Please press play and watch the video. Then press it one more time and read on. I hope you find an extreme blessing out of this as I have.....
Love
That is such a wonderful word. Lets just take time and look at it a few more minutes.
Love
It is one of the few words we have that can bring sooo much contentment just by saying that one word. There is not one person who does not want love. It's something we all strive for, wish for, try our best to give out, etc...
Love
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
God loves us. But He doesn't just love us, He loves us SO much!! Look at that verse from John 3:16. God didn't just love the world, He SO loved the world. We often talk about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. I want to give you a picture of this happening for Easter. We have all read the stories in the Bible about what Jesus did for us. But have you ever really thought about it??
Our Lord was beaten, bruised, had his flesh torn from His back (scourging), spit on, laughed at, mocked, all BEFORE HE ever even made it to the cross!! You and I did this to our Lord and Saviour.... I hate it when I hear people say if they were there they would have not done this. According to Scripture, yes you would have. Even though we were not alive at this time, our sin did this to Jesus, to the Man who did no wrong.
But, has it ever crossed your mind that He did not have to do this for you or me?? At any time through His torture, He could have said, "Forget it, you are not worth it." Jesus told Peter in the garden that He could call down Legions of angels to destroy these people sent to arrest Him. He went through EVERYTHING He did, willingly. He came here KNOWING exactly what was going to happen to Him. It tells us that He was SO stressed about what was getting ready to happen, He actually sweat blood in the garden!!
I do not EVER want to let that go. Jesus died for me. He died for ME!! He didn't just die, He LET Himself be crucified for ME. He loved ME that much. No amount of love that I am ever able to feel here will EVER compare to the love that Jesus has for me, to be willing to do that for me that I could go to Heaven to be with Him!!!
But what's even better than knowing that?? Knowing that Jesus didn't stay in that grave!! He is risen, and He is coming again!! He is in Heaven, preparing a place for me!! For me!! As if Him dying on the cross wasn't enough, He is now preparing a place for me!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It all brings tears to my eyes........I do not want to just think about this during the Easter holiday, I want to keep it with me EVERYDAY!! No matter what this world has in store for me. No matter what hard times or "storms" I may go through. God loves me. Look at what He did for me!!
He did it for you too......you can make the same claims I do.......He is standing at your heart's door knocking......can you hear it??.......Won't you let Him in?? Remember, He did it all for you...............
Just a few quick prayer requests for this post. My oldest daughter, who has been pretty sick this week, went to the doctor today and we found out she has two ear infections AND tonsillitus. She is now on medication, but please pray for her speady recovery. And my youngest has signs of having some of the same struggles (oh boooy, here we go again, lol).
Here is one that I have been struggling with for awhile now. I do not think there is any doubt on here about my love for our AMAZING GOD. (he is everyone's God whether they chose to believe it or not) *special note to the one who has felt like arguing with me lately. lol.*
Anyway, a few years ago, I submitted myself to do whatever it is that God wanted me to do. All He had to do was let me know. I was, and still am very serious about this promise. But at the same time, I am at a point where I don't know if God has called me to do something, or if it is just something I want. For some reason preaching keeps popping in my head. I would absolutely love to preach God's Word. But I struggle with the question of: Is it God's will for me? Or is it just my "want to" that I keep thinking about it?
My mom told me that when I was 5 years old, anytime someone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my reply was always, "A Pastor". Now, what I struggle with is this... I was not saved at 5 years old. Yet at the same time, we have no preachers in our family, or really even anyone that might have put this in my mind at that young of an age. Was it really God letting me know that early what He wanted by putting that desire in me? Or am I just wanting the attention a preacher has to get my message out?? Preachers are there to help people, to be there for people in their time of need to give them God's Word, etc... Those of you that know me know that I am ALL for that!! But again, is that me, or is that from God??
I know that if I go into full time ministry work, it will ONLY work if God is doing it, not me. He will only work through me if it's what He wants for me. So if it's just something that I want, it's not a good thing for me to do. It would be for only me, not God. Then my family comes into the picture. If I decide this is the step for me, I would have to uproot my family. So I want to make EXTRA sure, this is what He wants me to do. I do not want to jump into something like this and realize later that is was all just for me and have to uproot them again. Am I making any sense?? I hope so because it is all very confusing to me right now. Please pray for me. Maybe I just need patience right now. Maybe God isn't ready to use me in quite that way, if not, that is totally ok with me. I just want to serve Him the best I can. I owe God EVERYTHING. I want to try my very best to make sure He gets it.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know....
The other day I was reading a post at Secret's place, "My Soap Opera Life."She had this beautiful picture and talked about wasting our life worrying about things, and at the end stated that we should not be scared of living our life. This has inspired my post tonight, and I thank her very much for posting what she did.
In the day and age we live, it can be soo easy to be fearful. Afraid of what might happen. One of my biggest fears up until a few years ago was repeating the cycles in my family. For years I kept everyone at arms length, scared to let them get to close, terrified that if they did, I would end up hurting them in some way. There are tons of reasons we can think of to be afraid, to be cautious and fretful. But there is one way we can vanquish all those fears in the blink of an eye. God.
If you know Jesus as your personal Saviour, there is nothing you have to fear. It tells us in the Bible that if God will take care of the flowers in the field, don't you think He will take care of us that much more? Please don't get me wrong, it does not say bad things won't happen, we are actually promised that they will. But we have a God behind us who contols EVERYTHING. We have someone who can comfort us when we need it, give us strength when we have none, protect us from things unseen, and the list just goes on and on.
God's power has no limits.
God's knowledge has no limits.
There is nowhere that God isn't.
Someone once asked me, "Has it ever occured to you that NOTHING has EVER occured to God??"
You see, bad things will happen. Thats a promise. Sometimes those things are just unspeakable. I have been reading Fox's book of matryrs lately. There are some Christians who have met some awful awful deaths. But one thing they all had in common, they all died in peace. Someone being burned alive at the stake and people's account of it states it was as if he was laying on a bed of down feathers he was so peaceful. No one but God can do that for us. And He'll do it for you too if you will let Him. There is nothing out of God's reach. We only have to reach for Him.
Remember this, no matter what end we may face here on earth, if you know God, the end result is a perfect body, in a perfect place, with THE perfect ruler. Who or what is greater than knowing this?? I find so much peace and strength and courage in that!! Don't you?
So stop being afraid and start living for God!! "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Think about this, if you close your heart and your love to this world to protect yourself, you'll NEVER make a difference to ANYONE in this world.
Lets let go of our fears and give them to God and start living for Him!!
Ok, I have seen some of these going around today, and I have just been tagged by Lookin. I am supposed to write 5 things I have heard and never forgot and tag 4 other people. So here we go!!!
1. "Come on you ole' poo poo, cut me a break!!!!" - my younger brother when he was 5 years old and was constipated. (I still get tickled at that one!! It actually works on so many levels!!! LOL)
2. "Life is short, to make the most of it, live simple and love deeply. That is our purpose here." -my grandmother after she found out she had cancer.
3. "When I get to Heaven, I'm going to ask God two things I have never understood. Why did there have to be mosquitos and snakes???" -a leader at my church who has an intense fear of snakes.
4. "A kind word can change the whole day, not just for one person, but everyone else that person may come in contact with for the rest of that day." -my sixth grade teacher.
5. "You will never move forward in life if you are always looking behind you wishing you had done something different." -a wonderful Christian counseler when I was going through those storms in my life.
6. "Family was God's way of teaching how to love others even if we don't like them very much!!" -myself (you all know I would just have to throw some of mine in there, lol)
7. "I've got all eternity to spend in a perfectly thin body. I might as well know what fat feels like here!!" -my comment to someone at church who was trying out a new diet.
8. "I can't wait until you get old with arthritis, I'm going to kick your butt then!!" -my little brother after we got through wrestling around.
9. "Good luck with that, why do you think people carry canes when they get older?? So they can beat their younger siblings when they show up for revenge!!" -my reply back to him.
Ok, I have gone way over this time, but that just brings up one more quote,
10. "Some rules were made to be broken, and this just happens to be one of them." -my grandmother on my parents rule of no snacks after a certain time.
Thanks Lookin for taggin me, this was fun!!! The people I choose to tag are:
Someone I was talking to recently asked me to pray for them, they said it seemed like Satan just wouldn’t leave them alone. Every turn they seemed to make, there he was, tempting them, bringing up past things they had done. They had been praying for God’s help to get rid of it, but it still seemed to keep happening. She asked me what could be done. How does one overcome these things?
I thought of quite a few verses in the Bible that might be a help to this person. Instead of just Pm’ing her, I thought this might be an encouragement to more out there if I post this publicly. I hope you find a blessing out of this post. The first verse I’d like to share is from James 4:7 (all verses KJV):
4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
First it tells us to submit ourselves to God. I think there are a lot of people out there today who struggle with this. They want to do what they want, not really thinking about what God wants until something happens. Then it says if we resist the devil, he will flee. Submit and resist, so my first question to pose: Have you submitted to God? Is He number 1 in your life? If not, I’m afraid to tell you, the devil already has you!!!
The next example, actually this is the BEST example, we can find is from Jesus Himself in Luke 4:2-13
“2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. “
Did you notice Jesus used the Word of God to resist the devil? You see, the devil is not stupid. He knows what the Bible says, he knows how to manipulate, he is a liar. But if you know the Word, he has nothing for you, you can fight him off. There is nothing more powerful than the Word of God!! We as Christians know this, but I have to ask, how many times do you pick up your Bible and study it?? David said in Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
David basically said he memorized God’s Word. The more we know what God’s Word says, the better chance we have of not sinning against it. I wonder why we as Christians struggle with this also? I challenge you to write down all the verses you can quote on paper. Does it look like enough to you? How many more verses are in the Bible that you don’t know?
Ok, one more verse and I will be done for now, If you look in Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
This is why the devil will flee you if you quote Scripture, God’s Word is quick and powerful and shaper than ANY twoedged sword!! I must ask, are you using the weapon God has freely given us? Would you know how to? If you have then praise God. But I believe there is ALWAYS something to learn from God’s Word, no matter how many times you have read through the Bible. It is the greatest weapon we have against satan. It is the greatest weapon we have against ourselves!! (Yes ourselves, I think we give the devil too much credit sometimes when it is ALL us) Isn’t it about time we come out swinging the most powerful weapon?? Oh what a change that could be made in this world if we did!!!
Hope you all have found some help and encouragement in this.
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