What is a shadow? Is it the real thing? Have you ever been startled by a shadow? There is something that is casting a shadow over the world. You must have light to cast a shadow. The light does not come from the one casting the shadow! Does a shadow have power? The psalmist says I will fear no evil.
The thought came to me one day, "If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have brought children into this world. Then I thought of my children, all grown now. The joy that they brought into my life, what they have brought into this valley. They have given so much back to this valley. Some through joy and pain that comes to us all....and have prospered!
What a loss if they had never been born. Besides that, this valley is the only way to meet Jesus and come through, and come out into the kingdom. We must be born again: "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil (shadow of death).
Satan uses our own fears to stop us from taking one step at a time. That's what walking is, one step at a time.
If there is someone thinking of suicide, just take one more step, one more step. Don't let your enemy win. Have that baby, put it in the arms of God. Psalm 22:9-10. Say, "I will fear no evil, what can a shadow do to me?"
Psalm 23 has the answer. The Lord is my Shepherd. Take our eyes off the shadow and on to the Lord, who loves us. Run into His shadow. He is keeping us. He is protecting us. Keep walking in His shadow. Stay so close that you don't even cast a shadow of your own.
God loves you! John 3:16. He calls you by name.
Love, a work in progress.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
WHERE IS THE GOOD NEWS?
Where is the good news? Where is the encouragement? It looks like the world is going to hell in a hand-basket if you watch the news or the programming. Movies exalt evil, soap operas exalt sex, murder, adultery, abortion. If you look to the world, you're not going to find good news. Legalized murder of babies, legalized drugs, legalized same-sex marriage. All under the guise of free choice.
When God gave us free choice it was in the hope we would choose the right, the good way. Eve chose, Adam followed. Where has that placed the world? Still with a choice!
There is good news out there! Be still and know that I am God. Isa. 43:1-2. Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. There is good news out there! For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Matthew 10:27. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. The world is not afraid to shout its bad, evil news. There is good news! Don't despair. Look to the cross of Jesus. He is for us, He is with us, He is in us.
Jer 29:11 - I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good, not for disaster. To give you a future and a hope. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Love, a work in progress.
When God gave us free choice it was in the hope we would choose the right, the good way. Eve chose, Adam followed. Where has that placed the world? Still with a choice!
There is good news out there! Be still and know that I am God. Isa. 43:1-2. Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. There is good news out there! For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Matthew 10:27. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. The world is not afraid to shout its bad, evil news. There is good news! Don't despair. Look to the cross of Jesus. He is for us, He is with us, He is in us.
Jer 29:11 - I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good, not for disaster. To give you a future and a hope. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Love, a work in progress.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
BILLY GRAHAM - A MAN OF GOD
I would like to salute BILLY GRAHAM. He never changed his message to the world. Millions received the Lord based on the message God spoke through him. I can still hear him. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Simple. Unadorned. The word of God.
God bless the Billy Grahams of the world. Living sacrifices. Oh, he also said that all have sinned and fall short. Not one has sinned, but ALL have sinned. Jesus came for all of us. He wants us all to know the Father the way He did. Billy has His heart and mind! John 17. Love, a work in progress.
God bless the Billy Grahams of the world. Living sacrifices. Oh, he also said that all have sinned and fall short. Not one has sinned, but ALL have sinned. Jesus came for all of us. He wants us all to know the Father the way He did. Billy has His heart and mind! John 17. Love, a work in progress.
God damn the USA vs. God bless the USA!
The other day, I heard a man say, "God damn the USA!" He professes to be a Christian, but he preaches hate. How could he damn the USA and not put a curse on all Americans, including our president? Does that sound like our Lord, who said, "I didn't come to condemn the world, but to save it."?
Love your enemies and pray for them who despitefully use you. Pray for this man of influence that God would change his heart, and change the curses into blessings! Jesus said many would call him "Lord, Lord," and He would say He never knew them. This man doesn't know the Lord I know.
Romans 12:14 - Bless, and do not curse.
Luke 6:28 - Bless those who curse you. Pray for them.
Galatians 3:10-13 - Christ redeemed us from the curses by becoming a curse for us.
James 3:6 - The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.
James 3:9 - With the tongue, we praise our Lord, and with it curse men who are made in God's likeness.
Test every spirit by the word of God.
Love, a work in progress.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
BE STRONG IN THE LORD
Greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world. O sweet mystery of life, at last I've found you! Walk in the Spirit and you won't give way to the flesh. Do you find you are weaker in your own flesh? You always have been in this realm in which you now live.
Jesus is the overcomer. Jesus is Lord of all. Put on the Lord Jesus. He is in me to will and to work for His good pleasure. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live, I live through faith. His faith. His love, His patience, His kindness. His life...HIS life. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. When I am weak, then I am strong.
A mystery unfolding. There are games and books galore out there on mysteries...mostly murder. This is the greatest and sweetest mystery unfolding. Christ in us, the hope of glory. He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.
Ah, sweet mystery of life. At last I've found You...in me. In the world still. Thank you, Jesus... a work in progress.
Jesus is the overcomer. Jesus is Lord of all. Put on the Lord Jesus. He is in me to will and to work for His good pleasure. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live, I live through faith. His faith. His love, His patience, His kindness. His life...HIS life. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. When I am weak, then I am strong.
A mystery unfolding. There are games and books galore out there on mysteries...mostly murder. This is the greatest and sweetest mystery unfolding. Christ in us, the hope of glory. He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.
Ah, sweet mystery of life. At last I've found You...in me. In the world still. Thank you, Jesus... a work in progress.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
HE TALKS WITH ME
I said, "Lord, its all been before." He said, "but some ears haven't heard it before." An old hymn: I come to the garden alone. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.
What a simple testimony He speaks. Get a hymnal. It's full of wonderful testimony to Father God's love and nearness. Love: A work in progress.
What a simple testimony He speaks. Get a hymnal. It's full of wonderful testimony to Father God's love and nearness. Love: A work in progress.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
A Work in Progress
This is my first ever blog, and this has come about because I'm afraid satan has closed our mouths so we don,t talk about the most important Person in the whole world. So I've decided to take plunge and speak what's on my heart, for from the heart, the mouth speaks:
Unrealized potential. We have settled for far too little. We have expected far to little of ourselves. The God of the universe is our Father. There is no power greater than the power He imparts to us in Christ. His very Spirit is within us. This is not religion. This is the life we were born to possess. We don't get this power through war, fighting, taking . We surrender to it. We let it teach us, encourage us, lead us, help us to know who we are and what we belong to. It's earth-changing, evil-destroying. It's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control.
This life is more than we can imagine. Life must be lived. If you want to be a lawyer, doctor, expert at anything, what do you do? You give it your all. You die to everything else. It's what you live for. It's what you talk about. You surround yourself with others who have like goals. You learn all you can about it. You hunger for it, and that hunger drives you through the hard times. You will be hungry. You will get tired. There are times when you want to quit, but you don't, because there is One who gives you strength to go on. God, by His Spirit lives in you. Created in the image of God, you have just begun. Blest with every heavenly blessing beyond our imagination. Chosen to be holy and blameless in God's sight, and so much more. Adopted, chosen, so special. All according to His good pleasure. It makes you want to fly into His arms. Grace, undeserved love. I didn't have to earn it. It was His pleasure to give it, and everything that goes with it. The price was paid in full by God. He is so rich in grace, it never runs out. God takes great pleasure in giving us all things. This is no accident. Not evolution. Not happenstance. This is a plan.
Each life is part of that great plan, His great will. We are for the praise of Him who made us. When you create something, who gets the praise? The work, or the artist? People will know you through what you create. You and your creation are one. The work came through the creator. God offers us a gift to leave all else behind, and go forward with Him.
Remember when you left home? You had to leave the old life behind and step out into a new life. Many times you wanted to go back to what was safe, what you knew, but you knew you had to go forward. There are many who never took that step. Where are they now? God took us who believe Him, and seated us in a new realm next to Him. He wants us to see the incomparable riches of His grace. We are God's workmanship, created, not evolved. Created for a purpose. And every day, being created more and more into the image of God from whom we came. It's all a free gift, no strings attached. Amazing grace, His name is Jesus. His life shows us the Father, and gives us an example of the life we can live. What we are created to be.
Oh, the promise that is in each one of us! An eternal stamp. It's home. Home feels so safe and good. Home is in us. That's why we work so hard to make a home a place we don't want to leave. What is home to you? Home to me is living in God through Jesus by the power of the Spirit. Finally, I have that home. It's a person, and I want all my family to live there with me. After all, isn't that what makes a home, home? As I sit here in His presence and experience His love, peace and joy, I can see a log home with a large, warm fireplace casting a glow over the whole room, and I sit in the midst of that glow. I also reflect the glow that comes from the light of that fire. I am drawn into its warmth. I am warm and safe. Eternal life. The life of God. I know we are one. I am home. Father's arms are always open. His will is that all come home, where we belong.
Independence is a lonely place to be. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. The path to home is clearly mapped out for us.
A work in progress by the Creator.
Unrealized potential. We have settled for far too little. We have expected far to little of ourselves. The God of the universe is our Father. There is no power greater than the power He imparts to us in Christ. His very Spirit is within us. This is not religion. This is the life we were born to possess. We don't get this power through war, fighting, taking . We surrender to it. We let it teach us, encourage us, lead us, help us to know who we are and what we belong to. It's earth-changing, evil-destroying. It's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control.
This life is more than we can imagine. Life must be lived. If you want to be a lawyer, doctor, expert at anything, what do you do? You give it your all. You die to everything else. It's what you live for. It's what you talk about. You surround yourself with others who have like goals. You learn all you can about it. You hunger for it, and that hunger drives you through the hard times. You will be hungry. You will get tired. There are times when you want to quit, but you don't, because there is One who gives you strength to go on. God, by His Spirit lives in you. Created in the image of God, you have just begun. Blest with every heavenly blessing beyond our imagination. Chosen to be holy and blameless in God's sight, and so much more. Adopted, chosen, so special. All according to His good pleasure. It makes you want to fly into His arms. Grace, undeserved love. I didn't have to earn it. It was His pleasure to give it, and everything that goes with it. The price was paid in full by God. He is so rich in grace, it never runs out. God takes great pleasure in giving us all things. This is no accident. Not evolution. Not happenstance. This is a plan.
Each life is part of that great plan, His great will. We are for the praise of Him who made us. When you create something, who gets the praise? The work, or the artist? People will know you through what you create. You and your creation are one. The work came through the creator. God offers us a gift to leave all else behind, and go forward with Him.
Remember when you left home? You had to leave the old life behind and step out into a new life. Many times you wanted to go back to what was safe, what you knew, but you knew you had to go forward. There are many who never took that step. Where are they now? God took us who believe Him, and seated us in a new realm next to Him. He wants us to see the incomparable riches of His grace. We are God's workmanship, created, not evolved. Created for a purpose. And every day, being created more and more into the image of God from whom we came. It's all a free gift, no strings attached. Amazing grace, His name is Jesus. His life shows us the Father, and gives us an example of the life we can live. What we are created to be.
Oh, the promise that is in each one of us! An eternal stamp. It's home. Home feels so safe and good. Home is in us. That's why we work so hard to make a home a place we don't want to leave. What is home to you? Home to me is living in God through Jesus by the power of the Spirit. Finally, I have that home. It's a person, and I want all my family to live there with me. After all, isn't that what makes a home, home? As I sit here in His presence and experience His love, peace and joy, I can see a log home with a large, warm fireplace casting a glow over the whole room, and I sit in the midst of that glow. I also reflect the glow that comes from the light of that fire. I am drawn into its warmth. I am warm and safe. Eternal life. The life of God. I know we are one. I am home. Father's arms are always open. His will is that all come home, where we belong.
Independence is a lonely place to be. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. The path to home is clearly mapped out for us.
A work in progress by the Creator.
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