The Wonder of Christ is Captivating

Has the WONDER of God diminished in you?

AS THE FATHER DRAWS YOU INTO HIS PRESENCE, IT WILL CHANGE YOU.

SEEING THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR YOU, IN SENDING, HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, JESUS TO EARTH TO LIVE AND DIE IN YOUR PLACE.  TO BRING YOU TO HIM...  YOU ARE GOD'S GIFT, THE FATHERS, GIFT TO HIS SON.

Take time to be still, listen, wait, pray and pray and wait.  Enjoy, delight in Jesus and His creation.  He turns the hearts of Kings.  If HE, continues to change my heart he can yours.  Even if you struggle as I do, you can have great joy in the Lord, by the gospel.  You are the righteousness of Christ, in Him.  Satan will try to rob you of joy of sharing this good news.  You are much worse than you think.  You are more loved than you know.  I think this was first said by C.S. Lewis.  But we adopt it, whomever it was, today.  it is the gospel throughout the bible.  Our hearts burn for our coming of the Lord...2,000 years ago and today.

OUR JOY OF TODAY DOES NOT LAST THROUGH TOMORROW.  IT IS LIKE THE MANNA OF THE ISRAELITES.    
THE FRESH, FREEDOM OF THE GOSPEL IS FOR EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I prayed a simple prayer...God may your love burn within me.

The people God used, the prayers and teaching He gave me that

followed has given me an awe of the great love of God.

May we prepare our hearts for our King, for Jesus has come. 

Advent is approaching.

God is a jealous God.  Yes, patient, loving, kind, but He has come

to rescue us. He is crazy with love for us and nothing can stop Him. 

He longs to be with us.  To be our Savior daily.  We are saved once 

but He rescues us over and over again.

When the days of evil come.  He will fight for you.  He has given 

us weapons in His word and His Spirit.

Self control, the Spirit
Stand firm in the truth of the gospel,
Eph 6 in His Word
Worship
Thanksgiving
Prayer of friends and our own
The righteousness of Christ that is ours
We have the very mind of Christ.
He keeps His promises.
He delights to give us good gifts.



Speak truth to your heart and mind, believe, claim what is yours in 

                                      "JESUS".

When you are too weak to pray, Jesus is praying.  He is fighting

The Spirit groans for redemption.  He gives us the very prayers to 

pray.

Darkness can not remain in the light.  We can fight darkness or we

can ask our God to move us into His marvelous light.  We can resist

the Devil and draw near to God.

So we can celebrate.  In due time, as you wait on Him, He will 

you wings like eagles.  He will raise you up out of the pit.  

God rescues the oppressed and sets the captive free.  He brings rest

to the weary.  Boldness and gentleness to faithless.  He heals our 

wounds.

When things were hard for me mentally...I prayed, Lord, I know 

are perfecting your bride.  I know you are purifying my faith and

giving me perseverance.  I fought to not lose hope and the Spirit

would remind me my hope is in Jesus not in an easy circumstance.

Our joy is not in the world but in Jesus.  The joy of the Lord is our

strength.

THE VICTORY  HAS BEEN WON...

Things will just work out?

Have you ever heard someone say...Things will just work out.

This implies that, things work themselves out and everything will

be ok on their own.

Things don't just work out.  We live in a broken world...

The only hope we have is in the promises of God to work every-

thing even our brokenness and dysfunctions for His glory and for 

our good.

If you think you are beyond hope
Your situation is beyond hope.
You are beyond hope in being used by God.
Those you love are beyond Gods redeeming power.

Remember His promises and His character...

He who makes the world keep spinning.
He who created it all from nothing.
He who knows your name.
He who is faithful.
He who promises to be our God and we His people.
He who sent His one and only Son to rescue us.
He alone is good.  Everything good comes from Him.

Jesus is our hope this Thanksgiving.

He will work everything in your life for your good beyond anything
you can imagine.  Think BIG.  Think GOD.

He can even use your sin to glorify Him.  Look to Him as our only hope.  Expect surprises from Him!

He made the blind man see.  The lame walk.  The prostitute forgiven.  He healed the sick.  He made kings out of slaves.  He freed the captives and the oppressed.  He wants to free you from your guilt and shame.  We all have shame because of the fall, the world and Satan.  He wants to heal our pain.

A free man longs to do the will of His God. 

Christ came, the son of a carpenter, to save us, rescue us and make us into the image of Himself. 

Our God is about good.  Even our suffering we can know He is meeting our need.  He is working for you, for Him.

 In your suffering are you angry with Him?  Do you blame Him for your sin?  Can you see Him as a loving Father that is jealous for your affections and heart?  He can handle you.  He is not disappointed in you because of... 

1. His Sons righteousness is yours and
2. He knew you and the struggles you would have even before time.

So be thankful.  If you are not thankful, ask Jesus to work in your heart as only He can and will do.  Ask Him to burn within your soul the very love of God for you.  

Confess to your Lord you need His love.  Open your heart and invite His love.  This is more difficult for us than we realize.  We close our hearts to God and others. We put up walls to protect ourselves.  We shrink back, we run, we turn to other things for comfort and joy.   God knows if we love Him and others. So do not be afraid to be honest and transparent with Him.  He knows we are but clanging symbols. 

We have the very love of Jesus living in us by His Spirit.  If we see His goodness in sending Jesus we have much to be thankful for.  He delights in His children.  He made the birds sing and the sun shine.  He gives you this meal this Thanksgiving. 

 Maybe you are homeless or have been before.  Or are in a broken home.  There are stories of how God met the needs to the least of these.  Just begin, thanking Him.  You will be amazed how your heart catches up.  Ask Him for that.  We have all we need in Jesus for righteousness and godliness.  But God loves giving good, good gifts to us.  Ask Him for what you need without grumbling or complaining.  Thanks flows out of a heart of love so... Give Thanks! Phil 4:6

How God is Meeting Me

GOD LOVES TO SHOW HIMSELF FAITHFUL, IN SEEMINGLY, IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS...

THIS MORNING AS I WOKE...I felt so bad.  My head was throbbing and my body hurt. My thoughts were not clear.  My attitude stunk.  I was not thankful.   Many of the struggles were the same as they have been for a couple of weeks now.  Especially in the morning.

I searched my heart and confessed my sin...What came to me was so sweet.  I am not a burden for God.  I cast my fears and burdens to the cross.  He has brought me to a place of dependence on Him.  I am learning to rest in His promises.  Learning to trust His word is true.  Only He can rescue me.


I opened our junk drawer and thought...this is impossible.  It reminded me God loves to work in the impossible for man.  I am still working on that drawer lol.

Yesterday I was to go to a pottery class. It was really hard for me to commit and go.  I have backed out of so many things in the past.  I was looking for examples in my experience of God being the Potter and us the clay.  As I turned the wheel and pressed firmly onto the clay, to get the shape I wanted...there was a clump of clay that had worked its way up to the top.  My teacher broke it off.  She said this is dead clay.  It reminds me of dead works I have done for me and not in faith, for God's glory. Of trusting in things other than Him to save me.

I think of how the intentions of our heart move to our thoughts and actions for us to confess and repent to God.  Only God can bring true repentance.  We are told the love of God brings us to repentance.

I learned in my class, it took me pressing in with my whole body through the care of my hands.  We are to press in, lean on Jesus.   It was such fun! We can experience God in everything we do.    He delights in us.


He may not heal my broken mind,
He may not give you the marriage you always wanted,
He may not turn your rebellious teen,
Give you the job of your dreams,

 but He wants to bring worship from the heart to Himself.  It is glorifying to Him and it is where I am most happy.  The enemy cannot coexist with our worship to God.


This morning,  I ask for Jesus heart, mind, and will.  His surrender.  I have great joy, but it is His joy.  Him living through me.  Jesus calls me to give up my plans.  He has something better for me.  Himself.


It is an illusion that I can fix anyone else, let alone me.  It is my self-reliance to think otherwise.


I have prayed hard prayers.  That God would use my illness for His glory.  No matter how bad it got.  That my children would love Him no matter what it took.  Many years ago before I got sick, I prayed God I want to know you and the power of your resurrection.  What was I thinking uggh!  I believe it was Jesus prayer for me.

When I suffer, I think...How did you also suffer Jesus?  How is Jesus in this suffering.  He is always working for our good.  When the thoughts come that I don't want, I search my heart.  I ask the Spirit to search me oh Lord.  Most of the time I confess them...I resist the devil and cling to God and He draws near.  When I despair I think of the disciples that despaired over Jesus death.  I cling to His righteousness.  For it is truly all I have.  Jesus meets me.  Even when I don't feel His presence I know He is living inside me.

When I have moved from imagining who I wanted Jesus to be, to searching for the only one true God.  It was a lonely, scary place.

He is moving me beyond my comfort.  Beyond my control.  He is teaching me that I back away from doing the hard thing.  I see my part is to take a small step of faith.

As we move beyond our walls of comfort into the unknown God meets us there.  When I think of the ones in the bible like Abraham, Jonna, Mary, Ester, Joseph, the prodigal, and even Jesus Himself.  God moved them into the unknown.  Beyond their world of comfort and familiar.

I sought knowledge.  As good as this can be it is not wisdom.  God confuses the proud.  Paul, who was full of wisdom and knowledge declared to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.  The whole bible flows out of this...

These are the hands of some of the ladies in my class.

This is my first class.  I had lots of good help.

God is so faithful.  He has shown me that in my fears I sin.  I have thought I had to fight the fears.  Evil has no hold on me.   He is keeping me with His everlasting arms.  I am safe with Him.  He is purifying my worship.  He is redeeming me for His splendor.




 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Hope deferred...my heart was sick.

My hope was almost gone.  It was at an all time low for me and those I love.  I had no strength. I seemed to be getting no better.  The pain and the swelling, even sedation continued.  I was hard pressed on all sides, seemly no place to turn to fix myself...I had lost sight of how big God is and how small I am...

I surrendered.

The Spirit then led me to a study about hope and faith and the promise of the new earth.  It all fit together. Jesus was about to rescue me even though  I had lost faith in the things that were.  I did not realize my faith should be in the things to come.  It was a revelation and truth from Gods word.  These truths have given me life.  There is power in Gods word to His children.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Now faith is the things hoped for, the things not seen.

Have you ever heard someone say...I don't care?  It doesn't matter?  This is a 

lack of faith.  They have lost hope, lost faith.  Even as believers we can lack 

faith.  Not saving faith in that Jesus has died for our sins but faith in living for

Him.

At the time these words come to our mouths we have lost faith in our 

circumstances to be as we want them to be.  We have lost sight that our 

Story was already written before time.  That the things promised to us will

come to past.  We have lost sight that God never lies and He keeps His promise

to use all things for our good and His glory.  This is hope, faith.  God will bring

to pass all He has promised.  Our inheritance, our sanctification, us becoming

like Jesus.  

God will give us what Satan has stolen, I believe. Threefold.  Satan wants us to believe God is not good and He does not love us.  We get caught in sin and he tells us we are ok.  We are free and we can do what we want.  Then when we do sin he tells us we are defeated. That God is angry with us.  That we might even lose our eternal salvation.  All a lie from the pit of hell. The focus is always on us and not Jesus love, power and freedom that is ours to do His will.

Jesus is bringing...

 the new earth and redeeming those we love and ourselves.  He is righting 

our wrongs.  He is using it all for His glory.

He rescues us and redeems us.  He does not give us things in our lives that we 

cannot handle with His help.  No temptation is too great for our God.  At times these very 

things that seem too much for us is because we are relying on ourselves.


When we get depressed, dishearten we have gotten our eyes on ourselves and 

our circumstances.  We are sick.  Our hope is deferred.  We are at the center of our world.  

Not God.  

We don't believe how very much God loves us and desires to bless us.  We have lost sight 

of His promise to give back and make right all things in our lives and our world.  As we trust 

Him we step out in ways we never have before believing that our God is mighty 

to save.  Mighty to rescue us and deliver us from bondage.  We are not orphans

but children of the most mighty Father.  Who owns the whole world and

everything in it.  He is taking back from evil what is His.   He delights to give us good 

gifts.  Gifts of the Spirit and even things we never imagined.  He wants us content 

and happy in His presence.  He wants us living in the power of the gospel.  The 

same Spirit and its power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us.  

Empowering us to live way beyond what...

we can do on our own.  It is all ours for the asking and believing it is true.  We have not

because we ask not.  We are safe are those who trust in God.  Our faith is assured 

because of His faithfulness.  We will not turn back in the end but persevere 

because the story...

has been written...

 It is finished.  

So we look to the future. That which has not happened or been seen and this

hope is our faith.  We will receive the crown of life.  Life abundant here on 

earth and eternal life with our God.  It is His mercy and kindness that sees us 

through hard times.  He never leaves us nor forsakes us.  There is nowhere

we can run that we are not with Him.  He woos us back from harm of turning

away and going our own way to repentance and faith.  When we fall short...He

then brings us back to a greater understanding of His love, who we are in Him

and we trust Him even more.  Nothing is lost.  Nothing....Our hope is restored, redeemed

Once again we worship the King.  Our hearts are full and love overflows to Him and

to others.  We are strengthen in His might.  He is our eternal hope.

I was so down and out as I would look at my mistakes and my depression of the past.  I 
have seen how God has used those years to restore the years the locus have eaten even
in the lives of my family but the pain of it all remains.  Jesus feels the pain I feel.  The tears are not wiped away yet.  Eventhough He meets me in the midst of it all It does not wipe away the reality of what I did not do through all those years.  The pain my family suffered because of my lack of living and not escaping reality remains with me.


Satan would love me living in shame and guilt.  But God has

used it to increase my faith that He will bless me and my family no matter what.  I live in the 

blessings of unearned favor.  In the hope of the future to live in the present and 

step out in faith; although I will go throughout my life with a limp to remind me

my Savior is not without compassion.  He came for sinners like me.  I think this 

has made me afraid to make a wrong decision because I see the consequences.

Trusting in God and not myself has nothing to do with the pain I have caused.  It will remain.

A Heart for God, Out of the heart the mouth speaks

Over the last few years I became aware of the condition of my heart.  God tells us He has taken out the heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh.  We can have the heart God has for others and for Him.  Our heart of flesh can be deceitful.  But our new heart is beautiful and filled with the will of God and His goodness and beauty.

God tells us that He wants our whole heart.

He tells us that out of the heart the mouth speaks.  Even if you were like I was and stuffed many things...it will come out.  Have you ever thrown up past wrongs to someone...even someone you loved?  I have and been so sorry of it later.  It was stored up past hurts in my heart.  That had turned bitter and angry.  I tried to keep a level balance to myself and my life.  Being happy all the time.  But the things I had not worked out with others.  The things I had not taken to God.  Came out and cause damage to those I love.


I try to keep a short account wrongs done to me and the sin as a result, in my heart.  Some might even think I am in sincere because I change.  Going to the Lord and the Spirit with the wrong motives of my heart is how I live.  I have learned that I can't pretend or change my own heart.

Asking the Spirit and the Lord to search me and show me if there is any wrong ways in me it the way God has shown me this is the way, I must live.  I don't have to share everything with everyone but sharing with a wise, trusted  friend for wisdom can help.  They can show you where you are not trusting God and give you wisdom.  Even then the things that comes out of my heart to the Lord is what is stored up in my heart.


The Spirit changes us from the inside.  What you have in your heart will come out.  When I noticed that I have sin in my heart I ask for the gift of repentance.  Asking others to forgive you is healing for you both.  It changes from my flesh to the very heart of God.  I am different.  My anger and other sins of the heart is thrown as far as the east is from the west and remembered no more.  I have a love for others that I can not muster up myself.  I love even those that are different from me.  Those I struggle to see their side or what their choices are that maybe I would not chose.  My predigest are broken down and I am chief of all sinner, forgiven and loved.  I am a saint of the most High God.

We are told we should not bless and praise God and curse or yell, you might say, to others.  This just should not be so.  So what do we do?  How do we change.  I have mentioned going to the Spirit to change us but we can also do other things to help the condition of our heart,

We can self talk.  Tell ourselves who we are in Christ.  The truths of the gospel.  That Jesus loves us so much He died for us.  That the Father chose us and gave us to His Son.  We are His children.  He delights and rejoices over us.  We are to reject the thoughts of the flesh and the devil and draw near to God.  He will draw near to you.


The other thing we can do is store His word in our hearts by daily meditating on His word.  Meditating on these things...

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

  Gods word is powerful and it can change us.  Beginning and ending our day in His word is a way to keep the thoughts and words of our mouths sincere and good.  Even just a verse or two.  That usually leads me to look up more and more verses.  I love doing this.


Spending time talking to God all throughout my day helps me.  Being in His presence and the presence of the Holy Spirit.


Worship is a great way to change the heart from complaining to gratitude.  You can't worship God and complain about the live He has given you at the same time.  Being thankful in all things is the life of the christian that trust in God.  Worship can do this for you and honor God at the same time in worship.


Surrender is another way.  Surrendering your life and your heart, those you love and struggle with is trusting God as sovereign over all.  Faith is a way to rid you of fear.  Trusting God and His promises to you keeps your heart from anxiety and depression in many cases.   If you struggle here again, surrender with the surrender of Jesus.  Ask the Spirit.

Self righteousness is a struggle I have had for years.  Seeing the sins of my heart and how dependent I am on the Spirit to change me has helped me see...I am just like the other person or worse.

We all need healing to guard our hearts.  The result of wounds and wrongs can cause sin in our heart if we are not realizing that by His wounds we are healed.  Having someone pray over and with us as we go to the Lord with our wounded, broken heart brings love and hope and joy.




I would love to hear the ways you guard your heart.  The struggles you might have in blessing and building others up.  I think of myself as an encourager.  I think it is because I need encouraging so much.  I struggle some times with having hope.  But I must remember my hope is in Jesus and not others, my circumstances or me.  God uses us in our weakness.  Confess them to Him.

From the inside out...Gratitude

Gratitude

Being Thankful is not something that comes naturally to the person who is not happy with the life God has given them.  It could be suffering for them or the ones they love has barred them from a heart of gratitude.

 Suffering can be used for good.  It can make you more thankful than you can imagine.  Trusting God with the life you have.  Being content and thankful for the gift of your Savior and the opportunity to share His love with others.

We are told by God to be thankful in all things.  This, I believe is not only because God delights in our praise but because it is the antidote to an unhappy and discontented person.  Some of the Israelites never got out of the desert because of their grumbling and complaining, not trusting God to meet their needs.

Gratitude has the power to change the heart and the mind.  It brings about joy and peace and love to a dying world.  It is the Word of God to be grateful because God is good.  Jesus is the Word.  There is power in His word and it accomplishes what it is set out to do...change our hearts to the glory of God.

The funny thing is all you have to do is begin to say how grateful you are in meditation and prayer and you become grateful.  Faith works that way.  It produces a heart through the Spirit that you cannot do.  It is the very heart of Jesus.   It is a mighty gift of happiness in your God.  It is seeing through His eyes.  It is His will becoming yours.

Joy, Peace and Love...in a life you may not understand but know He is in control and He is good brings Glory to God and a glow in your face.  You have been in the presence of Jesus.  God inhabits the praise of His people.  He gives peace and rest.

Shine Jesus shine!

Who is your neighbor?

Love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind, 

and with all your strength...

And

Your neighbor as yourself!

Have you wondered why we have arguments and disagreements, even with those we love?  You think... we love each other so
we should get along... all the time.  We should think alike.  We want the same things in life.  Well you did when you started this life together as husband and wife.

The same stands true with friends and children.  Who is your neighbor?  The person in your life at the moment.  

If we are honest we are always leaning toward our desires and longings.  It can be a subtle attitude of disapproval.  The silent treatment, where you don't voice what is really going on in your thoughts. It can be distance put between you and others.  You don't have to confront what you maybe struggling with.  Denial that there is even a problem.

 When others stand in the way of that coming to pass our will surfaces.  It demands its way, even if in a subtle way.  Passive or aggressive   All those you love, you and those are being refined as you rub against each other, wanting different things out of life, in life.  Demanding your way...Your wants are being stripped from your hearts hold, while you are becoming a person that loves others more than yourself. 

We are iron sharpening iron as we want different things and have different desires.  In and through the relationship our wills and desires rise to the surface.  It is a tug of war to see who gets their own way.  We are grown children in many cases in the way we handle our... constructive conflict...we think it is beneficial anyway.

You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.

So the fighting and arguing is, I want what I think will make me happy.  OK, I reason and say, I want the right thing.  I know what is best.  

I am being a mini god.   Manipulating the situations of life to get what I want.

  So we push and pull with our wills not asking God, just what is His will.  Assuming me and God want the same thing.  It is up to me to get it.  The life I think I deserve.

Not only do those we love stand in the way of our happiness, but we stand in the way of theirs.

by not giving them what we think we need to make us content,

happy and satisfied.

So who in your life is standing in the way of you getting the idols, the things you think will make you happy?  How is your coveting robing you and them of peace?  

Remember all people are being true to themselves.  The Spirit is bringing us out of a double life.  To be true to who we are in Christ.  

As I was meditating on these things I began to question...What in life really matters?  How am I in the will of God and working for His purposes in my life.  Surrender.  Jesus surrender is mine.  I am too self centered and strong willed to surrender on my own.  

 My real battle is with God and not the people in my life.  They are in my life for the purpose of breaking my will for one thing.  The Spirit shows me my heart.  I pray Lord don't leave me to myself.  Please break my heart and let there be no bitterness or anger.  Rescue me my Jesus.

When my will is no longer the center of my heart and life, I am then yielded to God.  Then am I able to love.  I am able to love others without being a needy person looking to others to make me happy.

God then has my heart.   Jesus is the sweetness of life,  I am after all along. Only He can satisfy the heart of man.  

So how do I live?  In His shadow.

I do good because He is living in and through me.  I am to be merciful, act justly...and walk humbly with my God.   

And the beat goes on as the dance of the Trinity is ever before me.  Left foot, right foot...repentance and faith.  The music completes me in Jesus.

Two steps left, one step right...Let the music begin and love pours from within me.  Heaven even in this life with Jesus.  I begin to weep tears of joy.  He did not leave me. Your will be done Father.  May your Kingdom come.