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We Have The Victory!

We Have The Victory!

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Every year at this time, I get this restlessness that makes me feel out of sync. Last week I wrote about it without realizing the real reason for it. I knew I didn’t feel myself, but I didn’t connect the dots until today. This season is a milestone that I wish I didn’t have to experience.  

Yesterday would have been my best friend’s birthday. He passed away five years ago. Actually, he passed away exactly two weeks after his birthday. I went from planning his birthday to planning his funeral. I can’t even explain the range of emotions I felt during that time. I always thought that time heals all wounds…it doesn’t. 

But I know that God does.

Psalm 18:2 it says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  When we can’t do anything else, we can trust in God. The Bible says that He is the lifter of our heads. He is the One who sustains us when we feel weak. The One who walks beside us, while at the same time going before us, and coming up behind us. Only God could do that.

God has been so good to us…so gracious to us. And because of what Jesus did on the cross, He no longer counts our sins against us. When we give our lives to the Lord, Jesus Christ, the Bible says that we are sealed into the family of God, and nothing can come against us and win. Not even grief. We have the victory!

Even though this is a hard time for me, I know I have the victory, and I am learning about the love of God in a way that I wouldn’t have any other way. With God’s help, I know I will continue to make it through. And, not only will I make it through…but, I will bring others through with me. 

Until next time…

Be blessed

The Truth is Hard Sometimes

The Truth is Hard Sometimes

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The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. It also says that wherever there are two or more gathered in His name He is in the midst. I believe He was in the midst today. 

Actually, I know that He was present in that place, because I didn’t think about what I was going to eat for dinner not one time. Don’t judge me. My mind tends to wander during church service every now and then. But I digress…

My pastor is teaching through the Commandments of God. And today, he taught from Exodus 20:14: “Thou Shall not commit adultery.” 

Committing adultery is an obvious sin, right? But how about those innocent looks that lasts way too long, the touches that linger a little longer than they should, married people confiding their relationship problems to single people, and vice versa, watching movies that promote a sinful lifestyle…it all matters.

What I love most about Sundays like this is how God allowed my pastor to teach the hard stuff. He spoke exactly what God moved him to speak. Not that he doesn’t always do that, because he does. But this time it just seemed to hit different. Even though he used humor to convey his message, we all got the point. 

God will definitely do a work on His people when we get out of the way.

Today was about making sure that the people of God knew the truth. We can no longer pretend that we don’t know, or that it really doesn’t matter, because God forgives. Although that is true, it doesn’t give us license to keep on living a sinful life.

The world is not waiting for us to get it together. People are dying and we have to be sure to capture as many moments for God as possible. What I mean by that is…we can’t let an opportunity to minister pass us by. We need to share His word with our family, with our friends, and with the world, because all of our lives depend on it.

Until next time…

Be blessed

It’s that Next Level Worship for me!

It’s that Next Level Worship for me!

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Praise is good. Getting it…giving it…it always feels good, but let me tell you there is something about worship that just takes your praise to the next level. 

I know they feel the same, but there is a difference. I can praise you for doing a good job, but I will never worship you. My worship is reserved for God. I worship Him; I adore Him and I love Him with a love that can’t even be put into words. He is the great I AM and there is nothing or no one greater than He is. 

Meditating on His greatness makes me want to run around the block. 

Whenever we sing songs about the blood in our church I get this overwhelming feeling of reverence for Him. The Bible says there is power in the blood of Jesus. It is cleansing. It is healing. It is freeing. And I am a witness that the Blood still works.

Sometimes we have to go through those low places….those valleys in our lives, and it’s no fun. But let me tell you…God is there in that place…teaching, training, and loving us through it. His blood reaches every area of our lives. Look, what that song says is true…that blood never loses its power. Oh my goodness! I feel that. 

Somebody needs to know that what you are going through is not because you did anything wrong. It is God preparing you for your next level.

I felt Holy Spirit touch my heart today, and He took me to that place where only God and I can reside. It’s in that place that you can ask anything, and know with certainty that He hears you. 

I pray today that you fall in love with Him all over again…that you dedicate your life to Him all over again, because for this next level, we are going to have to forget all about what we want, and just focus on what God wants for us. 

Pull close to Him, because when we do that…He will take care of everything else.

Until next time…

Be blessed

Pray Like God Hears

Pray Like God Hears

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I only have one message for you today, and that is…prayer is needed.

God is calling on us to step into the office of intercessor and pray for those who can’t find the words to pray for themselves. Sometimes….actually most of the time we are not going to see the things we have prayed for. That’s what having faith is all about. Faith is knowing that God will even though we don’t see it.

I think the problem for most of us is that we don’t believe that God will answer our prayers. I mean, we hope that He does, but there is that little nagging voice saying…He probably won’t do it. That voice is not of God, because over and over in the Bible it says that He will. 

John 15:7 says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Isaiah 65:24 says He doesn’t even wait for us to ask, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”

There are way too many promises in the Bible of how God answers prayer to list them here today. The point is that He does. Anyone that says differently just doesn’t know our Father. 

The thing is…God will answer…He just may not answer the way we want.

God loves us so much that He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to die a death He didn’t deserve. And because He did that….we can be assured that God does hear us, and He will respond.

He knows us, and He knows what He has placed down on the inside of each one of us, and right now He needs us to tap into that power to pray for one another like never before.

Until next time…

Be blessed

Welcome 2023!

Welcome 2023!

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Happy New Year!!!

Praying that everyone had a great start to a great new year! Even if you didn’t, I pray that God turns that thing around for you.

I think this year I want to do things a little differently. I don’t particularly like doing resolutions, but I still typically list at least a few things that I hope to accomplish in the new year. This time I don’t want to do that. I want to set one goal for myself. A stretch goal. Something that I know God has been showing me.

I am so glad He is so patient with us. 

The Bible says in part that only what we do for God will last (2 Cor. 5:9-10). I can only speak for myself, but I don’t want anything that God doesn’t want for me. In the past I did. I just wanted what I wanted. I would do things, and then have to ask for forgiveness, because I didn’t do what He told me to do.

Not anymore. If God is not in it…I don’t want any part of it.

I don’t want to keep doing things over because I didn’t listen the first time. I want God to know that my only goal is for my life to be pleasing to Him. The Bible says that if we seek His kingdom first, then all the other things will be added unto us (Luke 12:31). Anyway, we can have all the material things in the world…including money, and still be miserable. And here’s the thing…submitting our plans to God first means we understand WHO is really in control. 

When we listen for His voice, and keep our eyes on Him…nothing will be impossible for us. 

The best way I know to discern what God is speaking to us is to read His word. The Bible has in it every plan, every direction, and every goal that He desires for us. 

Start by reading Psalm 23. It is God’s love letter to us. Read it out loud, and when you read those words…really listen to them. It’s just comforting to know that God continually pursues us, watches over us and looks for ways to bless us. 

Until next time…

Be blessed

Love All Year Long

Love All Year Long

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Tomorrow many of us will be celebrating Valentine’s Day. It is the only day specifically set aside to celebrate lovers. Just about everyone will be sharing love in some form or another. Hopefully we are not waiting until February 14th to do that. Because that should be what we do everyday, right?

Although I have always celebrated this holiday, the older I get the more I realize how important it is not to wait for that one day of the year. If I want to give flowers, candy, or go out to dinner, I shouldn’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day to do that. Time is a precious commodity. We only have a certain number of days designated to us, and God is the only one that knows that information. Mark 13:32 proves it when it says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” And since God is the only One who knows, it behooves us to make the most of our time. 

That means we need to let go of offenses, and stop living angry lives waiting for the opportunity to give someone a piece of our minds. We may have good reasons to be upset, but if what happened is keeping us from enjoying every bit of our lives…it’s not worth it. Let it go. 

Love like there is no tomorrow. Love until the pain goes away. Love everyone, even the people we don’t like so much. If we do that, God will handle the rest. The Bible says that God will contend with those who contend with us. That means that He will handle any difficulties, any struggles, or anybody that causes us problems. All we have to do is be obedient to His commandment to love one another. And here’s a news flash…it doesn’t say only love those who love us. Yikes!

Join me in working towards letting our love shine all over everyone we meet. And don’t let their willingness to receive or not receive it determine if we give it. Give it anyway. Even if we have to give it from a distance. 

Until next time…

Be blessed

It’s in His Word

It’s in His Word

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Part of going deeper in God is realizing that God didn’t give us a mediocre life. We were not meant to just go through life. We are supposed to LIVE life. His word says that we could have life and have it more abundantly. But here’s the thing…the only way to get that is through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

That scripture comes from John 10:10, and it actually says that the enemy (the devil) comes to destroy your life…literally. His job is to kill us physically and spiritually. But Jesus says, “I have come….” That statement right there changes everything. There is power in that statement. 

God didn’t let His One and Only Son go to the cross for nothing. And Jesus didn’t give His life so that we could live defeated and depressed. God loves us way too much for that. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, and ask Him to come into our lives…He comes. And not only does He come, but He brings a whole host of angels with Him.

But in order to take advantage of that, we have to work on our relationship with God. And working on that relationship is like working on any other relationship we have with anyone we care for. It takes spending time alone with Him, and trusting Him enough to be honest with Him. There never has to be any pretense With God. We don’t have to hide anything from Him, because He already knows everything about us. He is the one person who knows us better than we even know ourselves. And how about this…He still loves us.

But I don’t care how many times we hear that, we won’t get it until we get to know Him for ourselves. Spend some time in His word. Every plan, instruction, or direction God has for our lives is in there, and that’s the only way to find out who He is, AND who we are.

Until next time…

Be blessed