Tis the Season to be jolly.....Fa la la la la la la la

Venturing out this week, you will see much that surrounds us.  I am more concerned with that which we do not see.  The Lord has opened my eyes many times, but it is more than once.  He is helped me to see those who are suffering and living a life without Christ.  Jesus has helped me to see the true meaning of the season of his birth.  It is to open our eyes to those who know not the Lord, to help us to see those around us who walk blindly away from the our Lord into the worldly possession that they surround their lives with. Those possessions that  we can not take with us, yet occupy most of our time.  With this time, God ask for us to starve ourselves of such worldly things to give them up for Godly time.  Do we not owe our God, the one who sent his only Son to save us, that time.  So I take time each morning to praise him for all he has done and will do in my life. I try to open my eyes to those around me in pain and suffering and help them.  Show them that my life means something to the Almighty and bring hope to a life which might have been lived for the glory of man and allow others to see our King in Heaven.  He asks me to make time for others, to heal those who suffer, to bring cheer to those who are in pain, to pray for those who are in chains, to sing to those who have lost the way, to bring faith to those with none, to be a family to those without one, to be a friend to those in need of someone, to bring my possessions to those with none.  I would like to be the Mother to those without one, but God has called me to be a friend and family to those without someone to care for them.  He is asking all of us to use them?  Take some time in prayer to ask the Almighty to grant you some peace, love and joy during this season.  Ask him to grant you time to spend with Him and for Him! 

Forget not that this time of year is to reflect on what we could do better, pray for guidance in your journey with Him and sing of Christmas cheer for those who have none.


Love and glory be to my King, AMEN.

I am thankful for....peace, love and joy from Christ

As God has given us all that we need:peace, love and joy; we must take the others with that in mind.  There will be loss, pain and war, but if these are the things we set our eyes on we will miss out of the joys of life and heaven.  I have read a book by Ted Dekker about heaven and how church has lost the meaning of such a word.  We don't want to discuss death, nor where we will go after life here on earth is over.

Here is a devotional that sums it up.

People are seekers of the benefits of God:peace, love, joy and heaven, but they lack the connection, relationship with God to attain such benefits.  God wants his people to seek him (Am 5:4), not just his benefits.  He wants people who are looking for a relationship with Him, people who are wiling to sacrifice for that relationship- not because he wants to see them suffer but because he knows the benefits suffering brings.  Peace joy and hope shine most brightly in5s this peace give you confidence to do (Ro 5:2)?  You can have access to and a relationship with the Creator of the universe!

Having a relationship with God produces hope. (Ro 5:2-5) How is hope developed? How is this hope different from the world's hope?  The Holy Spirit in the One who fills us with the love of God.

This hope produces joy.  Just as Paul learned he secret of contentment (Php 4:12), you can learn the secret of joy.  What us Paul's secret? (Ro 15:3, Php 1:4-6) How does this attitude allow you to view your sufferings in a new way (Ro 5:3-4; Jas 1:2-4; 1 Pe 1:6-9)?

You will only gain true peace, joy and hope through having a relationship with God.  That relationship can only be developed in Jesus Christ.  And your experience of it can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit.  Though suffering is often a part of the Christian life people anticipate with fear, God uses it to produce deep and lasting peace, joy and hope.

How do I find the such a throne of Grace?

~Beth Moore's Praying God's Word

                                  We, all, like sheep, had gone astray, each of us had turned to his own way; but the Lord laid on You, Jesus the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:3-6).

O Lord, because of You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me (Ps. 63:7-8)

When Your kindness and love appeared, You saved me, not because of the righteous things I have done, but because of Your mercy.  You saved me through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom You poured out on me generously through Jesus Christ my Savior, so that, having been justified by Your grace, I would become an heir having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).

We have now entered a new life in the Lord.  We are coming to this world as new beings ready to worship, lift up your name and become servants in this cause.  We were saved and must continue to remind ourselves that it is all because of you that we are free.  I think many of us struggle with life in this world and of this world and yet we tend to try to solve our own problems and forget to turn towards our maker allowing him to work in our lives.  He is our Father and made us in his image that we might come to know him....do you know him?   I have learned his grace.  

How do you find the throne of Grace in your lives?

God: Our EMT...always there to help us.

When we begin to doubt whether God cares and the world seems to be falling apart all around us, he is there.  When we feel alone and the silence is deafening, God is there.  When we don't know if we can stand up, face the world alone.....we are not, he is with us through it all.  We may not hear him speak, nor feel his presence, but God is always present.  Usually he is trying to help us see that we need him, or that we need to take time with him.  Most of us need times that test us to know that He is there, walking beside us, aching with us, crying with us and just loving us.  I know that the trials I face in this life are because I believe and have faith.  The world is not part of us, and because of that I thank you.  We have set ourselves apart from this world, to be the light to those who don't know you.  You have chosen us as your children and therefore we belong to you.  "No servant is greater than his master." ~John 15:18. If they persecute You, they will persecute me.  If they obey your teachings, they will also obey the teachings of your disciples. Even when the world has forsaken me, You, Lord, receive me. 

Oh what an awesome God we have.  He loves us so much, he sent his Son to die for our sins, so that we might be holy.  I long for the time when I get to meet my maker face to face, to look upon him and thank him for all that he has done for me.  Take the time today, to reflect on life with God.  Allow him to guide you down a path of light towards a closer relationship with Him.  Allow him to show you that even in the darkness, there is still a glimmer of hope to light the way!

Life beneath God's light

I am so excited to let you know that God is working in my own life! I see his hand prints all around me; in my children, in prayers of friends, in praise of friends and family and in my fellow sisters in Christ!

This week was a challenge and there were moments when I felt God pulling on my heart.  Strange, how for me, it seems that I only stop to notice such things when I am at my worst.  He picked me up and kept me close while convicting me to read His word and pray.  It was only in that moment, that I was open to hear his voice.  He spoke of pain and the long road that is laid before me.  I asked him for help and strength to continue in this journey.  I know that you hear ppl say that it is only in the calm of the storm that we hear him speak and it was so true for me. I let go of all the worries and anger and thought only of our Heavenly Father.  This week, take some time to hear His voice!  Don't wait to be amid the storm to listen.  This weeks sermon was all about taking the time to hear his word and that takes time, patience and a listening ear.   God is always there to listen, so take some time to allow him to speak to you!  We will continue our chapter wrap up and begin a new chapter on taking the next step in our walk of faith!   Remember that God's light may seem dim when surround by all the darkness in our lives, but he is waiting to help guide you towards his Eternal light, his son died to give us Eternal hope in Him, and we are to take his hand and let him lead us to our ultimate place beside him in Heaven!