to come and live in us and be close with us, just as He originally intended. When we receive Jesus, we receive all of His love for us.

As we spend time talking to God, studying His word, and relying on Him to help us obey what He teaches us, we start to see how vast His love really is for us. The more I get to know God, the more and more I fall deeper in love with Him, because He keeps unveiling my eyes to see an even greater depth of His love for me.

But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).

2 Corinthians 3:16-17, Amplified Version

I pray that you will allow God to remove that veil over your heart by receiving Jesus, the only One who can unveil God’s true love for you. Give your heart undividedly over to the One who knows what is best for you because He truly does deeply care for you.

**************************************************************************
**Something to think about this week**

Ask God each day this week to help you see His love for you. Look for Him in everything you do throughout your day. Once you start to see His love, you will start to feel His love. Share how God reveals His love to you this week by posting it on the comment section below.

Here’s also a verse to carry with you this week to remind you of Christ’s love for you:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19

**************************************************************************

**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s truths and the reasons behind the truths. Don’t forget to follow me on facebook and twitter.

All Bible verses are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.