Under the Waterfall .....of Grace

What Grace Means to Me

2012-01-28T08:28:00.001-05:00

This is what grace means to me:

Grace is the unconditional favor, acceptance, love and blessing of God freely and irrevocably given, a gift that I don't have to try to earn through my good performance and that I don't have to worry about losing through my bad performance!

Grace is what sets me free to be myself before Him, knowing He completely accepts me and is on my side to do me good! His gracious heart toward me lets me know I can trust my Daddy to always hold me, always take care of me, always understand me, always bless me, always protect me, always be with me, no matter what!

C.S. Lewis, I think, talked about grace being "love that stoops" - I like that: God's grace toward me is His love constantly flowing toward and over and within me, the love that seeks me out in my dark places of confusion or failure or hurt or enemy oppression, the love that is with me in my pain, and the love that lifts me up out of that pain into the Sonlight of joy, peace, freedom, release, victory, hope and enjoying all that is my birthright as His child - especially enjoying the wonder of a UNION relationship of perfect, open intimacy with my wonderful Father through work of His Son and the gift of His Spirit within me, one with my spirit!

I am known, I am delivered, I am healed, I am whole, I am accepted, I am welcomed, I am embraced, I am provided for, I am protected, I am safe, I am secure, I am free, I am righteous, I am clean, I am understood, I am enjoyed, I am befriended, I am filled, I am forgiven, I am new, I am alive, I am beautiful, I am HOME! Home with my Daddy God forever..that is what His grace has done for me and that is what His grace means in my life!

Praise You, Lord! Thank You, Lord, for Your matchless grace!

Secure in Christ, Part 7 - The Spirit is our Seal and Guarantee

2012-01-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." Eph. 1:13-4

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Co. 1:21-2

One of my favorite thoughts when pondering our secure position as believers is thinking on the beautiful Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. He was given to us as a seal of our salvation and also as the guarantee of our future bodily redemption. To me, that simply means that I'm going to make it to heaven and to being resurrected for sure, because the Holy Spirit is making sure that happens! Just His presence within shows that it is guaranteed and set. And Jesus promised that the Spirit would be with us forever (Jn. 14:16-7), so this is a permanent seal and guarantee that we have within us, a Someone that won't leave us and that we cannot lose! The seal is permanent and its effects are permanent, hallelujah!

We were sealed with the Spirit - I read a couple of things that helped me understand what that means, that the Spirit seals us to the day of redemption or marks us as God's own. The word "seal" carries with it the ideas of ownership, protection, and destination. The Spirit is a seal, meaning is He is God's "mark" that was put on us, a mark of ownership, showing that I belong to God, that I'm an authentic, genuine Christian. Also, He is our seal in the sense that, just as a seal on earth secures the contents of a document or package against loss or damage, the Spirit protects us against any loss or damage. And lastly, a seal carries with it the idea of destination - it ensures that the package sent will arrive at the destination intact; that is what the Spirit does for us, for we were sealed for the day of redemption - He ensures that we will arrive safely at our heavenly destination with our glorified body (Eph.. 4:30)!

Another related idea is that of the Spirit as our guarantee. He is called the guarantee of our inheritance in Eph. 1:14, a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Co. 1:21-2). Studying on this word "guarantee" was really interesting. It is the word meaning "engagement ring" and is like a down payment ensuring the full payment to come. The Spirit is our down payment, assuring us that we'll get the full inheritance in the future - the resurrection of the body and all the joys of knowing God's presence in heaven fully experienced! It's wonderful to think that Jesus has given His Bride such an "engagement ring" - the Holy Spirit, His very Spirit within us, one with our spirit, within us as the very Eternal Life of God, abiding in us and filling us to overflowing! The Spirit as our guarantee assures us that we'll see our Bridegroom face to face and celebrate the wonderful Marraige Supper! What a day that will be!

Thank You, Lord, for Your Precious Holy Spirit living within us, reminding us that we really are destined for the heavenly joys of being Your Bride forever! Thank You that the Holy Spirit is our assurance of that day to come! Thank You that the Spirit's wonderful presence that we enjoy within us now is just a down-payment on the future complete inheritance we'll experience later of being with You in glory! Thank You for sealing us with Your Spirit unto the day of redemption, and thank You that Your Spirit in us marks us as Your own possession, protects us from any loss, and ensures that we'll safely arrive in heaven! Thank You for how You abide in us and we abide in You through the Spirit! Amen..

Affirmations of God's Beloved Child!

2012-01-18T11:59:00.000-05:00

My dear friend Julie and her husband have a daily devotion they write and post on their website, Harvest International Ministry, and this one that they posted recently was so good. I love these affirmations of who we are in Christ! I just love seeing the lies of the enemy ("you are worthless, you are a failure, you are shameful, you are unloved, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum!) pushed back by the TRUTH of God and His Word over us that we are Loved, Delighted In, Righteous, Alive, Free, and Spirit-controlled! So I wanted to share their devotion here, and they've kindly given me permission:

Who I Am in Christ
Isaiah 61:6
“And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.”
Today I would like to share with you a wonderful list of confessions on who we are in Christ! It is so great to discover who God has made us as we are in Him and He is in us. When we realize just how powerful we are in Him, then satan can’t steal the truth from us. We won’t get down in the dumps or stuck in fear about ourselves when we’re centered on all that God’s Word declares about us. So read this list and begin to meditate on it. Ask God to give you a real revelation of the Power of Jesus that is within you!

I am a servant of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1
I am set apart for the gospel. Romans 1:1
I am blessed because my sins are forgiven. Romans 4:7
I am justified by faith and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
I am reconciled to God. Romans 5:11
I am alive to God in Christ. Romans 6:11
I am set free from sin. Romans 8:18
I am under no condemnation. Romans 8:1
I am controlled by the Spirit. Romans 8:9
My spirit is alive because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
I am a son/daughter, so I received a Spirit of Sonship. Romans 8:15
I am an heir of God and co-heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17
I am God’s child. Romans 8:16
I am predestined, I am called, I am justified, I am glorified. Romans 8:30
I am more than a conqueror. Romans 8:37
I am Abraham’s seed and an heir. Galatians 3:29
I am redeemed so I’ve received the full rights as sons. Galatians 4:5
I am a son and because I am a son, I am an heir. (Everything God has is mine.) Galatians 4:7

Prayer: Dear Father, I am amazed at all You’ve done for me and I praise You for it. I ask that as I meditate on these truths, that You’ll give me great revelation in Your Word, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Affirmation: I am God’s beloved child!

Steve and Julie Strozier

Harvest Ministry International

"How to Have Faith, Hope and Love" from "Come! Sit With Me" Blog

2012-01-15T07:07:00.000-05:00

I read this post/poem recently on Ming Sing's blog, "Come! Sit With Me (http://mingsing0221.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-have-faith-hope-and-love.html) and just loved it. I wanted to share it here. How can we have faith, hope and love rise within us? We know that the Spirit is all those things in us, and we know that the new heart God has put within us as new creations has faith, hope and love, so how can we see those things naturally manifest or burst forth? I love Ming Sing's ideas on this topic:

"How to have Faith, Hope and Love"

And we have such trust through Christ toward God." 2 Corinthians 3:4

When Christ was born and lived among men,
we started to have faith that God is a good God,
a compassionate Father.....again.

When we see Christ hanging on the cross,
we start to realize HOW MUCH God was willing
to give up His only beloved Son
in order to redeem us.
We start to believe that God really had loved us......again.

God displayed His love for us the CLEAREST
when He sent His Son, His only Son,
The Son that He loves to die on the cross
for the sins of every single one from Adam
to the last baby born on the earth.
"But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

When we see Christ,
we start to believe in Love again,
because He is Love.

"He is kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or rude.
He isn't selfish
or quick tempered.
He doesn't keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
He rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
He is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trustworthy.
Jesus never fails!"
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,CEV, paraphrase mine)

When we see Christ,
we start to have hope again,
we know, He will do it for us.
And indeed, He had.
He had finished it perfectly once and for all
on the cross,
and its effect is valid until eternity!
Truly our hope is not something wishful but
SURE!

Hallelujah!

Therefore, by seeing Christ,
we shall have faith, because He is our faith,
we shall have hope, because He is our hope,
and
we shall have love, which is the greatest of all
because Christ is God's Love
personified.

Ming Sing

I really love the paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 that Ming Sing has, putting Christ in that passage and showing us that He, who is Perfect Love, is therefore all those wonderful things listed as qualities of love. That is beautiful and that is certainly the wonderful Lord I'm coming to know more and more. He is PURE, PERFECT, 100% unadulterated LOVE mixed with nothing else, marred by no other thing, ALWAYS, EVER and ONLY LOVE toward us! What a relief! We can trust this Lord because He is only going to be LOVE toward us all the days of our lives. He is NEVER going to fail to be there for us in all His loving ways. When we SEE HIM, we SEE LOVE and it makes faith, hope and love rise up from within our own spirits! I love You, Jesus, and I love the revelation that You are LOVE!

"All That Jesus Is Before God, You Are" - A Joseph Prince Devotional I Really Like

2012-01-10T03:24:00.000-05:00

Here's the devotional from Joseph Prince that I read a few days ago. I just wanted to share it here. It's really good; he makes wonderful points about how two different Old Testament offerings are pictures of Jesus' offering for us. Very encouraging!

Here is the devotional:

2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

When an Israelite brings an animal as his sin offering, he lays his hand on it before killing it. (Leviticus 4:1–4) By laying his hand on the sin offering, his sins are transferred to the innocent animal. The animal dies for his sins and he goes free.

In contrast, during the burnt offering, when the Israelite lays his hand on the animal (Leviticus 1:3–4), the beauty, worthiness and acceptance of the unblemished animal are transferred to him. God accepts the perfection of the animal sacrifice on his behalf to make atonement for him. Because God accepts the unblemished burnt offering, the offerer now has right standing before God.

Do you know that the two offerings speak of Jesus’ one offering of Himself when He hung on the cross? He is both our sin offering and burnt offering — “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us [as our sin offering], that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [as our burnt offering]”. The moment you put your faith in Him, just by His one sacrifice, your sins were transferred to Him, and His righteousness was transferred to you. That is the grace of God toward you!

As our sin offering, He offered Himself once and for all. (Romans 6:10) The sin offering was never a daily offering because God does not want His people to be sin-conscious. However, the burnt offering was both a morning and evening sacrifice (2 Chronicles 13:11) because God wants His people to be righteousness-conscious.

Beloved, God wants you to lay claim daily to Jesus as your burnt offering and say, “Father, I thank You that Jesus is my burnt offering. All that Jesus is before You — His righteousness, excellence, beauty and perfection — has been transferred to me. Jesus has Your unclouded favor, so I enjoy Your unclouded favor in my life. Jesus is the righteousness of God, so I am the righteousness of God in Christ. As He is before You, so am I.”

Because Jesus became your burnt offering, what He is to the Father today, you are! That is what it means to be in Christ.

Thought Of The Day
All that Jesus is before the Father — His righteousness, beauty and perfection — has been transferred to you.

© Copyright Joseph Prince, 2009

Son-Conscious and Righteousness-Conscious, NOT Sin-Conscious

2012-01-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I hear that tired old lie from the enemy: "God wouldn't bless or help you because you are so sinful, sinful, sinful...just look at your faults, the wrong things you've done and are STILL doing! You've got so many hang-ups, only when you get them all in line or at least show some effort to improve, only then is God ever going to listen to your prayers or help you! Doesn't the Bible say your sins have kept God from hearing and answering your prayers??"

Guilt, guilt, guilt. I feel it, I see my mistakes, my irritable outbursts toward my kids, my self-centered actions (I'd rather read this book and be lazy than clean up this house), all the ways I could improve myself and yet I haven't (I could have read the Bible instead of surfing the net for an hour), etc. etc. If I look at myself and my behavior, I get sin-conscious and feel so low.

Yet God is so loving and kind. He has already taken care of my sin problem at the cross, and He reminds me of that! I think of how He reminded me of that just recently..

I was hearing those tired lies of the enemy, feeling guilty and sin-conscious, examining myself and my motives and seeing more faults than ever..and then last night I had a dream. In this dream, I was talking to someone and they were saying, "Oh, when we sin we go out of fellowship with God and He's not going to bless us" - something along those lines. And in the dream, I was thinking of the verse in 2 Co. 5:21 and wanting to share that with this person: "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Or as the Phillips translation says it: "For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God." Our sins were put on Christ and He became sin for us, and His righteousness was put on us and we became His righteousness. Wow!

Anyway, this morning I was going to read a couple of the devotionals in my Destined to Reign Devotional book (by Joseph Prince) and so I just opened it up to read about 4 of them. And there was a whole devotion on the verse above, 2 Co. 5:21! It was wonderful and uplifting and just what I needed to hear! Mr. Prince talked about how we are meant to be focused on how we are the righteousness of God in Christ and not focused on our sins, which are gone! God said He would remember our sins NO MORE - that's an awfully long time! And if He isn't thinking about them, then I don't need to either. I can just rejoice that I am the righteousness of God in Christ and thus qualified to the inheritance in every way. Through Christ we have received blessing upon blessing - He has blessed us already with "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." That is wonderful to me!

Thank You, Lord, for reminding us that You are thinking of us as righteous in Christ, not as sinful or guilty! Thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for the finished work You performed to make that so! I can truly say I am a righteous person today, all because of You! Not because of my perfect performance, but because of my Perfect Redeemer!

2012-01-01T10:09:00.002-05:00

I woke up with this song on my mind - so many times worries and fears try to crowd in like a heavy cloud over me, and He breaks through that darkness with His light shattering the yucky thoughts and feelings! He breaks through with His truth, His grace, His joy and love, His presence! In His presence, darkness must flee, doubt must melt away, fear must be banished, worry must be gone!

In Your Presence is fullness of joy!

Thank You, O Lord, that You come after us! You don't leave us in darkness - You seek us us and shout Your love to us! You woo us and win us! We are overcome with grace and knocked off our feet by Your marvelous love and power!

The joy - JOY! - of the Lord is our strength - not our own joy but His! You are our shelter from the storm where we can actually rejoice in the shadow of Your wings while the troubles pass by. Thank You for handling every concern we have today!

And thank You that in this new year, we can expect good things because Your plan for our future is all good! Thank You for being a good God and having good plans for us, to give us hope and a looking forward to good things to come. You are WAY stronger than the evil one and have already defeated him by the finished work of Jesus on the cross, and we want to know all the good things You've already done for us and already given us - show us all those things and shower Your love upon us all! Fill us all with Your beautiful Spirit!

And we go out with joy and are led forth with peace into this day because we're alive again in You! You've shattered our darkness and we walk in the light of Your countenance! In You - what a wonderful place to be! In Jesus' name, Amen..

Happy New Year to all!

With love from Sparrow..

Lyrics for "Alive Again" by Matt Maher:

I woke up in darkness
Surrounded by silence
Oh where, where have I gone?

I woke to reality Losing its grip on me
Oh where, where have I gone?
'Cause I can see the light
Before I see the sunrise

You called and You shouted
Broke through my deafness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again

You shattered my darkness
Washed away my blindness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again

Late have I loved You
You waited for me, I searched for You
What took me so long?

I was looking outside
As if Love would ever want to hide
I'm finding I was wrong
'Cause I can feel the wind
Before it hits my skin

'Cause I want You,
Yes I want You I need You, and I'll do
Whatever I have to just to get through
'Cause I love You,
Yeah I love You

(This last part about "I want you...I'll do whatever I have to just to get through" - I can also see God singing that to us, saying that He'll do anything to get through to us, that He wants us around because He loves us so - and that makes my heart sing!)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T04:30:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all!

With love from Sparrow

Joyful, Joyful Lyrics

2011-12-22T04:30:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post the lyrics to the hymn from the previous post. They are so good, I wanted to have them written out here:

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

Henry J. vanDyke

2011-12-20T16:35:00.000-05:00

I love this hymn, with its wonderful lyrics..it is such a happy and jubilant song of praise to the One whose birth we are celebrating now!

He broke into this dark and suffering world to bring hope, release, freedom and joy!

He broke onto the scene and changed everything! His presence, like a shaft of brilliant light, pierced the darkness forever and melted it away!

In His presence, there is such healing, and restoration, such freedom and delight, such peace and rest, such grace and acceptance, such abundance and JOY!

Thank You for coming into this world to start up Your Kingdom of Kindness and Love, dear Jesus! You have ALL authority over the enemy of our souls, and You came to set us free from the evil grip of lies, bondage, ruin, darkness and decay. You came to give us life, Your Life, that is more abundant than we can ever imagine! We are in Your presence, spirit to Spirit, forevermore - oh, what a wonderful place we find ourselves in with You!

You are the One that we have always longed for!

Hearts unfold like flowers before You!

You make ALL things new!

In Your Presence is FULLNESS of joy!

And at Your right hand are pleasures FOREVERMORE!

Thank You for coming and taking on flesh for us, as us, so that we could be identified with You and united with You forever. Christ in us, the hope of Glory!

Joyful, joyful, we adore You!

Amen...

The One Who Saves - His Love Endures Forever

2011-12-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

The One Who Saves by Hillsong Live

Come join the song, lift your voice
As heaven and earth give praise
Fall to your knees, at the feet
Of the Son of The One True God
Turn from old ways, lift your eyes
For the kingdom of God is here
Open your heart, offer all
For Jesus Christ is here
Oh now

We have found our hope
We have found our peace
We have found our rest
In the One who Loves
He will light the way
He will lead us home
As we offer all
To the One who saves us

Call on the Name, that is hope
Jesus the Son of God
Lord over all, He is good
And His mercy endures
Always

His love endures
Forever His love endures
Forever His love endures
Forever and ever

I love this wonderful song! Just thinking about how, in Christ, we have it all...and we have found what we have been searching our whole lives to find - the peace, the love, the rest - we are finally home, for we have found our home in Him!

And then the idea of His love enduring forever, I just ponder that and can't really even take it in! His love won't EVER fail us. He will always, always love us, no matter what!

Even if I fail, even if I doubt, even if I end up ruining my life and crashing into the gutter - His love for me will still be just the same. That love will be there to pick me up and gently turn my face until I am looking into His eyes, and I will ever only see LOVE in that gaze! Not disappointment, anger, displeasure, wrath, irritation, or callousness - only LOVE radiates out from that countenance! Only LOVE shines out from those eternal eyes! And I'm perfectly accepted in those eyes of Love! Those eyes see me whole, beautiful, delightful and perfect. His love won't ever fail to uplift and restore and keep and hold and smile upon us, forever and ever!

Secure in Christ 6 - He Upholds and Keeps Us

2011-12-14T08:05:00.003-05:00

I'm continuing with my thinking about our security in Christ, and with the idea of being safe in God's hand. He holds me in His hand and also UPholds me with His hand..

I love the truth that God upholds me with His hand! It is just another facet of the finished work of Christ that lets me know I'm secure in Him forever. By the cross, Christ has done away with my sins and even my old sinful nature/self. He has eradicated the former ruler of my life, that terrible slave master of sin, evil, and the enemy. Through the resurrection He has brought me to life with Him, a whole new creation, part of the eternal realm, made with Jesus' eternal life-DNA; my spirit is now alive and united with His Spirit! He sent the Spirit to baptize/fill us with the fullness of Himself! We are now alive as we were meant to be, glowing with His very Spirit, radiating His life, full of His glory, lavished with His grace, loved and cherished and held! Christ is in us, Christ is our very life. And also, we are IN Him just as He is IN us. Our life is hidden with Christ in God now, safe in His Hand. By the finished work, Christ has raised us up to a whole new life that is located in God's hand. We are placed in His hand forever. That's our address now!

Being in God's hand is such a safe place to be. That hand is always underneath us. that hand is always holding on to us and holding us up. So we can't fatally fall, can't fall out of that grip!

I think of Ps 37:23-24 - "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand." He won't let us fall away. The will uphold us with His righteous right hand. He says it so beautifully in Is 41:10 - "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." And another favorite I am reminded of: "Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory...My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Ps. 73:23, 24, 26) I love that verse, because it just reminds me that there is something behind and underneath and around me holding me up - God Himself. He is greater. He is greater than all my fears and doubts and sins and failings. My flesh and my heart may fail, but HE won't fail. He won't let me down. He will keep me safe in His hand, hold me up, carry me all the way through. Underneath this broken and sometimes banged up life are the everlasting arms. And He won't fail to uphold me and bring me safely to glory!

God is our keeper (Ps. 121). We don't have to worry about keeping ourselves. He will keep us. He will move us along and get us to where He wants us to be. His Spirit is inside us, willing and working, making sure we get to our destination. God is the one who establishes us or makes us firm and secure in Christ (2 Co. 1:22). He will be faithful to keep what we've committed to Him - our very lives - until the day of Christ. We don't have to worry about keeping ourselves. He Himself will keep us firm in the faith: "He will keep you firm to the end" (1 Co. 1:8) - or, as the Phillips translation says, "He will keep you steadfast in the faith to the end, so that when His day comes you need fear no condemnation. God is utterly dependable, and it is He who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord."

It is such a relief to me that I don't have to worry about holding on to Him or losing my grip and slipping away; He is holding on to me, and He won't lose His grip! He won't let me fall! I'm safe in His hand, and no one - not even myself - can pluck me out of His hand! Wow - in John 10 Jesus says no one can snatch the sheep out of His Father's hand. No one! No one is all inclusive and means nobody at all - including Satan, other people, and even myself! Safe in His arms forever! The Good Shepherd Himself is the very Guardian and Keeper of my soul, so that means I'm surely secure forever! (1 Pet. 2:25)

Whatever God does, He does all the way and forever. He will finish the work He started and be faithful to complete it in us (Phil. 1:6) He has promised that He won't cast us out or lose us or drop us! He will carry us safely and uphold us safely in His hand all the way to the last day when He returns, for that's the Father's will: "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (Jn. 6:39-40) Christ finished the work the Father gave Him to do and we looked to the Son and believed. So that's that. We are already in His hand, safe and secure. That's where we'll be now and forever.
He will preserve us, body, soul, and spirit, blameless till the coming of the Lord. He is faithful and He will do it! (1 Th. 5:23-4)

Thank You, Lord, for upholding us with Your strong Hand! Thank You for being our keeper, the very guardian of our souls! You watch over us, protect and guard our souls, and keep us safe in Your heavenly kingdom. It is so good to know those Almighty arms are underneath us, holding us tightly and protectively, keeping us firmly with You forever. It is so good to rest in Your arms today..

Secure in Christ 5 - We Are Held in God's Hand

2011-12-03T07:40:00.003-05:00

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; noone will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; noone can snatch them out of My Father's hand. John 10:28-9

I'm continuing with some thoughts on our security in Christ. So often in the past I have felt insecure in my relationship with God, worried that I could possible do something to knock me out of God's family, so to speak. But God has helped me to see that I'm not stronger than He is! I am in God's hand, and nothing or noone can knock me out or snatch me out of that strong, protective, sheltering hand - not even myself! God the Father is "greater than all," even greater than me and my actions and possible doubts and failings. I am so thankful that He holds me safely in His hand!

We can rest assured that if the verse says noone can snatch us from His hand, not only does that include we ourselves with all our doubtings and failings, but it also includes any power in this world, including the devil himself. Satan can never snatch me out of God's hand. I don't have to worry that he'll "get me" on some big temptation or confusion or doubt and somehow snatch me away from God. 1 John 5:18 reminds me that the evil one CAN'T TOUCH US! Hallelujah! We are safe from every attack! We are in God's hand now, not the enemy's! We are in God's kingdom now, where Christ reigns. "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves" (Col. 1:13) We are under God's jurisdiction now, not Satan's. Jesus is Lord of us now, not the enemy! The enemy is no longer in control of us, for Jesus has freed us from the devil's reign, control, bondage, and destruction.

The devil has NO authority in my life to hurt me or snatch me away from God! Even if I seem to give the devil any leeway or listen to his lies, he can't snatch me away from God because God is GREATER than all, greater than those lies, greater than Satan's attacks upon me, greater even than my sometimes dumb choices to let the enemy have a word in my ear. We can rest assured that not only do we have a new nature and really don't ever and won't ever want to leave God anyway (we are His sheep and we follow Him, that's a promise, that we WILL follow Him - "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me" - John 10:27), but also that Satan can never change that intent of our heart or trick us and snatch us away. No matter what, I am still safely in God's hand!

He won't fail us. No matter what, always and forever, underneath us are the everlasting arms of God. He will hold onto us, even when we don't have the strength to hold onto Him. We can't get away from this love that will not let us go! No matter where we go, no matter where we seem to run sometimes, even there in the most desolate of places that we find ourselves, even there His right hand shall hold us - Ps 139:10. He's got a grip on us and He's not letting go!

"He (God) Himself has said, 'I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down (relax My hold on you)! Assuredly not!'" Heb. 13:5 (AMP) He will never relax His hold on us! We're held safe and secure by God. The arms that hold the world are holding you and me today..

Thank You, Lord, that You are greater than ALL! You are greater than my sins, doubts, confusion or troubled thoughts, greater than all the powers in this world, FAR greater than the enemy who assails me with doubts and confusion. You are greater than all that! GREATER is He that is IN me than he that is in the world! GREATER is He that is holding on to me than anyone or anything else, including my own little self with its paltry decisions. Thank You that I am SAFE in Your hand where noone and nothing can snatch me out, forever and always! Safe in the arms of love...I can snuggle down in Your arms and rest, knowing You ONLY make me to rest in safety and security and peace. Thank You that You in Your grace hold me, and You will never relax Your hold on me!

I Know That You Are For Me

2011-11-25T16:39:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful song from Kari Jobe...God is for us, so faithful and true to always be there for us, on our side, accepting and loving, uplifting and acting on our behalf, carrying and holding, guarding and keeping, comforting and encouraging, delighting and smiling upon us!

Thank You, Lord, that You are for us!

Thank You, Lord

2011-11-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

Thank You, dear Lord, for just being You and for all You are to us!

Thank You, Lord, that You are for us! Thank You that You are with us!

You always remind us who You are, and who You are is pure love and grace!

You are ever faithful and true to us!

Thank You that Your steadfast, unconditional, loyal love for us endures forever! It never ends or grows weary of us, never runs out, never gives up on us or turns away from us!

It always hopes, always trusts, always believes, always endures!

Your love never fails! It never fails us! It will never fail us for all eternity!

The arms that hold us are everlasting arms that will never fail to be there for us, never fail to catch us when we fall and lift us up again, never fail to embrace us as we are, never fail to carry us through anything and everything, forevermore!

Thank You, Lord, for such love that caused You to reconcile us, save us, adopt us, re-birth us, accept us, uplift us, empower us, befriend us, walk with us, and just be with us for ever and always..

Thank You for Your presence with us, that You fellowship with us, sing over us with joy, and delight in the perfect, intimate union of our spirit with Yours for all eternity!

Thank You, Lord! All praise to You forever!

Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving to all, with love from Sparrow!

Secure in Christ 4 - We Have a New Nature

2011-11-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

Still pondering the wonder of the new birth and how it shows me I'm secure in my salvation:

Because of the new birth, we are permanently new creations and can't ever go back to the "old man." We now have, as part of our spiritual DNA, the imperishable divine Life of God. In fact, we are so united with the life of God that our spirit and His Spirit are ONE. Being inseparably one with eternal Life like that, we'll never die. But there's more good news..we have been made new creations with not only the very Life of Christ as our life, but also with the very nature of Christ as our nature!

We have only one nature - Christ's nature. The old sin nature that we had passed away; all things - ALL things, think of that! - have become new. So our nature is new, and only new, and the only nature we have is new - it's the nature of Christ Himself, who is our life. Just as we have the characteristics of our earthly parent, so we have the characteristics of our heavenly Parent - His life, His immortality, His nature!

We have been made "partakers of the divine nature" and this nature is a righteous, holy, loving, good nature. There is nothing in our new selves, our real selves, that wants to sin. Our new nature loves holiness, loves God the Father, loves other people, and always wants to do what is right! That is such a relief to me to know I'm not bad or evil or rebellious against God. I used to be an enemy of God in my mind, but now my spirit, my true and real self, is a friend and lover of God who always wants to follow His ways. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and they know Me, and they follow Me." Isn't that a comfort, to know we will follow Him? And why? Because it is our very nature to do so. We wouldn't want to do anything else. When Satan does tempt us and we fall, that is why we feel so bad about our failure - because it's not our nature to want to sin or to do sin! It's not our nature to fear, doubt God, rebel, be self-centered, or pull away from the Lord! It's our nature - the very nature of Christ in us - to say "I delight to do Your will." that is such a comfort to me!

We have a righteous nature, and that's the only nature we have. So we are fit for heaven because we are righteous with the righteous nature of Christ as our nature! You can't get any more righteous than that! And we didn't become that way through our hard work, efforts, or willpower: we were RE_BORN that way and thus will be permanently that way. It's just another characteristic we have as new creations! We're re-born as righteous, not unrighteous, people! We're newly made as not sinners any longer but as saints. The sinner man is gone forever and the saint man is here forever. The saintly, righteous new creation that God has made doesn't want to leave Him, fall away, turn from Him, or walk off and leave Him.

So often I've been afraid that I'd leave God and that I'd lose my salvation. I didn't see how set in stone my salvation really is - because of the new birth, my nature is wholly changed. I am now a person who doesn't ever want to leave God! And that is my permanent condition, because the new birth is a permanent thing that can't be reversed. So I never have to fear that I'd leave God. There is a verse in Hebrews 3 that says to see that you don't have an evil and unbelieving heart in departing from God - did you catch that? People who aren't yet saved have evil and unbelieving hearts. They have hearts that are rebellious and depart from God. Believers have have a new heart and new nature! Our hearts are good and righteous and believing hearts! Our hearts are not rebellious - we hear Jesus' voice, know Him, and follow Him! We won't depart from God! We cling to God and love God with all that we are, and want more than anything to please Him. So we can rest assured that we won't fall away or walk away or depart from Him. We really can't go against our very nature, which is the nature of Christ Himself in us. Christ would never leave God, so neither will we. Whew!

God showed me a very special promise from His Word that says this very thing. It is such a comfort ot me: it's in Jer. 32:40 - " I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me." Isn't that wonderful? God not only promises that He would never turn away from us, He also promises that we will never turn away from Him. He has given us a new heart that fears (awes, revers) Him and so won't turn from Him, ever, NEVER! What a relief..

What a wonderful thing that God has wrought in us in the new birth! It shows me how safe and secure I am as His new creation child!

So we

Secure in Christ 3 - We are in Union with the One who is Eternal Life!

2011-11-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

Here are more thoughts on our new birth and how it shows us just how secure we are in Christ:

"Christ..is our life" - and He's the only life we have; the old life we had passed away and was ended at the cross, and we are now alive with His life. "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." Christ is my very life - His divine Life is flowing through my spiritual veins and sustaining me in this life forever and ever, because His life will never end - He is God, eternal, immortal, ever-living for me!

And His Spirit is in me, making me alive in the same way - this is the law of the Spirit, that we are buoyed up in LIFE and have been delivered out of the realm of sin and it's result, death. Wow!

It is wonderful to think of the very Life that is inside us, and not just dwelling inside us but in actual and real union with our spirits! Christ Himself is in union with our spirit - His Spirit and our spirit are one! One! "He that is joined to Christ is one spirit with Him." (Some translations just say "one spirit!") One - that's pretty close! That means there is absolutely no separation between us and Him. And there never will be any separation between us and Him, because this union is part of the new (and permanent) birth - it is how we were re-made and newly created. So I am not just a newly made Sparrow - I am now Sparrow-in-Christ! That is the way I have been newly made and the way I was re-born, and it is a fact of my new creation. I was created that way, as Sparrow-in-Christ, and that is permanent and how I will always be, because it is the way I was made and born. Always in Christ and Christ always in me! Never separated or apart from Him. Never separated from His life! I can never be separated from Him, and He is the One who is Eternal Life. That means I have eternal life forever and that my life is eternal, for my life, the only life I have now, IS Christ! My spirit is in indissoluble union with Christ's Spirit, and His Eternal Spirit lives forever - thus, so do I! Where He goes, He takes me with Him - into eternity!

Safe in His Life! We can't ever get out of who we are now, who He has re-made us to be! The new birth has brought us into a whole new permanent existence - Union with Christ - that is out of this world and already into the next world, the world of eternity! Yes!

Secure in Christ 2 - We're Born of Imperishable Seed

2011-11-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

I'm still thinking of how the New Birth helps me to see I'm secure in Christ..

What we've been born of - the substance that we are made of - is of heaven! It's heavenly and divine material. We have been born of imperishable seed, indestructible life, eternal life.. We're made with the imperishable Word of God, the very life of God - He is in our spiritual DNA. That's the make-up of our spirit man. Our new spirits are made of the eternal life of God, for He is our parent and we are His children, born of God, born from above, born of the Spirit who gives Life! The Life of God can't be destroyed, and this is the Life that is now ours and what makes up our spiritual cells. It is the material that we are made of. We are born of imperishable seed - that means it can't (and therefore WE can't) perish, be destroyed, be lost, or die!

Wow, this thought leaves me feeling so free and happy and secure! My spirit will live forever, because it has been born of forever material - Divine Life, Life that is imperishable and goes on forever! That means my spirit is imperishable and unkillable and will go on forever with God!

Secure in Christ 1 - The New Birth is Irreversible

2011-11-11T15:15:00.001-05:00

The miracle of the new birth helps me to see just how secure I am in Christ..

The new birth is irreversible!

It's a historical fact that actually occurred at a point in time. When we were born again, a new being came into existence that hadn't existed before, and an old being was gone forever. 2 Cor. 5:17 says that we are new creations! The old is passed away, behold, all things are become new! The old is passed away and gone - it can't be brought back! The old us, the dead in sin, self-centered, slave to sin and Satan self is now gone - the old man is dead, buried, and will not ever be seen again. We can't go back to being that old person because that person has passed away forever. We can't be a lost person anymore, or a sinner, or a child of wrath or the devil. The old has passed away!

All things are become new! We are now and forever a new creation - a new person, a found person, a saint, a child of God! We are now alive to God in Christ! We've emerged as wholly new-made creations into a wholly new and eternal realm. We're on the other side of the "womb" and can't go back to that other place where the old man once existed. We have been born again, and birth is irreversible and permanent - we can't be unborn! God says, "I make, and who can unmake it?" Nobody can! We are new; we are never old again!

Thus we are safe and secure as babes in God's arms, and we can't lose this wonderful new birth or ever stop being this newly created being He has so beautifully and wonderfully made!

Secure in Christ - Introduction

2011-11-09T15:15:00.000-05:00

I have struggled many times in the past with feeling secure in my salvation and have been afraid that I might lose my salvation somehow. It seems many other people have these same fears and troubling thoughts at times.

God has reassured me so often about my security in Him, and I think one of the first benefits I experienced upon learning about His grace was that I am so safe and secure in His hand, and He won't let me go. He showed me how loving He was because it was He who led me to this place of being receptive to Him and opening my heart to Him, and He will surely "keep" me and take care of my heart and life from now on into eternity. It was like I could see that it was all part of His over-arching plan, and it wasn't so much up to me to get all my ducks in a row - it was really all up to Him, He had His hand on me, and He would finish what He started in me.

Learning about grace, and how it's all about His work and not my work, just gave me peace and a sense of relief. Salvation isn't up to me, it's up to God - that takes the fear out of it that we might fall away..for He is strong and He will hold on to me! My sins just aren't bigger than God's grace - His grace is bigger every time! His grace is holding on to me, and that brings such peace and joy.

I would like in the next few posts to share some things I've come to realize and things I've seen in the Bible that have helped me to know I'm secure in Him forever. And I hope these thoughts will be an encouragement to anyone who has doubted their security in Christ or been fearful of losing their salvation.

We are safe in His arms! We have come to Him and we find rest, blessed rest, for our souls! Grace is such good news in every way..

Until next time..

The Tale of the Poor Old - I Mean, Wonderful New - Roof! Part 5

2011-11-04T13:26:00.000-04:00

The way God just provided our family with a much needed roof, and for free! - has encouraged me so much!

It has helped my faith so much to see how God prepared me for this whole situation, giving me the verses in Phil. 4:6-7, enabling me not to worry about it, and that He helped me to pray and ask, and that He made faith rise up within me and gave me peace. And then how it all worked out so perfectly! God is so good. I love Him so much!

This whole thing also helped me to feel God's love for me and my family...At the moment the man told us we were getting a new roof for free, I didn't feel like just one of the millions of people on earth. I didn't feel like just a number or another nameless human walking through the masses. I didn't feel like just a little unimportant nobody. I felt LOVED! I felt the LOVE of God on our family, and that we are so important to Him and special, without having to be "important" and "special" according to the world! I felt like we are cherished children in His family, NEVER out of His notice or concern or care! He cares even about little ole us down here in a little tiny town in middle class America! It is a miracle of love that He has given us with this roof! It is such a blessing to know He loves me and my family and we are important to Him.

Another big thing I got out of this whole experience is just the idea that we aren't less than someone else in God's family - we, along with every other Christian, equally qualify for His blessings just by being His children. That is such a comfort to me and makes me know I'm not some failed Christian (like I might sometimes feel or like the enemy might sometimes try to tell me) but a fellow heir with all the saints with just as much access to His throne as any believer! Qualified for the inheritance with every other saint! Isn't it wonderful that we qualify not by our good works or even perfect faith but by the precious and perfectly sufficient blood of Jesus?    We qualify to receive answers to our prayers, and that means every single prayer - "Call unto Me and I will answer you." I think that is in Jeremiah 33:3. We qualify for every spiritual blessing, which is actually already ours, according to Eph. 1:3. And we can know for sure that God will meet ALL our needs according to His riches in glory (Phil. 4:19), for we qualify for that provision through Christ!

I think I also learned something about faith. I'm the kind of person that tends to think I have paltry faith or am weak in faith. But really, it's all about His perfection and even His perfect faith, not mine - don't you think our faith is really His faith in us rising up, like it says, a fruit of the Spirit in us?   "The life I live, I live by the faith OF the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20b) When I examine my faith, it seems small and weak. But if I realize I have Him living in me with His faith inside me, then that would mean my/His faith is really quite strong and certainly adequate! I would rather rely on His faith within me than try to muster up my own! With His faith inside me in infinite and perfect supply, I feel relieved that I AM a person of faith and trust. Because the faithful and trustworthy One lives in and through me! Jesus never doubts the Father's word. He trusts Him perfectly. And that's the Spirit who lives in me! It makes faith seem as natural as breathing, with the very Spirit ("pneuma" - Wind or Breath) of God breathing and blowing in me!

Thank You, Lord, for all Your gifts, especially Your wonderful Son who died for us and Your Spirit who lives in us!

The Tale of the Poor Old Roof, Part 4

2011-11-02T13:09:00.000-04:00

Picking up from where we left off last time:

I was so floored by what happened..I was telling the kids and breaking down in tears, and calling my husband with the wonderful news - I even called the lady at the insurance company that had "rejected" our roof to tell her the good news, and she said the story "made her day." I just wanted to brag on my Good God, He deserves it so much!

well, the very next day we were having some friends over to hang out with the kids, and I shared our "miracle roof" story with the mom. She said, you need to call my friend from church - he's a roofer. She pulled out her phone and called him. Of course he was in the area and came right over. Of course he looked at the figure we had to spend and said he could lower his price a little and put on a new roof for that amount. Of course he re-arranged his schedule so he could start sooner.

And of course, we had a completely new roof only 2 DAYS after the insurance adjustor handed me the check to pay for it! Wow! When God does something, He does it right and well! Things can seem so impossible, yet what's hard to us is so EASY to God. Our problems real and they are so terrible. Yet He is SO big. My Daddy-God can do anything!

I love how He gave us this roof, and it was a complete grace gift. I wasn't praying long prayers and fasting and believing for a roof. I wasn't having the most spiritual walk of my life right now. I wasn't going out winning souls daily for Christ or having some amazing ministry or anything. We got something for FREE that we didn't deserve, and that's the beauty of grace: you don't have to be worthy of the gift! The Giver gives because He loves us, because that's who He is, GRACE, and He gives based on His love and His worthiness and the worthiness of His Son and His Son's work! I love Him so much!

To be continued..

The Tale of the Poor Old Roof, Part 3

2011-10-31T13:07:00.001-04:00

I'm picking up my long-winded story where we left off...

Well, this Monday, the adjustor from the old insurance company finally came out to look at the roof. He spent about 2 minutes up there and I thought, this is a waste of his time, he's surely going to say our roof has no damage, etc. It just seemed so outlandish, because to hubby and I it looks fine. My hubby had even gone up there and said he didn't see anything wrong.

But the adjustor guy finished his short inspection and said, you have major storm damage and some hail damage to your roof, and the insurance company is going to have to pay for a new roof for you - !!! Can you believe this company that doesn't even insure us anymore is giving us a new roof?? And within five minutes he was handing me a check to pay for a new roof for our home!

Wow! The prayer request was answered exactly to the letter - we are getting a new roof for free!

I have to tell you what had happened just the day before this adjustor came out and told us we had hail damage and that we'd get the roof replace - just the day before, we had gotten so low on money this month, that my husband had sent me to the grocery store with a mere $50 to buy groceries for 2 weeks - for our whole family of two adults and four growing and food-loving kids. I had added up things as I went through Walmart and had gotten the super cheap Walmart brand for everything. The kids' snack for the coming weeks was going to have to be the $1 saltine crackers. I was buying dry beans and bulk bags of rice, etc. The grocery bill had come to $47 and I had been so relieved to get some things within budget.

And then the very next day someone was handing me a check to pay for a whole new roof!

To be continued!

The Tale of the Poor Old Roof, Part 2

2011-10-29T12:55:00.000-04:00

In the last post I told how we had found out, just after cancelling our old home insurance policy, that our roof had failed the inspection for our new insurance company, and that we were facing a difficult situation. Now to continue the tale, picking up just after the second company gave us the bad news..

So now we were going to have to somehow get a new roof in 3 weeks or go elsewhere for a new insurance policy!

BUT, something else had happened that I need to mention - the very day that the second company told us we had failed inspection, that morning I had read in TWO of my devotionals the same verse, from Phil 4:6-7 about not being anxious but presenting your requests to God, and the peace of God guarding one's heart. I thought that was neat that God gave me that verse twice, but I remember thinking I wasn't really worried about anything. Then an hour later I found out the bad news about our roof and said, oh, Lord, that was what You were preparing me for!

So I knew I wasn't to worry about this, and I even told the insurance lady about the verse and all. So after I got off the phone I felt strangely peaceful and went to walk outside a bit. I remembered the verse said to present your requests to God, so I said, "We need a new roof - for free!" Haha! It seemed like the most outlandish prayer, yet somehow there was some faith inside me about this happening - !! Which is really big for me..

Well, I did call the old insurance company and ask them to send out an adjustor. I felt so sheepish and foolish, for it seemed like such a crazy idea. Several days passed and I completely forget when the adjustor was coming.

To be continued....

The Tale of the Poor Old Roof

2011-10-27T12:55:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have times when things seem to come to such a tense point that you feel there's no solution, and things seem overwhelming? Our family felt that way recently, and I want to share our story here over the next few posts..

So here's our tale:

A few months ago we decided to switch to a new home insurance because it would save money. We waited to cancel the old one for a month because we wanted to make sure we were never without insurance. Well, a few days after the cancellation went into effect, the new company called (it was in mid-Sept when this happened) and said our home had failed their inspection because of our roof being so old and run down - and that unless we put on a new roof by Oct 19, they would not insure us! There was NO way we could get a new roof right now, so we were suddenly going to be without insurance! We are in financially tight times right now and there is no way we could do that! We didn't want to go back to the old, expensive insurance, so we had to find a new one that hopefully wouldn't do as strict an inspection.. Well, amazingly, we found another company and exactly on Oct 19 they started insuring our home. We still didn't know if we would fail THEIR inspection, too, but at least we had another chance with a different company.

Well, during all this, the lady I talked to from the second company (the company that rejected us because of our roof) mentioned that we should have our first insurance send out someone to look at our roof to see if it had hail damage, because they would have to cover the repairs since it was under the time they insured us that the damage had been done. My thought was, oh yeah right, our roof doesn't have any hail damage, and why would the old company that we left want to pay us any money? We left them and aren't even insured by them anymore. Surely they would say we had no damage and try not to pay for any repairs. Those were my thoughts.

Could there be any hope for the family living under such a poor old roof?

To be continued...

When I See You Smile

2011-10-20T10:06:00.002-04:00

I don't know much about this song or the artist, but when I heard it it made me think of my relationship with Jesus and all the grace and love He brings into my life! His smile means the world to me - just one look at His smiling face and everything is okay somehow, I can face the world again..

His smile of grace says, "Right now, as you are, in your mess or confusion or struggles, whatever it is, it doesn't matter, right now:

I accept you,

I love you,

I hold you,

I uplift you,

I am on your side,

now and forever,

no matter what you do or don't do,

I'm not requiring anything of you,

I'm so happy being in this fellowship with you

right now and always!"

His smile of grace lights up our world - it's truly like a light piercing the dark and clearing away the cobwebs of confusion, doubt and fear.

He's okay with us, He smiles at us, He delights in us - always!

Grace - What a Message of Rest!

2011-10-19T10:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a wonderful quote I read on the facebook page of Dynamic Love Ministries, actually a comment made there. Jesus spoke peace to me through these words and ministered REST to my soul!

"I just love it when I see grace, how God wants to take care of us in everything. Religion always puts the cart before the ox - Jesus! Just letting God be God, just letting him be our Abba, just letting him do what he does best - to cherish...us - is too much for words to accurately explain exactly what it feels like; peace beyond measure with nothing to prove to God or man. The best thing we can do for God is to let him love us! Thank you for your rest, Jesus!"
Mark Boyce

God takes care of everything for us!

What he does best and loves to do most is just to cherish us! God LOVES loving us!

It is peace beyond measure to know that we are in a place of real REST, with NOTHING to prove to God or man! I love that! Those words just ministered rest and refreshing to me....I don't have anything to prove. Don't have to do anything or show that I'm anything.

All is well between God and me, now and forever. THAT is rest!

And what a great thought that the best thing we can "do" for God is to let Him love us!

I felt God telling me recently, "I'm not asking anything from you." He doesn't want anything from me. He is not demanding something of me or asking anything from me. He just wants to GIVE to me! He is the giver and I'm the receiver of all His many blessings! I can just relax as the waterfall of His grace, mercy and love flows over me in a Spirit wave constantly.

All He wants is to love us..

May you just feel and enjoy and be refreshed by those arms that are around you today; He is hugging you. He loves you. He perfectly accepts you like noone on this earth ever can.

We are in a safe place with grace. A place where nothing at all is required of us. Where all is done for us already! All is well..peace to you and grace from God our Daddy and the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Yahweh, Let Time Pass Away As I Simply Praise You...

2011-10-15T09:30:00.000-04:00

Oh, I love this song, it reminds me of Mary just sitting at Jesus' feet and basking in His presence and love and healing words spoken to her heart..

He is all grace and love and He is all that we need today..

I love You, Lord, You are so beautiful, so good, so sweet, so wonderful..

You Are the One (Jason Castro)

2011-10-11T09:43:00.002-04:00

YOU ARE THE ONE

Looking for meaning
Looking for love
Looking for something to
Never give up
You are the one
You are the one
Looking for purpose in all
Of the pain
Looking for someone to
Hold in the rain
You are the one
You are the one

You came in my darkness
You came in my night
You came without warning
You came to my side
You are the one
You are the one
There’s no before you
There’s no too late
There’s no without you
There’s only today
You are the one
You are the one

You are life more beautiful
You are love more powerful
You are the light that always shines
You are the one
You are the song I wanna sing
You are here
You are everything
You are the light that always shines
You are the one

And I will never move on from you
Oh oh
I will never move on from you
Yeah

LOVE NEVER FAILS

Jason Castro

You Reach For Me (Peter Furler)

2011-10-06T20:42:00.002-04:00

This song has been coming to my mind often lately, and I thank God for reminding me of the wonderful truth in the lyrics. He reaches for us even when we aren't seeming to reach for Him. He calls us even when we sometimes don't call on Him. His is a love that just won't let us go, that is always reaching out to us, embracing us, holding on to us, doing us good no matter what! Wonderful grace...

The Spirit's Waterfall of Grace

2011-10-01T01:20:00.002-04:00

I wrote recently about how I had been going back under some performance thinking and feeling condemned and "not good enough." And God in His grace and love just helped me so much and reminded me of the truth that I'm not under performance pressure (law) and that He has already made me "good enough" and even better than enough through Christ! It has been a relief to just relax lately and know that He is not requiring or demanding anything of me. That He is happy with me and loves me right now in the place where I am. I need to hear the grace message EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I can't be truly happy and at peace unless I know that He's okay with me and is here with me, accepting me. That is the bedrock of my life, the foundation upon which I function. Without Him and His love for me, nothing else fits together. But praise God we DO have Him and His love forever, whether we always sense it or even remember it or not. So we are always fine in Him, secure and safe in His arms, dearly loved and cherished, accepted and acceptable, whole and perfect to Him, whether we see that or not. He is the One who draws me back to seeing that truth. He removes the blinders and lies and clouds that confuse me sometimes. He pushes back the accusations of the enemy. He clears the air with His fresh breeze of GRACE as He whispers once again to me, "I love and accept you now and forever. You are perfect to Me. You are beautiful to Me. You are mine. We will always be together and I will always love and hold you."

One wonderful experience I had during this whole time of "crash and renewal" happened when I met with my dear friend Julie one day to talk and pray. I love Julie so much, for she reminds me of the truth about me, the truth about who God has made me! At one point as we talked, I was telling her about my mentality lately, and I said, "I am such a legalist." My friend looked at me with deep intensity, with a look that went right into my soul, and she said so strongly, "You are NOT a legalist. That is what you WERE." Wow! I was stopped in my tracks! Yes, that's right, I slowly remembered. My brain fog began to clear and I was able to say, "Right, I am a NEW creation and I'm not a legalist anymore!" Thank You, Lord, for a friend who will tell me the truth about my identity in Christ and remind me of the good news that we are new and righteous because of Him!

I have to share another amazing moment from that meeting. We decided to pray, and Julie began to pray for me. She put her hand on my head and began a heartfelt prayer. I just felt like a little baby, really, just so weak and vulnerable, needing to receive help and care. Then as she prayed, Julie said, "I see water pouring. I see water pouring down from the top of your head, washing all the way down your body, then going off into the gutter, washing away all the old thinking, all the legalistic thinking." It was so wonderful! She had this vision of God washing away all the lies and old performance-based thinking, just washing it away by His Holy Spirit's Waterfall of Grace! And I really do feel lighter since that day, and find it easier to pray, find myself just knowing deep down that everything is okay. I am able to rest again in Him. I am able to know that I don't have to prove anything to anyone or look like a super-Christian. The pressure is off. The clouds are gone. He really did remove some kind of oppression that day, and I am so thankful to Him! I really wanted to share all that and just give Him praise and thanks!

I guess any of us can get confused and troubled sometimes. The enemy tries to inject feelings and thoughts of inadequacy and being lacking and of needing to 'strive' or 'try harder.' He tries to make us feel condemned by our failures, tells us lies. But grace is always the answer. God gives us a refreshing drink of grace, or maybe even a waterfall drenching of it! He is so good to us. He never leaves us confused. "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." "Nevertheless I am continually with You. You have taken me by my right hand." The grace of God will be there for us, no matter what. Even when we can't see Him, He can see us! Even when we can't remember grace (now what was that truth of grace again??), He remembers! He is still with us. He is still holding our hand. His grace is still carrying us! He is still working and lifting us up, pushing away the clouds so we can see clearly again! His grace is sufficient! No matter what, now and forever - what a wonderful God!

Remind Me Who I Am (Jason Grey)

2011-09-28T21:20:00.000-04:00

Wow, this is an amazing song..

I am susceptible to fall to the lie of believing in who I am not, believing the lie that I am a nobody, etc. Then I end up feeling that I am "not enough" - not good enough, not strong enough, not lovable enough. And I seek ways to "be enough" - futile ways that lead only to failure and dead ends and condemnation.

And yet..All along that whole process I have been FINE! I have already been made "enough" by the perfect work of Jesus! I am ALREADY accepted, complete, whole, holy, lovable and loved! I am already enough and will be for all eternity, because Jesus' work made me so for all eternity!

"For by one offering He perfected forever those who are sanctified." Heb 10:14. You can't get any more perfect than that! You can't be any more "enough" - than that, any more accepted or loved or right with Him. Thank You, Jesus!

It's time for me to stop worrying about being lacking or "not enough" and to just enjoy the wonderful gift of intimate fellowship with Christ, because that's what He's brought me into. He says I'm enough. He says to come away from the crazy lies and look into His eyes as He calls me "Beloved." Beloved! Think of that!

What a relief to know who we are..

If I'm His Beloved, that's truly "enough" - that's all I've ever really wanted, all I've been searching for - Someone to love me and accept me, embrace me and delight in me, Someone to love in a deep genuine, intimate, open, secure relationship!

He is more than enough to satisfy my deepest longings to be loved, and He says I'm more than enough - that I'm His perfect and beautiful Bride! Beloved!

I am the one Jesus loves..I am Beloved!

You are the one Jesus loves..You are Beloved!

We are the ones Jesus loves..We are Beloved!

"You're My Beloved" (Kari Jobe)

2011-09-25T20:52:00.000-04:00

Wonderful Quote from Sammy Bilyeu

2011-09-21T16:01:00.002-04:00

Here's a wonderful quote I read on the Facebook page of Sammy Bilyeu (his page is called Grace, Life, Now!). It's exactly what I need to hear right now (and always!) and exactly the message I want to share with this world..

"God is at peace with you!

He loves you and you're okay with Him.

He has given you peace.

He has paid for your perfect standing with Him.

Come to Him boldly, He is smiling to you with open arms ready to embrace you and kiss you...

That's our Heavenly Father.."

Sammy Bilyeu

Dance With Me

2011-09-13T21:41:00.001-04:00

He seems to be calling me to just rest..

Not to try, not to strive..

But just to rest in His arms..

Just to let Him romance me..

Just to look into His eyes of love..

Just to enjoy the Dance with Him..

Just to be caught up in His tenderness and grace all over again..

He reminds me that nothing is required of me..

I can rest in His arms today..

Who I Am In Christ: A Great List

2011-09-08T03:53:00.001-04:00

Recently, my dear friend Julie encouraged me by sending me a list she had compiled of confessions to make about our identity in Christ.  I want to renew my mind on the wonderful truth of who I am in Him, and this list is great for doing that!  It's a great list of statements and verse references, and she graciously has allowed me to reproduce it here.  (If you would like to visit the ministry website that Julie and her husband have, here's the link:  Harvest International Ministry

Who I Am in Christ

I am a servant of Jesus Christ.   Romans 1:1
I am set apart for the gospel.     Romans 1:1
I am blessed because my sins are forgiven.       Romans 4:7
I am justified by faith and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.     Romans 5:1
I am reconciled to God.     Romans 5:11
I am alive to God in Christ.     Romans 6:11
I am set free from sin.    Romans 8:18
I am under no condemnation.     Romans 8:1
I am controlled by the Spirit.     Romans 8:9
My spirit is alive because of righteousness.    Romans 8:10
I am a son/daughter, so I received a Spirit of Sonship.    Romans 8:15
I am an heir of God and co-heirs with Christ.    Romans 8:17
I am God’s child.     Romans 8:16
I am predestined, I am called, I am justified, I am glorified.     Romans 8:30
I am more than a conqueror.     Romans 8:37
I am Abraham’s seed and an heir.    Galatians 3:29
I am redeemed so I’ve received the full rights as sons.      Galatians 4:5
I am a son and because I am a son, I am an heir. (Everything God has is mine.)     Galatians 4:7
I am saved & called.     2 Timothy 1:9
I am appointed a herald, an apostle & a teacher.         2 Timothy 1:11     
I am prosperous & successful.     Joshua 1:8
I am loved by God the Father & kept by Jesus Christ.     Jude 1:1
I am faithful.     3 John 1:5
I am a witness.     Acts 1:8
I am filled with the Holy Spirit.    Acts 2:4
I am made alive.     I Corinthians 15:22
I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ.    Ephesians 1:3
I am holy & blameless.    Ephesians 1:4
I am a priest of the Lord.    Isaiah 61:6, 7
I am a minister of our God.       Isaiah 61:6, 7
I am wise because I win souls.    Pr. 11:30
I am anointed.    2 Cor. 1:21   
I am the aroma of Christ.    2 Cor. 2:15
I am set apart. I am ordained by God.    Jeremiah 1:5
I am marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.    Eph. 1:13
I am seated with Him in heavenly realms.    Eph. 2:6
I am God’s workmanship.     Eph. 2:10
I am an heir together (w/ Israel)  in Jesus.     Eph. 3:6
I am an apostle.     Eph. 4:11
I am light in the Lord.     Eph. 5:8
I am always in God’s love.    Romans 8:39
I am a citizen of heaven.    Php. 3:20
I am richly blessed because I called on Him.     Romans 10:12
I am sanctified.    I Cor. 1:2 
I am enriched in every way.    I Cor. 1:5
I am the salt of the earth.    Mt. 5:13
I am the light of the world.     Mt. 5:14
I am strengthened and encouraged in my faith.     I Thess. 3:2
I am chosen.    I Thess. 1:4
I am approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.     I Thess. 2:4
I am appointed a herald and an apostle.    I Tim. 2:7
I am holy & faithful.    Col. 1:2
I am a faithful minister.    Col. 1:7
I am alive with Christ.    Col. 2:13
I am God’s chosen (people).     Col. 3:12
I am holy & dearly loved.     Col. 3:12
I am rescued from sins.    Gal. 1:4
I am set apart and am called to preach Him.    Gal. 1:15
I am blessed along with Abraham.    Gal. 3:9
I live by faith.    Gal. 3:11
I am redeemed from the curse.    Gal. 3:13

Harvest International Ministry, Inc.

A Special Verse God Gave Me Recently

2011-09-05T01:00:00.001-04:00

I went through a slump recently, just getting into some "performance" thinking, imagining I needed to do more or be more to really be a "good Christian." I was into the comparing game, examining myself in comparison with other people and feeling I came up short in many areas. This led to feelings of self-condemnation and withdrawal from spiritual thoughts.

And there in my muck, God ministered to me. He reminded me of such wonderful truths. He healed my thinking and threw out the lies of the enemy!

Here are some words He shared with me through a friend: "God has no agenda for you today. He has no expectations of you. There is no - as in zero - condemnation. Jesus smiles and laughs because He is so in love with you. He loves you no matter what you do."

God gave me a beautiful verse from Luke 15 that spoke directly to my needs. I had needed to know from God that He was still around, still loving me and being with me even though I felt like a failure. And I needed to know that I wasn't lacking or inadequate, because I kept comparing myself to others and feeling so much "less." He gave me a verse that was perfect for me in dealing with these troubling thoughts (thoughts which were lies from the enemy, by the way!):

Son (Daughter), you are always with me, and all that I have is yours."

Wow..First He calls me daughter..this makes me feel special and wanted. I love how God jumps over the faults and troubles and doubts which SEEM so big to us, and He goes right to our hearts and ministers LOVE. He ministers to our real need. When we get confused or whatever, He never sees our sins (it's been dealt with at the cross already!) - He sees His dear child who needs to be held and loved and reassured! He is so tender with us! I love how He continually delights in us!

Then He assures me that I'm ALWAYS with Him, no matter what my behavior, no matter how many times I get caught in the same tired legalistic lies, no matter whether I prayed this morning or not...He is still here with me and I am still with Him! He hasn't left me because my performance wasn't so great. He is committed to me and sticks with me, no matter what. I love the STABILITY of our relationship! I read a verse about that, it said, "My only hope is in Your steadfast love and faithfulness." He won't let me down - He will keep on loving me and being faithful to stay with me!

And He says that ALL that He has is MINE! I have such a rich inheritance, really have EVERYTHING in Christ! ALL of Christ is in me and mine! HE Himself is my peace, joy, hope, victory, strength, love, etc. Talk about adequacy! As it says in the Bible, "our adequacy is in Christ." Having Him, I have all the Father has to give, and it's wonderful. I'm not lacking or less than any other person.

When we end up in the gutter because of our confusion at the enemy's lies/attacks, God in grace is down there in the gutter with us, and He lifts us up out of the gutter! We were only in trouble in our mind, we were always free and safe in His arms, we just had a momentary memory glitch! He brings our minds back to clarity that all is well, and that during that whole time of confusion, He was right there with us, loving us, working to bring us to see the truth again!

I thank God for ministering GRACE to me in my confusion! He is so good..

God the Lavish Giver

2011-09-03T00:29:00.000-04:00

I was talking with a friend recently about how God always gives, always loves, always has more beautiful things to show us about Himself, more, more, more! He just wants to lavish His love on us! The image came to me of a daddy who just can't wait to grab hold of his little child and give that child hugs and kisses. Or see that child open up the gifts he has brought for him, just anticipating the look of excitement and happiness in his little one's eyes when the gift is opened.

What a wonderful Father God we have, who always wants to lavish His love on us! And nothing is required of us, nothing is expected of us, nothing is demanded of us..we can just sit on our Father's lap and enjoy His loving attention.

It touches me so much to know that God wants, actually wants to be with me, to just hang out with me. He loves each one of us exclusively yet equally - a mystery to me, yet so wonderfully true: He loves each of us the best, the most, the greatest, as if we were His favorite and the only one in His vision. Yet he loves all of us that way. We are each His favorite and His first choice. We are each loved exclusively and uniquely, in a way that is just between the individual and Him. Wow! We can each say we are the apple of His eye, the favored child sitting on His lap, the joy of His heart. We can each declare that we are in His favor and love and delight at all times! That we are cherished and adored, held and safe!

He is a good God, and He is ONLY a good God, never bad or harsh! God doesn't give bad things! God only gives good gifts, and every good gift we receive is from Him. He has so many gifts He has already given us in Christ, and we simply 'see' they are ours with the eyes of faith and so receive and claim and enjoy them as our own. That is how He is helping me understand it right now.

Thank You, God, that You are a Giver and that You love to lavish all Your love and joy and gifts on us, Your dear, favored, beloved children!

Third Day - Call My Name and I'll Be There

2011-09-01T09:50:00.000-04:00

God has had this song on my mind lately, and it's played twice in the car recently and just seems so appropriate right now. I have been feeling a little unloved, a little condemned, slipping under some law thinking and comparing myself to other Christians, feeling I didn't measure up. It's such a joyous relief to know we're loved no matter what, and that He's always right here with us. There is never any distance between us and God. He keeps this relationship going, and He keeps us perfectly loved and accepted before Him in Jesus' precious work and name! The love He has for us is so alive, as the song says...it's a love that causes rest, peace and joy to flow. It's a love that gives new hope and banishes despair. It's a love that erases fear and doubt and makes everything clear again. It's a love - and a Lover - that won't leave us or forsake us, ever..

It's been so long since
You felt like you were loved
So what went wrong
But do you know
There's a place where you belong
Here in My Arms

When you feel like you're alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I'll be there
You just call My name and I'll be there

The pain inside
Has erased your hope for love
Soon you will find
That I'll give you all
That your heart could ever want
And so much more

When you feel like you're alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I'll be there
You just call My name and I'll be there

You just call My name
You just call My name
Call My name say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive

Call My name say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive

You just call My name
You just call My name

The love I have for you is so alive

You just call My name Third Day

Wonderful Words from Bertie Brits

2011-08-30T15:10:00.000-04:00

"Any verse in the Bible - even in the New Testament written by Paul - that does not reveal GRACE (effortless life) is simply misunderstood. Any scripture that is seen as something that we need to do to contribute to HIS work is MISUNDERSTOOD. don't be blinded by a scripture that seems to contradict the simple Gospel of HIS LIFE IN YOU AND THROUGH YOU FREELY. If it is not effortless it is flesh." Bertie Brits

Wow, I love that! I have been confused by certain scriptures in the past, coming as I did from a more performance-oriented background. I had probably put 'works' and 'effort' and 'should' and 'must' into verses because of my legalistic perceptions. What a relief to know that God is gracious and loving, and that even the scriptures I don't understand will eventually become clear in the light of GRACE!

It helps me to know that if I read the scriptures and feel condemned, tense, pressured, and wanting to focus on self-effort, I must be confused, because His Word of Grace is always life-giving and liberating, joyful and releasing! His Word of Grace always frees and lifts us rather than depressing and crushing us. His Word of Grace always points to Jesus, not us. His Word of Grace lifts off burdens rather than putting on burdens! His Word of Grace is always life and healing, not death and despair.

Grace is the New Covenant that we are in, the ministry of the Spirit and of Life, so we can interpret every scripture through the lens of grace and His Life, not law and our works which are a dead-end. As Bertie says so well, "If if is not effortless it is flesh." It's all about His work in and through me while I rest. What a blessed relief for someone who gets worn out trying to do enough, be enough, change enough, measure up enough...ad nauseum!

Thank You, Lord, that the Gospel is all about Christ living in me FREELY through the Holy Spirit ! Oh, how I need to hear that today and just lean back in Your arms and REST! Thank You that when we get caught up in the "doings" at times, we can just STOP and fall back into the arms that never let go of us for a minute! Thank You for loving and delighting in us at all times, whether we're basking in Your presence or confused and troubled or even on a wearying flesh-trip. Thank You that You are unwavering in pouring out Your life and love and Spirit in us! You are a river in us that never, never, NEVER runs dry! Amen..

Servant or Son?

2011-08-26T08:29:00.074-04:00

Here is a wonderful article by my dear friend Patty, someone who loves God and loves His grace!
I loved this so much and wanted to share it here, and she has kindly allowed me to share her words with all...

The story as found in Luke clearly defines grace [as being the opposite of a servant mentality] through the picture of eldest brother who is angry when his brother comes home and is met by his father's grace and a feast of celebration.

The eldest brother's attitude seems to be based on what he feels he deserves because of his efforts. "All of these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends?"

Notice the brother's attitude and then ask yourself-Am I a servant or a son?

Might we be striving in all are efforts to literally live up to the name, servant of God?

Might we be thinking and feeling and living not like a family member should, but like a servant does?

The servant is accepted and appreciated on the basis of what he does, the child on the basis of who he is.

The servant starts the day anxious and worried, wondering if his work will really please the master. The child rests in the secure love of his family.

The servant is accepted because of his workmanship, the son or daughter because of a relationship.

The servant is accepted because of his productivity and accomplishment. The child belongs because of his position as a member of the family.

At the end of the day, the servant has peace of mind only if he is sure he has proven his worth by the work that he has done. The next morning his stress and anxiety will begin again. The child can be secure all day, and know that tomorrow won't change his standing as a beloved family member.

When a servant fails, his whole position is at stake, he might lose his job. When a child fails, he will be grieved because he has hurt his parents and will be corrected and disciplined but he is not afraid of being rejected by them. His confidence is in the belonging and being loved and his performance does not change the stability of his position in the family.

Grace then is unearned belonging. To grasp this view of belonging (because of complete acceptance and total unconditional love), will correct a faulty way of thinking, feeling, acting, reacting and relating in life.

So let us thank the Lord above for the miracle of GRACE. May he help us each to stop living as servants, while keeping us ever willing to serve him and others. May we know the difference and begin to esteem ourselves the rightful position as children of the most high God. May we be reminded daily that we are sons and daughters and may he help us live and feel that we are loved and accepted, that we are forgiven for our sins, no matter what, because of Christ's provision for us to become members of God's family as a direct heir of God through Christ! And lastly may God give us each increased confidence in this newly understood position of grace. (by my friend Patty)

When Attacked by Those Nasty Lies..

2011-08-24T09:12:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I wish I would get to the point where I have it all together - haha! That isn't going to happen anytime soon! At least I wish I could get a firm grip on grace and not sometimes slip back into that awful performance thinking - aargh! I really have needed a big dose of grace and love and acceptance in my life lately, as I have been down and feeling condemned about a certain aspect of my life. In my case, it's my lack of ability to be consistent in intercessory prayer like I "want" to be. But really, any work or struggle will suffice to be used by Satan to accuse us when we fall short..

Does anybody else identify with this scenario: You see another Christian who is so vibrant and alive and thriving in a certain aspect of their Christian life (for me, enter the intercessory prayer warrior). A tiny, little, seemingly harmless thought pops in the mind - "I really should do that too" - for me, it was about praying for other people more. So you start to "try" to add in that Christian virtue (notice the focus on self-effort, oh-so-subtle! It's like we're putting ourselves back under law without even realizing it - ugh!) Then the inevitable failure. (I forget to pray for people that I said I would pray for! I go for days without interceding for anyone, even myself! I feel like a rotten excuse for a prayer warrior! I try to think, well, maybe this just isn't "my" kind of ministry - but it's too late, I've already agreed to help lead the intercessory prayer chain group at church! ARGH! Sadly, this is all a true story..)

Next comes the inevitable attack..the enemy with his lies..."See, you are a rotten Christian. A hypocrite, too! You failure! Surely God's displeased with you, disappointed. Can't you do any better than that? You are hopeless as a Christian, just what was suspected all along. Don't go crawling to God now, why would He want you around? You've fallen from your strong walk in God and would have to work too hard to get back to that position of growth and closeness with God. So why try? Give up. Run the other way. Drown your sad and sorry feelings in meaningless hobbies. Withdraw from other Christians because they are better than you anyways and will probably judge you if you admit your struggles. You are such a loser, just like you always feared.."

It hurts even to write that because so many of those lies have been thrown at me at times. And they are ALL lies! God told me recently a very simple thing: "Stand on the Word." What the devil says and what feelings say and what other people say isn't the Word. The Word is what GOD says, and that's the final authority, the truth, and the last word on the matter! God is teaching me all over again, as He washes over me in grace and acceptance, what His Word really says:

The Word says: "You are accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. 1:6)

The Word says: "You are called a son/daughter of God - that is what you are!" (1 John 3:1)

The Word says: "Noone can snatch you out of My hand." (John 10:28)

The Word says: "God is not counting your sins against you!" (2 Co. 5:19)

The Word says: "You are not under law but under grace!" (Rom. 6:14)

The Word says: "There is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!" (Rom. 8:1)

The Word says: "The law of the Spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death! (Rom. 8:2)

The Word says: "He that the Son sets free is free indeed!" (John 8:36)

The Word says: "I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. (Lk. 10:19)

The Word says: "You are more than conquerors through Him who loved you! (Rom. 8:37)

The Word says: "NOTHING shall separate you from His love! (Rom. 8:38-9)

The Word says: "You have been set right with God as a free gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ! (Rom. 3:24)

The Word says: "You are the righteousness OF GOD in Christ!" (2 Corin. 5:21)

The Word says: "You are a new creation. Old things have passed away, and ALL things have become NEW!" (2 Corin. 5:17)

The Word says: "I will NEVER leave you or forsake you!" (Heb. 13:5)

Wow, I love it! So God is reminding me that when the enemy tries to pull the old "you're under a set of performance rules, and if you fail you're condemned," that I can remember the truth that hasn't changed, no matter how my feelings waver: I am still as accepted and loved and cherished as ever. I am NOT under a set of performance rules. God isn't looking down at me to see how I'm measuring up or not. He is looking at me with intense love for His little child. He is holding me in His arms and won't let go. Nothing can stop His love from coming to me, not even my sin - my sin has been removed and is gone, never to be held against me again! I'm not under law (earn acceptance or else be punished), no! I am under grace (He accepts me already without any having to earn it, so receive acceptance for free!)

And in my case, even if I never become a prayer warrior like my friend, I am still 100% fine and accepted and SUCCESSFUL as a Christian right now, because I've been accepted through the work of the Son! I've been born again by grace through simple faith, just believing the gospel of grace (the good news that God has reconciled me to Him in Christ). I'm a new creation in Him. I don't have to do anything to earn an acceptance that is already mine by BIRTHRIGHT! Always His child! Always innocent in His sight! Always pure and holy and clean! Always cherished and beautiful in His eyes! Always a DELIGHT to Him! Always, forever, once-for-all, for sure, perfectly and completely taken in, included and ACCEPTED! Belonging with Him for always! THAT'S living by faith, walking by the Spirit, being built up in Him..

Thank You, Lord, for defeating the lies that attack my mind! Thank You for showing me the condemnation I sometimes FEEL isn't even REAL! Lift off every lie that may be clouding our vision and perception right now. Let us clearly see You in all Your glorious grace and love for us! Let us see how perfect that love really is, how wonderful and freely ours, how eternally and permanently ours! Thank You so much for who You are - the Purest, Truest, Best, most Amazing LOVE in this universe, a Love that is Pure Grace from start to finish! We love You, O Lord!

Grace Says..

2011-08-22T09:18:00.001-04:00

God's Grace Message says:

I love you even at your worst moments.

And I love you in the midst of your worst circumstances.

God's Grace Message also says:

I raised you up and have made you the best you could be.

And I raise you up in your circumstances and make them turn out for the best, too.

Restoration and the Great Exchange

2011-08-20T12:24:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a beautiful song about the restoration God has worked in our hearts and spirits! Because of the complete and finished work of Jesus, everything rotten and dead and old in us has been exchanged for everything good and living and new in Him! What a wonder is the new creation reality He has brought forth! The old has gone, and the new has come, hallelujah!

What a great exchange! What a great and amazing restoration - Eden is restored, and actually, we have something better than Eden, because we have His very Life, His Spirit, inside us in union with us - HIS Life as OUR Life, as our heart of hearts - that is heaven, being one with God like that! We have heaven in our spirits! Praise God, You make all things new!

Restoration (David Brymer)

You bring restoration
You bring restoration
You bring restoration
to my soul

You've taken my pain
called me by a new name
You've taken my shame
and in it's place, You give me joy

You take mourning and turn it into dancing
You take weeping and turn it into laughing
You take mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my sadness and turn it into joy

hallelujah, hallelujah
You make all things new, all things new

Your Great Name

2011-08-18T09:06:00.001-04:00

I woke up this morning and found that God had put this song on my heart. What a beautiful message and reminder that all that can get us down just falls away in His presence. At His name, every lie of the enemy must be gone. What a wonderful place to be, dwelling in Him by grace! I sometimes forget where I am and who I am in Him, yet just a thought of Him or mention of His name brings me back to clarity! And it's not that I must remember to turn to Him, no, HE brings me to remember those truths! Just like He put this song on my mind this morning when I felt troubled about something. What a wonderful life this walk of grace is! He doesn't leave us down, He enters into the pain and comforts us saying, "Peace, be still! All is well! Surely I will help you! Surely I will uphold You in my hand! Speak My name, for I'm here!"

Your Great Name

Lost are saved; find their way; at the sound of Your great name
All condemned; feel no shame, at the sound of Your great name
Every fear; has no place; at the sound of Your great name
The enemy; he has to leave; at the sound of Your great name

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up; and all the world will praise Your great name

All the weak; find their strength; at the sound of Your great name
Hungry souls; receive grace; at the sound of Your great name
The fatherless; they find their rest; at the sound of Your great name
Sick are healed; and the dead are raised; at the sound of Your great name

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up; and all the world will praise Your great name

Redeemer, My Healer, Lord Almighty
My savior, Defender, You are My King

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up; and all the world will praise Your great name.
Natalie Grant

Jesus Says, "I love you.."

2011-08-16T09:01:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have those mornings when you wake up feeling out of sorts and just need to hear Your Precious Lord say that He loves you? I sure do! Just this morning, in my heart I found myself asking, "God, what do you think of me?" And I just felt the presence of the Spirit reminding me He is right here with me, delighting in me and loving me, no matter what. And that was all I needed, everything was okay again.

He loves us more than anyone else ever would or could!

I read something about that very truth recently. It was about the verses in the New Testament where Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love Me more than these?" In the comment I read, Charles Spurgeon turns that question around and lets us see how much Jesus truly loves us! Here is the quote, from a sermon of Spurgeon's called "The Gladness of the Man of Sorrows:"

Jesus speaks today to us, "I have loved thee more than these;

...thy mother loved thee; strong were her pangs when thou wast born, and anxious her cares when she nursed thee at her bosom; but I have loved thee more than these,

..and thy brethren loved thee, and thy sisters; born of the same parents they watched over thee with delight, and they have been ready to help thee in thy time of need, but I have loved thee more than these:

..and thy husband loved thee, loved thee as his own soul, he has cherished thee, and has been ready to lay down his life to give thee back health when thou hast been sick; but I have loved thee more than these:

..thy children, too, have loved thee; they have climbed thy knee and smiled upon thee for all thy kindness to them, and they have strengthened thine old age, and thou hast leaned upon them, as upon a staff, when thou hast been tottering with weakness; but I have loved thee more than these:

..and thou hast had a joyous companion, a dear friend who has been with thee from thy youth up, and has never lifted his heel against thee; and thou hast had thine intimates and thy familars who went up to the house of God with thee, and talked cheerfully by the way, but I have loved thee more than these,"

I think I hear him say to me—"There are some in this congregation who would pluck out their own eyes to give them to thee; they love thee, for thou art their spiritual father, but I have loved thee more than theses." And he points to all the good men that have ever tried to teach you, to all the comforters who have given you joy, to all the helpers that have aided you on the road to immortality; and he says, "I have loved you more than these."

Charles Spurgeon

He says to us that no matter how much anyone else has ever loved us or could ever love us, He loves us MORE than these!

No matter how much we imagine His love is, it is always MORE! He loves us MORE!

No matter what we're like in our walk and talk, He loves us MORE than we could imagine...purely, totally, freely, completely, unconditionally, unreservedly, permanently, unchangably, unstoppably, faithfully, surely, amazingly, infinitely, boundlessly, unswervingly, and any more "-lys" you can think of!

As Brennan Manning says, no matter how great we think His love is, it's always MORE.

Thank You, Jesus, that You love us more than these on earth. Thank You that Your love is more than we could ponder or comprehend. Thank You that Your love is more powerful than any sin, trouble, worry, doubt, circumstance or problem. No matter what the situation, You and Your love are always MORE!

Thank You that Your MORE kind of love holds us now and forever!

That's My King, My Savior, My Friend!

2011-08-12T08:08:00.000-04:00

What a powerful video..He is our King, our Savior, our Lover, our Lord, our Hope, our Strength, our All..

That's my Wonderful Savior, Jesus!

He is all those wonderful things, and He calls me His friend..

I love you, Lord Jesus! Thank You for being all that to me, all by grace, all as a gift, all for free.

Nobody ever loved me like You do. Nobody ever cared about me like You do. Nobody ever listened to me or accepted me like You do.

I see that You truly love me no matter what I do, no matter how I fail, no matter what I feel, no matter what happens..

Your love is the unconditional love that my heart has longed for all my life. I have finally found my forever Lover and forever Friend, the One who satisfies all my longings, fulfills all my hopes, and heals all my wounds - it's You!

You stand before me and look at me so tenderly and joyfully, with pure love and acceptance in Your eyes! It's just me and You, in that special place of the Spirit, where the whole realm of earth fades away and all that is left is You and Your love..

I love you! I adore You! I worship You!

You are everything to me!

Rhoda's Story, Part 4

2011-08-10T00:36:00.000-04:00

Here's the exciting conclusion of Rhoda's testimony. I have really been blessed by reading your story, dear Rhoda! Thank you for sharing with us all the beautiful things God has done in your life! You are a blessing!

In the midst of this journey and everything I was receiving from God, one Sunday morning my friend was praising God in her room, and God’s Holy Spirit fell upon her. That Sunday morning I was getting ready for church, and as I was going up the stairs I felt the Lord telling me, “Today I am going to heal you.” “Wow! Sure, I am ready for that anytime” was my response! The pastor knew nothing about this, and that morning at church he announced that we were going to have a healing service at church. When it was my turn to be prayed for, and as hands were laid on my body, I felt something spread down my body into my affected hip and leg a feeling I can only describe as warmth and sweetness. I knew the Lord was touching me. Although my ability to walk was still somewhat compromised, I was so excited to see a big difference and improvement in my condition.
That following week, I had an upcoming appointment to see the pain clinic to possibly get a fourth epidural shot in my back, or discuss future treatment plans. When the Doctor saw me and did his assessment, he told me he’s going to clear me for work in three weeks! Needless to say, I was overjoyed! We all were very happy with this encouraging news. And just like I always did after any appointment or change in my progress, I faxed my supervisor and my insurance company all the info, and specifically called the supervisor to let her know. I thought, “Great, I gave my job to God and He allowed me to have it back!”
What transpired in the next three to four weeks was very confusing. All I can say is that it seemed as long as there was still the possibility of getting back to that job, I was not being allowed to have normal function of walking. While there was significant improvement, I couldn’t walk for even 45 seconds without having to either sit down or get down on my knees. As that 3 week deadline drew closer, I became more and more incapacitated—again. Now I was becoming very frustrated, but I was also trying to align myself with the fact that just maybe God didn’t want me back on that shift. More than anything I wanted to walk in God’s will, be able to walk physically, and finally, just be pain-free.
I kept remembering what the boys had told me. They both agreed that these had been the best three months of their lives. And I had to agree; pain-filled, difficult, yes. But they were good by many different standards.
One afternoon, after enduring a day of excruciating pain again, I called Andrew Wommack’s Ministry, and poured out some of my story and my frustration to a dear lady who answered the phone. She spoke words of encouragement and words of life over my situation and prayed for me. She gave me a verse to speak out (Psalm 30:2) and told me to keep on believing. I took that verse as my lifeline, and spoke it in faith over and over. The boys soon knew it and were saying it too. I had committed to letting God control all the circumstances of my life, and again, not worry about what I wanted and what I thought was best.
The next morning I woke up, and I was almost afraid of getting out of bed. But I got up, repeating my verse, “I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.” Psalm 30:2. Soon I was saying, “Thank you God, for healing me!” That day I walked for five minutes without stopping once, and with very minimal pain and discomfort. It felt so wonderful, and I was so happy and grateful. I walked around, thanking and praising God. During the days that followed I found out that my full-time job was not mine anymore, and somehow I was not surprised. But the miracle was that I felt peace about it, and I felt such an absence of worry and stress about it. (I am sure God was happy about this part, and was thinking, she finally gets it!) God cared about the sparrow that falls; He was going to take care of His very own beloved children. The God who created the grand, immense, complex universe actually cared enough to know the number of hairs on our very own heads. He cared enough to take our lives into His own gentle, capable hands. Deep down within my heart I had gotten a glimpse of His grace, His tender love,
It was hard when I found out for the first time that my job was posted and up for grabs. One of my co-workers called me, and told me about it. She was almost crying. It was late at night, and when she hung up, I knew this was a good scenario for a worrisome night, and as I had done many times before, I turned to a good friend “Sparrow” whom I had never met but loved already. I opened up to Under the Waterfall of Grace, and turned on Father’s Love letter, and fell asleep to listening to those beautiful and encouraging and uplifting verses about how God cares for us and loves us, and has a perfect plan for our lives.
I had found, over the past six months, literally hundreds of verses in the Bible that ministered to me, gave me hope, that carried me through. I discovered a love and a passion for God’s Word that is hard to describe. It is the most amazing and incredible Book, because it is His very own Word to US, to ME. It is our very own, personal life manual, and God’s personal love letter to us. It is the only existing Book that can be read over and over and still is just as fresh and new and meaningful the one hundredth time as the first time. I don’t want anybody to miss out on the opportunity to have this amazing experience. It is literally not only the experience of a lifetime, but of an eternity. It will shape and change our entire destiny.
Life is not perfect. Life is actually quite difficult. Life can become rather mundane and boring. We all have valleys to walk through. But life in and through Christ is so worth it! It is filled with challenges and excitement and joy and peace. He patiently and lovingly redeems our past mistakes. Is it an easy life? No, not easy, but fulfilling and exciting and beautiful and blessed. We are fulfilled when we are doing what we were created and born to do….to bring glory and honor to our Creator, and to fill that unique spot and special assignment each individual is born for. Our Father has so much good in store for us, and He has a storehouse of abundance of riches in glory. (Phil. 4:19)
As for walking, I will never again take that marvelous gift for granted. Our bodies are wonderfully made, and only when something is taken from us, do we seem to realize how valued and indispensible it really is. May we hold in high esteem the blessings God so graciously pours into our lives. May we remember to continually thank Him and bless Him for His unspeakable gifts! - Rhoda

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

Isa. 40:31

Rhoda's Story, Part 3

2011-08-08T00:33:00.000-04:00

Continuing with Rhoda's story of God's work in her life (hey, this is getting so good, let's see what will happen next!):

As time went on, I kept doing everything possible in every way, but I was getting better only at a turtle’s pace. And that kind of pace was not suitable to me at all! I held nothing back, I got medical attention, I went to the chiropractor on a regular basis, took extra nutrients, and I prayed like I had never prayed before. I felt like the widow knocking insistently on God’s door. I asked everybody I could think of to please pray for me. And the funny thing was, the docs and chiropractors always told me they think I was almost over the hump and would be on my way to being well real soon. No matter what I did I was kept unable to return to work. And I could no longer really remember how it even felt to be able to stand upright and walk and be pain-free. Even though I was believing for healing, I began playing with the idea of going for long-term disability, getting a motorized wheelchair, and all that stuff.
I finally came to the place where I knew I had to give this whole deal completely to God; my job, my unbelief and doubts, my frustration, (and even anger at times.) I was tired of trying to hold on, and making this work, and besides I felt like I was dangling on a rope with nobody and nothing to hang on to except God. My own efforts were NOT working!
One evening, upstairs in the bathroom, this being one of the only private places in the house that was also warm in those cold winter months, I told God He can have it all. That job after all was something He had given me, and if He wanted it back, it was okay. And if He wanted that job back, He would surely have to help me out on that one too, because I had no clue how I was going to pay bills without a job. As for my health, I decided to leave it to His timing and not mine. Whenever He wanted me well, He would make me well; my job was to keep believing and trusting. Whatever He wanted me to learn meanwhile, I would do my best to learn and pass the test, even doing my best to get good, passing grades! I would quit struggling and worrying and being stressed about finances and just let my Father work it out. It was a scary place to be, but I was never more secure in my Father’s love than that moment. I was growing more and more secure in the fact that He deeply cares and truly loves us. That evening He impressed upon me about how He cares for the sparrow that falls to the ground, and how much more He cares for us, His own dear children. That became my theme verse and I was encouraged many times by just thinking about it and remembering that. (Matt. 6:23-33, Matt. 10:29-31)
Soon after that, I felt impressed by the Lord to spend some time in fasting. The very first morning I ran across a verse in Psalm, and I decided to google it to help me further understand it. It took me to a blog called “Under the Waterfall of Grace,” and what I read there impacted me in a powerful way. God even had an extra special surprise, her name was no less then…. “Sparrow”! Now I really felt God was speaking to me!
That blog helped me immensely through the rest of the journey, and I am so grateful to God for it. Even though I have never met her, I love Sparrow! I love the fact that we can belong to God’s family and love each other because we share the same spirit and love of God.
I wish I had words to describe what all God showed me through this entire ordeal. There is so much content and so many different branches of what I did learn. First and foremost in importance, I experienced a love and an excitement for God’s Word. I began to be so hungry for those truths and promises. I clung to it with somewhat of a desperation, but also a deep love and appreciation. Sometimes I could scarcely believe what I was reading! I truly fell in love with God and His Word.
In addition to this, God used several other people and speakers that left a life-changing, faith-building impact on my life. And for this I am forever grateful. I could not have gotten through if these messages would not have been poured into my life at this time.
God used “Under the Waterfall of Grace” blog in two big ways. One was to show me how big God’s love really is, no, not that I will ever totally understand how big it really is, but I came to understand that He is passionate and really just profoundly cares about us and our little, minute by minute details in our daily lives. To really believe and know this truth has been something I have struggled with all my life, and to actually feel it in my heart was really revolutionizing my life and how I thought. I listened to Brennan Manning’s sermon on “The Compassion of Jesus” with a burning gratitude in my heart. It blew my mind to think what I had been missing. I had been a Christian all these years and yet had not grasped to such a depth God’s pure grace, the depth of His love and His desire to know us, His longing for us to know His tender love!
The other big thing God showed me was how much He really cares about what we go through, He cherishes us, and He is on our side. And even as we are going through the valley of despair and darkness, uncertainty and loss, I can still trust Him, yes even praise Him and be happy and have joy in spite of these circumstances. Because He loves us so much and wants so much good for us, we can abandon ourselves to that tender love, to being covered by His wings, covered by His blood and His grace. We can rest in knowing that absolutely nothing happens to His children that He cannot redeem for His good. Nothing happens that He doesn’t passionately care about. He orders each and every step of the Godly person. When we can’t walk on our own through the fire and the high waters, He does carry us all the way through.
Our part is to believe, to trust God, to offer up the sacrifice of praise, to praise in the dark…and this, I found, was the difficult part of my assignment. To begin to proclaim God’s Word in faith without seeing it happen first was so painful for me. I never realized how lacking I was in faith until I was put to this test. But God through His gracious Holy Spirit patiently kept directing me and prodding me and building me up in faith and in the wisdom of God though His Word and through His people. He never did give up on me! Without fail, He had just enough of whatever I needed just for that moment. It could be something as simple as something I heard on Christian radio, a song, a verse I read, a word from a friend, a prayer offered by one of my sons, and the most special of all—the Holy Spirit himself speaking within my heart and mind. That is the most amazing thing about our God; He is never ever limited in any way. He can use whatever He chooses to bring about His purpose. The way God loves us is absolutely priceless, and I still can’t get over it. (more to come soon!) Rhoda

Rhoda's Story, Part 2

2011-08-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

Now that we've gotten some background on our friend, Rhoda, let's move on and enjoy reading about the wonderful healing work God has done in her life:

It was the month of October, 2010, I had enjoyed just a little over a year of full-time employment at Truman Medical Centers in down-town Kansas City, and life had acquired a nice feeling of normalcy… a pattern and a routine that I felt very ready for and was enjoying very much. I was so ready to settle down to a steady job, a consistent income, and just have a normal life; I was also looking forward to getting some experience and stability as an employee. Although I had a lot of experience and good work ethic, given my rather unusual background it was very hard to make that shine through on a resume.
I had gone back to school and worked hard to become a certified Medical Interpreter. Through God’s help and because of His favor, I was able to accept an offer of employment at a hospital, and I enjoyed my job thoroughly. I was able to continue relating to the Hispanic community in a different way, but a way that I loved. I appreciated feeling like I was able to serve people in a very practical way, and at the same time get paid for it! A win-win situation, I felt….well, aside from one huge factor. We were all very dissatisfied with the hours that I had to deal with on the particular shift I was on. I was away evenings, and during the school year I was unable to spend very little time with my sons. We all greatly anticipated the weekends, but I was often very frustrated and felt like I spent far too much time correcting and disciplining and cramming things into those two weekend days. I saw frustration and a hint of rebellion grow in the boys, but we were all daily praying and trusting God for a change in shift and for daytime hours to become available.
In the summer of 2010 I bought a trampoline for the boys, and there were occasions when I enjoyed playing along with them, fairly calm jumping and playing - nothing that was age -inappropriate, even though some people might think being on a trampoline at age 47 is not appropriate! But I thought nothing of it. I had always been extremely active, and enjoyed great health. I rarely had had a sick day in my life, and I could not imagine anything really slowing me down.
One summer evening in August, after humoring the boys’(now 8 and 10 yrs old) pleadings to get on and play with them, I got off the trampoline and felt a slight twinge on my right hip/lower back. After several weeks, the constant twinge that I had thought would disappear had now become a constant bite, and the bite soon turned into an ever-present searing pain. Just walking alone was becoming very difficult. By October I had visited four different chiropractors; I had sought prayer, and was anointed by the elders of the church as the Bible instructs us to do; I had set up various appointments with the medical doctor; I had an x-ray done, and I was seeing physical therapy. My level of anxiety was growing, because nothing was helping. Rather, little by little the problem was becoming more aggravated. To every chiropractor and doctor I asked the same question, “Should I take some time off work?” And every single one answered me with the same thing, “No, I think you will get over this without taking off of work.” In spite of the relief that came from hearing that answer, I also wondered why my condition was just consistently getting worse. I knew without a doubt that all the walking I did at work was in fact aggravating the pain.
Finally, after two consecutive evenings of leaving my shift in tears from the pain I was experiencing, on October 14, I decided to take some personal action. I called my supervisor to let her know I was taking Thursday and Friday off, plus the weekend, and see if that would bring any improvement. It was better that I didn’t know at that time but this was to be my last day of work at Truman Medical Centers as a full-time employee. That weekend turned into 4 ½ months of not being able to return to work, and by then I had lost my job.
That first weekend off work was only the beginning of agonizing discomfort and miserable pain. I discovered that my body had zero tolerance for the prescription pain narcotics. After a couple rounds, I opted to endure the pain rather than endure the nausea and vomiting that came with taking the medication. In times of most severe pain, I succumbed to crawling on the floor to get around. I was in pain but that didn’t keep the boys from getting hungry, so, always trying to work around that ever-present pain, I devised a plan. I would get down on the floor with newspapers spread out to prepare the basics of a meal with the faithful help of the boys….no extras or frills added! With my help and direction the boys learned to do things I was used to doing, and they learned many lessons this way.
As the days went by, it only added to my anguish that I was not able to fulfill my duties at work. Great work ethics, dependability, and a strong sense of responsibility had become second nature to me. I took my job seriously and always did everything within my ability to be at work on time and within the schedule. But now, I was helpless. I couldn’t return to work no matter how much I wanted to. It had never occurred to me that this would ever happen to me. But still, I believed it would be a matter of days, or weeks maybe at most, and I would be up and running ahead at full speed again. But as time went on, days turned into weeks, and the weeks slowly and unbelievably turned into months, I felt like a horse impatiently chafing at his bit, like a prisoner in shackles trying to shake loose, like a bird stuck in a cage. I just wanted out and loose and to be free! The ability to walk was becoming only a distant dream, and a hope deferred.
This time period was the most intense time of painful pruning, of learning to trust, of learning to let go and trust, of learning WHO is really in control. I began to see how easy it is to say “I trust God and I believe He cares for us and He is in control” as long as we have a handle on things, as long as we have something to do with helping things along. But when things get knocked out from under us, and we are left hanging in mid-air, with absolutely no control over how things are going….that is a whole new dynamic. And I had never in my life been in such a situation. I was used to working hard and making things happen by sheer determination, and then after all my own efforts, I could trust God with the things I couldn’t make happen.
I still can’t wrap my mind around all He did show me and teach me in His own patient loving way, but I know I am not the same person I used to be. I fought those lessons with all I had, but He won out, Praise God!
I found out that in these situations of desperate need you have a choice. You can allow hopelessness and bitterness to move in and find a home in your heart, or you can choose to allow God’s grace to begin doing a new work in your life. You can choose to desperately hang on to and believe every single promise in the Bible.
One thing early on gave me cause to believe God did have His hand on the situation. When I applied for the Short Term Disability offered at work, I found out that if this would have happened 6 weeks earlier, I would not have qualified for that particular benefit, the reason being that you have to be employed for one whole year before qualifying. So even though that was the last thing I wanted to do, still it was a great blessing and comfort to know that there would be some kind of income for a short while. I knew that God was watching over us. (to be continued..) Rhoda

Rhoda's Story, Part 1

2011-08-04T00:22:00.001-04:00

One of the best things about blogging is meeting other people who also love God and are touched by His grace. Hearing someone else's story of how God has poured out His love on them is something I love, and it's so encouraging and uplifting to see how good He is to us! Recently I received a written testimony from my dear cyber-friend Rhoda, a wonderful story of God's faithfulness to her, especially in healing her of a physical problem. I want to share her testimony here, part by part, over the next several days. In this first section, Rhoda gives us some background. Rhoda, thank you so much for sharing all the ways God has touched your life! He is so good..

God’s Love and Faithfulness
I was born in beautiful central Pennsylvania, (1963) the fourth of five children. My parents were Amish; they loved each other and their children dearly. We lived on one the most beautiful and prosperous farms in the county. My grandparents and a single aunt whom we adored lived in one house and my parents and family lived in a smaller house just across the yard, a few steps away. All we had to do to get from our house to theirs was skip down a walk laid in flat rock, past a grand old fir tree where a swing was hanging, past a natural spring that flowed with the coolest, sweetest water you could find anywhere, and we were at their house. Among my favorite and vivid memories is the whole family sitting on my grandparents’ wide, screened porch overlooking the pond, eating sweet, cool watermelon at the end of a warm summer day. We also loved to beg our Aunt for a drink of Quick, that yummy chocolate powder mixed with cold, farm fresh milk. To us that was one of the grandest treats in the world! It was truly an idyllic childhood that our parents created for us, and not only did we have an abundance of love and good memories and the best of what they could give us, but we were also expected to work and participate in the responsibilities. A good example of this is how my oldest brother was taught and trusted with the job of plowing the fields with the tractor when he was six or seven. Early on in our lives we learned to share in chores and do our part in doing what it took to keep the large, family operated farm running smoothly and looking its best.
The first crack that appeared in what I perceived as the perfect life came when my mother discovered she had breast cancer. At five years old I can still clearly recall the worried looks on the adult faces as they discussed what to do. However after an apparently successful surgery, everything settled back down to normal. Not known to my young mind however were some very big decisions weighing on the minds of my Godly parents. They were very unhappy with their church situation and longed to be in a more God-centered setting, not only for their sakes but they were also carefully considering their children’s future. Even more significant was the fact that my father felt a call in his heart to be a missionary, an experience he had as a young eight year old boy. He could still remember the very place and time that he heard God telling him to go and spread the Gospel to the world. Going abroad as a missionary was unheard of and frowned upon in the Old Order Amish Church where he grew up in. My grandparents were not in the least sympathetic to his views. But now, my parents they were seriously seeking, and contemplating different options.
When Daddy and Mamma heard of an Amish church group planted in the far-away country of Honduras, they felt compelled to investigate further and finally the big decision was made- Daddy would make the trip to this big, unknown and far away country. We all breathlessly awaited his return, and he had stories beyond our imaginations, complete with several fascinating words and phrases in Spanish. He also came back saying that he would not ask his family and his beloved wife whom he deeply valued and treasured, and who had just recuperated from breast cancer, to move to such a primitive place. Much to his great surprise, she encouraged the move and after much prayer and careful consideration they both felt convinced that God was moving them into this direction. However huge the consequences and cost, they were committed to doing what they felt was God’s will for their lives and their family’s well-being.
After the sale of our precious and beloved farm, careful packing of some of our most valuable and prized possessions, a painful auction, passports for the whole family, and very painful good-byes, we were ready to leave the country. My grandparents and aunt accompanied us to the New York harbor where we were booked to leave on a big ship which belonged to a fleet called The Standard Fruit Company. While primarily being used to transport just that –fruit- she was also set up to transport a limited amount of passengers. They had luxurious passenger accommodations, and to us children, this new excitement quickly made us forget all the painful separations and tearful, heart-rending good-byes. Finally, the plank was drawn, the ship clinked and clanked and slowly made its way out of the harbor. We waved at our dear family members, with everybody believing that this could well be the last time we would ever see each other. Thus, in December, 1970, began the biggest, most painful, most exciting, and eventful move of a lifetime.

Breast cancer claimed the life of my dearest mother almost 2 years after we moved. About 4 or 5 months after our move to Honduras it came back with a vengeance and caused her considerable pain and suffering. There was some limited treatment, and a lot of prayer. She battled it with determination, and worked hard to give her family her very best, but she slowly succumbed to the dreaded disease, and on October 15, 1972 she passed on. Losing her was by far one of the saddest, darkest days of our lives and with more significant, far-reaching effects than any us knew that day. That distressing loss made a severe impact on our young, tender hearts, and the loss for my dear father, strong as he was, was overwhelming.

Jehovah Jireh, My Provider
Fast forward to 2006, Lawrence KS. Almost forty years later and I am around the age my parents were when they moved to Honduras. Many books could be filled with the happenings of all those years in between then and now.
In 2002 I adopted a son, Michael Andrew, in Honduras as a single parent. He has been the biggest blessing and gift God has ever granted me. I was motivated to move back in large part for his sake and once more, just like my parents in search of a stable church setting, as well as an education for Michael, but most importantly I had not a doubt in my mind that God was speaking to my heart and telling me it was time for me to make that move. Actually moving back to the States resulted in almost as much pain as I imagine the move to Honduras had been for my parents.
The transition was not easy, and required a deep commitment to God in many aspects. A walk of faith was begun, and I had to trust God like I had never done before.
In 2008 after living in Kansas for several years I found out that a very dear friend from Honduras was very, very sick. I quickly made arrangements to travel to Honduras to see her. She died soon after I got there. Her youngest son Jonathan was 7 years old and his tender little heart was devastated by the loss of his mother. He and I were very close when he was little, before my move back to the States. Due to this closeness he felt with me, he begged me to take him after the loss of his mother. I took it to God in prayer, and after very careful consideration and counsel I felt like all doors were opening into that direction. I very frankly told God that without His intervention I could never do this, short of His very direct involvement and help, and I took the leap. A leap of sheer faith. A leap of faith that I will never regret taking. Because, just like He did when I decided to move away from Honduras, He was right there, by my side. Not that things were battle-free, in fact I felt like I was in the thick of a very difficult battle. But time and time again, He won the battle for me as I waited on Him and trusted Him, and did my part. I was learning that I could fully trust and depend on the Lord God. He was becoming such a faithful, trustworthy Father to me!
With that underlying groundwork built into my foundation of faith, God had still other lessons for me. But I was happily thinking my trials and turbulent waters were safely in the past for now. Little did I know what was in store for me next.

Your Love Never Fails, It Never Gives Up, It Never Runs Out On Me

2011-08-02T10:35:00.002-04:00

I love this song! Here I've posted the "short" version of the song, but the long version is wonderful, too. In the longer version, when the band is basically finished singing, the audience picks up the refrain, and sings it over and over, "Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me," till the band starts up again with the song. It's like they just can't stop singing about His great love, like they just can't get over such a love that never fails them!

I think that idea of His love NEVER failing us is the heart of the grace message, the core truth that grounds my life and rocks my world. That main refrain of grace in my heart is that "You can't get away from a love that will not let you go (R.R. Capon)." His love is stronger than anything - stronger than any circumstance, any trial, any sin, any doubt. He just won't let us go - we are safe in this unfailing, unending, loyal, never-running-out, never-giving up unconditional LOVE! That just embodies what God's grace is to me - it's His love and acceptance of me that I don't have to deserve and that I can't make go away. This love will hold us forever!

His grace never fails us!

"One Thing Remains" by Jesus Culture

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant in the trial and the change
One thing... Remains (repeat)

On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never, ever, have to be afraid
One thing remains

Your love never fails, never gives up
Never runs out on me (3x)

In death, In life, I'm confident and
covered by the power of Your great love
My debt is paid, there's nothing that can
separate my heart from Your great love

At the end of the longer version the singer, Chris Quilala, just starts praising God in his own words:
"Your love never fails me
Your grace never fails me
Your grace never fails
His love never fails
His presence never fails
His mercy never fails
Your kindness is never-ending
Your grace is never-ending
Your faithfulness is never-ending
Your love is never-ending
Oh, Father.."

Thank You, dear Lord, that Your love never fails us! (1 Co. 13:8)

Grace = Effortless Life!

2011-07-30T11:08:00.000-04:00

I just read a wonderful quote from Bertie Brits:

"Any verse in the Bible - even in the NT written by Paul - that does not reveal GRACE (effortless life) is simply misunderstood. Any scripture that is seen as something that we need to do to contribute to HIS work is MISUNDERSTOOD. Don't be blinded by a scripture that seems to contradict the simple Gospel of HIS LIFE IN YOU AND THROUGH YOU FREELY."

"If it's not effortless it is flesh."

Wow! Grace means effortless life, because God by His Spirit is flowing through us! Anything of our effort or our work, anything that seems hard or something we must struggle to 'do' is just flesh. We don't contribute to His Life! His Life is more than sufficient, infinitely sufficient, all on its own! That is the Life that we now have in us, the Life that naturally rises up and flows through us. That is the Life that is freely given to us and freely pours out of us without our effort. In fact, we are in union with that Life! That is the Life that is OUR very life!

Living by grace is effortless!

Law Thinking vs. Grace Thinking

2011-07-28T08:33:00.012-04:00

When I'm caught up thinking I need to do something to earn God's favor, get some blessings, or get into that 'sweet spot' where my Christian life will 'really' go great, I only get run down and frustrated. That kind of thinking leads to spiritual burnout, and I've definitely been there! But when I'm caught up in His love and the complete nature of Jesus' work on the cross, seeing that I'm already set for eternity and nothing can change that, I relax. I am drawn to just enjoy my dear Savior. I am able to accept myself and others. This kind of thinking leads to pure joy!

So I was comparing these two lines of thinking lately, and these are some thoughts that came to me:

Law thinking tells me I'm bad, bad, bad.
Grace thinking tells me I'm good with the goodness of Christ!

Law thinking causes me to be self-focused.
Grace thinking causes me to be Son-focused.

Law thinking makes me realize I can never measure up, and I feel depressed.
Grace thinking makes me see He measured up for me, and I feel elated!

Law thinking always demands.
Grace thinking always frees.

Law thinking adds burdens.
Grace thinking removes burdens!

Law thinking causes me to judge myself and others, too.
Grace thinking causes me to accept myself and others, too.

Law thinking means I'm always noticing the bad in me and others.
Grace thinking means I'm able to see the good in me and others.

Law thinking causes me to despair of ever living the Christian life.
Grace thinking causes me to rejoice because He's already living the Christian life IN me!

Law thinking makes me feel I'm never good enough.
Grace thinking lets me know He's good enough, and so am I IN Him!

Law thinking causes me to feel distant from God.
Grace thinking causes me to feel intimate with God!

Law thinking makes me pull away from God in fear.
Grace thinking makes me cuddle up in Daddy's lap because I'm secure!

Law thinking makes the Christian life seem so hard.
Grace thinking makes the Christian life so flowing and easy!

Law thinking is the mind set on self-effort, and it's death.
Grace thinking is the mind set on the Spirit, and it's life and peace.

Law thinking makes me feel I'll never please God.
Grace thinking shows me I'm already pleasing to God through Christ!

Law thinking makes me feel unworthy.
Grace thinking makes me feel worth something, worth Jesus' dying for me!

Law thinking screams guilty, condemned, punished!
Grace thinking whispers forgiven, accepted, blessed!

Law thinking is used by Satan to accuse me.
Grace thinking is used by the Spirit to affirm me!

Law thinking makes me feel God is an impossible judge.
Grace thinking show me God is a loving Father!

Law thinking makes me think that God is all about performance.
Grace thinking lets me know that God is all about unconditional love!

Law thinking makes me feel everything must be earned.
Grace thinking reminds me everything is a gift.

Law thinking says work, work, work.
Grace thinking says rest, rest, rest.

Law thinking makes me feel I need to DO more.
Grace thinking shows me Jesus has already DONE it all!

Law thinking causes me to withdraw from interacting with God.
Grace thinking causes me to be drawn to worship, talk to Him, and enjoy His presence!

Law thinking causes me to feel down on myself.
Grace thinking causes me to be UP on Christ!

Law thinking makes me try to earn God's blessings because I feel they contingent on my performance.
Grace thinking lets me enjoy God's blessings because they're already mine through Christ's performance!

Law thinking makes me feel it's all up to me to live this Christian life.
Grace thinking lets me know it's all up to Christ to live this Christian life!

Law thinking makes me feel salvation and the Christian life are all my responsibility.
Grace thinking lets me know salvation and the Christian life are all His responsibility.

Law thinking makes me think I'm alone living this life.
Grace thinking shows me it's Christ who lives through me!

Law thinking makes me feel separate and disconnected from God.
Grace thinking makes me feel close to God, and I enjoy the union and constant connection I always have with God.

Law thinking makes me fear that God might reject me and I might lose this relationship, since I'm basing it all on how I perform.
Grace makes me relax, knowing God will never reject me and I'll never lose this relationship, because it's based all on how Christ performed!

Law thinking makes me feel that if I've sinned too much, I'm out.
Grace thinking tells me no matter how much I sin, I'll NEVER be out!

Law thinking makes me sin-focused, and I feel my sins are all over me.
Grace thinking makes me Jesus-focused, and I know my sins were put on Him and taken away!

Law thinking makes me feel dirty and ugly before Him.
Grace thinking makes me feel clean and beautiful before Him!

Law thinking makes me feel imperfect and lacking.
Grace thinking reminds me that He's made me perfect and complete!

Law thinking is a dead end.
Grace thinking is the way of endless life!

My Souls Sings

2011-07-26T11:00:00.001-04:00

I woke up with this beautiful song (here sung by Bethel Live, but originally by Delirious) on my heart..our souls sing to You, Wonderful Father!

Lyrics:
Open my eyes to see
The wonderful mystery of love
Falling into you
I'm drawn to the gravity of love

Open the page and see
The wonderful history of love
I start and end with you
I'm pulled to the gravity of love

We're standing still in a moment of eternity
Where worlds collide and I feel the breath of heaven over me

My soul sings
My soul sings
My soul sings
How I love you
Oh, how I love you

Bound by Love!

2011-07-24T10:38:00.000-04:00

Here's a wonderful quote from the dear and amazing grace-lover, Jamie Weeks:

"God did not bind us to himself with the commandments. In fact, under the Old Covenant, we attempted to bind ourselves to God through our performance. God always had a better way! He bound himself to us by the cross, making his performance, not ours, the only contingency for righteousness and life."

"Where the law can never hold us, the love of God will keep us."

Jamie Weeks

I love that! The law could never hold us. But the love of God expressed in the work of Christ on the cross will keep us! We are bound to God by love-strings, held by the power of Christ's work for us, safe in His arms today and forever..

Things I Love About You

2011-07-22T09:04:00.000-04:00

Jesus, here are some things I love about You!

I love the way You are kind..

I love the way You are gentle..

I love the way You are beautiful..

I love the way You are so good..

I love the way You are so loving..

I love the way You are gracious..

I love the way You look at me with love in Your eyes..

I love the way You smile at me..

I love the way You hold me in Your arms..

I love the joy You have over me..

I love the way You are always there for me..

I love the way You call me Your best friend..

I love the way You always build me up..

I love the way You never focus on my faults..

I love the way You think I'm beautiful..

I love the way You embrace me..

I love the way You accept me..

I love the way You understand me..

I love the way You listen to me..

I love the way You feel my hurts..

I love the way You grieve with me..

I love the way You laugh with me..

I love the way You want to be with me..

I love the way You love our times together..

I love the way You love me!

I love the way You love the world through me!

We Can Take Heart, Because He Has Overcome and He is Lord - His Love Reigns!

2011-07-20T10:05:00.011-04:00

This song, "Take Heart," by Hillsong, goes along with the whole idea of Christ being Lord - He has conquered and overcome, and we can take heart because He has put us into a place of freedom, security, and grace!

The Lamb has won!

Grace reigns, Freedom reigns, Love reigns!

He has overcome....Jesus is Lord of all!

I love You, Lord!

Take Heart - Lyrics:

There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
He steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
He never fails

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again

In death by love
The fallen world was overcome
He wears the scars of our freedom
In His Name
All our fears are swept away
He never fails

All our troubles and all our tears
God our hope, He has overcome

All our failure and all our fear
God our love, He has overcome

All our heartache and all our pain
God our healer, He has overcome

All our burdens and all our shame
God our freedom, He has overcome

God our justice, God our grace
God our freedom, He has overcome

God our refuge, God our strength
God is with us, He has overcome
Hillsong United

The Lordship of Christ Revisited

2011-07-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Growing up in church, I heard a lot about the Lordship of Christ and making Christ Lord of your life. We were often encouraged to surrender our lives to Christ and commit to follow Him wherever He would lead, do whatever He might tell us to do. With my performance-oriented brain, I tended to see this as a very hard thing. I felt I was being told to give up my 'real' desires and do all kinds of hard things I would hate to prove I was a really 'good' Christian, to prove I really was committed to Him. I figured if I really surrendered and "made Christ Lord" that He would surely send me to work in some foreign jungle with no flush toilets, or that He would force me to marry someone ugly (I really thought that!).. Why did I always think God's will would be something I would dislike? Why did I not see that His will would be 'good, perfect, and acceptable' to me? That His plan for my life would be more beautiful and amazing and soul-satisfying than anything I could dream up? That His plans for me were good, to give me 'a future and a hope?' Perhaps it all stemmed from my view of God as Someone whose agenda was all that mattered to him, not any of my desires or interests. I didn't know that God's agenda is to love us and all people!!

So I was lacking, I think, in my understanding of how loving God really is, and since I saw Him as performance-oriented, I figured the Lordship of Christ centered on getting me to perform things I would rather not do.

But lately God has given me a beautiful, new understanding of what the Lordship of Christ really means! It doesn't have to do with forcing us to do things against our will or making us submit to some horrible plan that we dislike. The Lordship of Christ has to do with freedom!

The Lordship of Christ means that Jesus is Lord and the devil is not! Jesus has all rightful authority over me - and if Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth and in me, the devil has NO authority! Haha! Jesus reigns in my life and sin doesn't! Jesus is over all in my circumstances, and evil does not hold sway! Jesus' righteousness rules in my heart, and condemnation can't stick! Where sin abounds, grace MUCH MORE abounds and trumps sin every time! Where death used to reign, now Life has the upper hand!

I have been planted in the Kingdom of the Son of God's love, and that means that I'm no more held captive in the devil's kingdom - he has no more right to my life! Haha! I'm not a prisoner of Satan, sin, death, shame, guilt, oppression, fear, bondage, or struggle anymore - I've been set free by Jesus, the Rightful Lord of this place! He has bought me back by the cross, and He is my rightful owner, not the enemy! He came to set the captives free and tell the prisoners, "Come out, it's all right, you're safe now!"

The Lordship of Christ means a new Kingdom has begun, a kingdom in which we are FOREVER removed from the threat of death and hell, condemnation and punishment, and the power of sin and the enemy. Satan can't ruin me or destroy me or even touch me, because Jesus is Lord over me! The power of Satan has been defeated in our lives by the cross and resurrection, and Jesus' power holds sway and is flowing through!

We are in a new country now, where we're dead to sin and alive to God in Christ! We won't ever be stuck in that old country again, because we exited it by death and were raised to a whole new life in this new Kingdom of Love and Grace! The Kingdom where Christ, the Lover of our Souls, who means us good and not evil all the days of our lives, REIGNS! In this Kingdom, Love reigns, Grace has the final say, and Goodness wins! In this Kingdom, we are safe and secure, and the enemy can never EVER snatch us out of Christ's hand - because Christ is LORD! In this Kingdom, "surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of my life, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!"

So what does it mean to say, "Jesus is Lord?" To me, it is confessing reality, confessing the truth of what the cross did for me. Saying Jesus is Lord is saying Satan has no more ownership of me - I'm safe in the arms of Him who perfectly loves and protects and keeps me! I'm safely in His embrace, and noone can snatch me out. My problems can't crush me, Satan can't crush me, my own failures and even doubt can't crush me, because Jesus is Lord over all that! He is BIG and that makes everything else small and insignificant in comparison. Jesus is Lord! We are free! Free to enjoy His presence, free to accept ourselves as He accepts us, free to lay down our efforts to be "good" because He's made us "good" with His goodness, free to rest and be at peace, free to enjoy our lives without shame and guilt, free to love the person next to us, free to dance, to sing, to soar in His grace! Free to know Him intimately and be loved like we've never been loved before, for this is what we were made for - intimate fellowship with the Lord of All!

Jesus is Lord - His love reigns and rules!

Jesus is Lord! Hallelujah!

A Favorite Grace Quote

2011-07-17T16:38:00.001-04:00

Here's a favorite grace quote on what God has already done within us by Christ's wonderful work:

By faith we rest in what God has ALREADY done in the unseen and eternal realm within us. He has made us His holy, blameless, irreproachable children. He has made us the righteousness of God in Christ. Our old man died with Christ. We have been raised with Christ as completely new creations, born of God's Spirit. He has made us perfect in His sight. there is no condemnation. He has become one with our spirit, through which He manifest His life to the world.

How many times have we said, "I'd like to be. I wish I were. Maybe someday." And God was on His throne saying, "You are! You are!"

Every one of us who has believed into Christ is complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). We are already holy (Col. 3:12) We are already perfect (Heb. 10:14) We are His righteousness (2 Corin. 5:21) There's nothing else to be done.

There's nothing left for you to do to get close to God. You and God are one. There is no more separation. [He who is joined to the Lord is ONE SPIRIT with Him!]

We live out of what is already true.

from The Rest of the Gospel
by Dan Stone

Photos from our Waterfall Hike

2011-07-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

We recently took a hike to a waterfall, and my daughter took these lovely pictures of our time there. I wanted to share them with all..

Quotes from The Happy God

2011-07-13T09:56:00.001-04:00

Here are some great quotes from the book I'm now reading, The Happy God (by Benjamin Dunn). It's a wonderful book reminding me that God is happy with the finished work of Christ and happy with us, His children!

At the beginning of the book, he defines some common Biblical terms. Many of these are words that I have misunderstood or taken in a more "performance" way than a "grace" way. I wanted to share some of those definitions here:

Gospel - I always knew it meant "good news," but I didn't know how really and amazingly GOOD that news is! I thought it was mainly about forgiveness, sort of giving people a second chance (and we better not blow it this time around!) and going to heaven when we die. But it is so much more! Ben Dunn says the Gospel is "the glad-message of the glory of the happy God; the glad tidings of salvation through Christ; the proclamation of the grace of God manifested and pledged in Christ." It's about the revealing of God's grace through the work of Jesus, to free us from sin and shame and put us safely in His arms forever! It's the message that we are right now reconciled with God and called His friends, and that He's not holding our sins against us, for they've been taken away by Jesus on the cross. This message reveals that God is smiling on us - what a happy God!

Grace - here's another word that I felt clueless about when I tried to define it. I guess I used to think it meant forgiveness. But discovering what grace really means has literally changed my life! Ben Dunn defines it as "total, undeserved divine favor, by which a man is saved. Grace is not just the kindness or mercy that is shown by the Lord when one is in a fallen condition, but Grace is also the influence that keeps one from falling." I love that! Grace means salvation is a completely free gift. Grace means we are favored for free, without having to deserve it, and grace means our salvation is secure, for He will keep us from falling. We didn't have to do anything to get this favor and acceptance, and there is nothing we could do that would cause it to be lost!

Faith - I'm still learning what this one means, for so often in the past I turned faith into a "work," focusing on it as something I must somehow "do" to "get" God to give me good things or be on my side. But that isn't what faith is, for it is the opposite of works! Ben Dunn says it is "a firm persuasion produced by God's infinite goodness. A childlike response to God's wonderful love and works. It is also a gift." Faith is just the natural response when we hear the good news of God's love for us in Jesus. Faith isn't focused on me but on Christ! It's not something I "do;" faith is when I stop my "doing" because I see that Jesus already DID it all! And it's not something I muster up - it's a gift from God, so it's actually Christ's faith in us! Now that's perfect faith..

Flesh - Here's another word that has been tricky for me to figure out. I guess I always thought it meant "the real me," in that I thought of myself as truly bad at the core. Well, that is what the real me WAS, but not what the real me IS NOW, since I've been newly created in Christ! Ben Dunn says flesh is "the unregenerate state of men that was destroyed or cut away by Christ at salvation. "The flesh," "Old-Man," "Sinful-Self" and "Sin-Nature" are all different terms to describe the same unregenerate state." That unregenerate state doesn't exist for us anymore as His children, so none of those terms describe us anymore!

Righteousness - Here's a word that I was also confused about (boy, have I been really confused! Sometimes I still am, but that's okay, because HE isn't confused about our relationship and says it's perfect, keeps it perfect!) I always thought righteousness meant basically doing everything God commanded, and how could I ever think I was totally doing that? So I never felt righteous. I never felt righteous, so I figured I wasn't. And this left me feeling that God wasn't pleased with me, and that it was impossible to please Him. Here is Ben Dunn on what righteousness is: "uprightness and right standing with God. The state of him who is as he ought to be." This is what Christ has given us as a gift! Salvation is simply the deliverance from being un-right with God and being given the gift of being right with God. We're He's truly happy with us because He remade us righteous and acceptable to Him in every way in Christ. We're now rightly related to God with nothing amiss or lacking in that relationship. We are as we were always meant to be, in perfect, right relationship with Him, with absolutely nothing between us!

Justified - This is similar to righteousness, coming from the same Greek word. I never really knew what this word meant. Ben Dunn says to be justified is to be "declared or rendered righteous apart from the works of the Law or self-works." In other words, made right and acceptable before God as a gift, apart from any works needing to be done on our part! My whole life it seems I've been searching for acceptance from God. I never felt really accepted, always felt He was looking at my ways and that I was coming up so very short in His eyes. Oh, how I longed to know He accepted me! And then He started showing me that grace means favor and ACCEPTANCE, and that being righteous or justified (which is basically the gift He gives us at salvation) actually means being ACCEPTED by God, made ACCEPTABLE in His eyes! All along through my whole Christian life, I'd been accepted by God and had been since the moment I'd first believed in Jesus, yet I hadn't known it. I'd been longing for Him to accept me, trying to clean up my act so He would, when He already had! What a wonderful revelation..

God - how do we define God? I guess the way we see Him determines so much about how we relate to Him, ourselves, other people, and our circumstances. I have seen Him as more of a Judge in the past, a very serious and unsmiling person looking at my works and shaking His head in disappointment. I knew or at least heard that He loved me, but it was hard for me to get past the fact that I felt He was requiring me to do things that I was failing at. I always felt He was saying, "do better, why can't you just do better?" But to start to meet the real God has been the greatest joy of my life! He is so loving and happy with us! He is so good and so kind! He isn't looking at our works but at the perfect work of Christ for us. He was literally dying to be with us, and became a man and died to make that union with us possible. He loves, absolutely loves, being with us and spending time with us in fellowship. What a wonderful God! He shows off His glory for all time through Jesus and His work in us - He shows off how wonderful and loving and good He really is! Ben Dunn has a quote in his book about God that describes Him as "the Good Being, a fountain of infinite benevolence and beneficence towards His creatures..In a word, a Being who, from His infinite wisdom, cannot err or be deceived; and who, from His infinite goodness, can do nothing but what is eternally just, right, and kind." What a wonderful God!

Thank God We Just Can't Escape Him!

2011-07-10T09:15:00.003-04:00

Thank You, Lord, that I can't escape You! Thank You that You won't let me go!

Everybody crashes down
Sometimes
Everything come falling down
Sometimes
I don't even know how,
Or know why

At times I try to hide away
From Your eyes
At times I'm covered in shame
From my lies
You sweep me into Your embrace
And I cry

The thing I can't escape is You
The promise that You made is You
Will pull me through
You're never far away no matter what I do
The thing I can't escape is You

It's You
Your grace
Irresistible
It's true, it's true
Your grace
Irresistible

The thing I can't escape is You
The thing I can't escape is You

Rush of Fools

The Happy God

2011-07-07T14:17:00.001-04:00

I am reading a wonderful book right now called The Happy God, by Benjamin Dunn. He makes a wonderful point in the book that the Bible actually describes God as a happy God!

In 1 Tim. 1:11, Paul calls the good news of grace "the glorious gospel of the blessed God," and in 1 Tim. 6:15, he calls God "the blessed and only Ruler." In both of those verses, the Greek word translated "blessed" is makarios, which basically means "happy!"

It's wonderful to me to think of my dear God and Father as happy. So often in the past I have imagined Him as very serious, maybe even frowning in disapproval or shaking His head in disappointment. But the Bible describes Him as happy! And since He is perfect, He is perfectly happy. Since He is everything in an infinite way, He is infinitely happy. And He is infinitely happy with us and in us!

Back in Gen. 1:31, when God saw everything that He had made, it was very good. And He blessed the man and woman He had made. Eden was a pristine and innocent place of perfection, a place filled with God's joy and happiness. And now that Jesus has come and died and rose and ascended for us, we have something better than Eden within us right now! We are new creations! The old has passed away and is forever gone - destroyed! - and the new has come! And I think God sees us, His new creations that He has perfectly made in Christ, and He sees that what He has made is very good, and He smiles and is so happy! Happy because we are beautiful to Him and happy because fellowship is ours, the intimate spiritual fellowship of being IN Someone, because the very Spirit of God dwells in us! We dwell in God and He in us, how wonderful..

I believe God is happy and delighted with us today. His Holy Spirit in me is always joy, pure joy. Always love and delight in me. Always grace and tender love. Always open and accepting. Always there in support and always there lifting me up when I'm down. He has shown me the true nature of God - delighting, joyful Love!

We worship a Happy God! He sings a love song over us today, to quiet our hearts and make us rejoice (Zeph. 3:17). He smiles upon us with shining eyes (Num. 6:24) as a Proud Papa, for He is proud and happy with us, His little children!

Thank You, Lord, and let us enjoy Your joy today!

Already

2011-07-04T08:57:00.001-04:00

I have been one who has been insecure about God's love for me. I have tried to get it, tried to keep it, agonized when I felt I'd lost it, wondered if I had it, wanted it but felt it was just out of reach..so many lying voices I've listened to concerning His love for me!

Yet one day I could try no more. I was so tired and just basically gave up trying to get His love and favor, trying to finally feel I was "right" and "okay" and "pleasing" to Him. All my Christian life seemed to be a bust, and I just quit trying.

And He whispered to me that I was His own child, that He loved me anyway.

He had already proved His love for me before I was even born. If someone actually being willing to die for you doesn't show the greatest love a person can have for another, I don't know what does! I haven't ever thought of it that way, really, but that cross is such a proof of love. We look around and sometimes feel noone cares, noone is willing to listen, noone will take any time for us, noone would actually give up anything to help us. And here is Jesus giving up all just to be with us! We are worth sooo much! We are cared for, cherished, and loved beyond our wildest dreams!

There's no need to earn such a love. It's already been given, long before we were even born.

Long before we were even created, God already loved us. He loved us knowing all that we would do. He loved us knowing all the mess we'd make of our lives. He saw every thing that we feel is rotten about us, and He LOVED us still, loved us anyway, loved us with all that junk! And He went and became a man and died to absorb all our junk into Himself and carry it away, so it could harm and defeat and shame us into hiding NO LONGER! So we could finally be free to enjoy the love that has always been ours. To enjoy the God who has always been on our side. To be held in the arms that have always been available to us. To open up to the Friend who has always been there for us. To embrace the Father who has always cherished us. To relish the intimacy of being in the family we've always been meant to belong to.

We were made to be loved by Him. This is where we belong. And it's already been done. There is NOTHING left for us to do! We can just accept it!

Your failures are gone, that you are loved and welcomed in! There is nothing between you and God! He is fine with you! He loves you forever! You can relax in His arms...

Because He Is In Us..

2011-07-02T08:11:00.003-04:00

Because He is in us, always and forever in perfect loving communion with us, in a relationship based on His grace and love and set in spiritual concrete through the sufficient and finished work of Christ, because of that wonderful reality, we will always be:

Cherished, adored, valued,
Taken in, accepted, embraced,
Held, affirmed, wanted,
Cared about, cared for, nurtured,
Supported, helped, strengthened,
Guided, cheered, comforted,
Kept, secure, safe,
Warmed, hugged, nestled,
Upheld, carried, lifted up,
Chosen, wanted, delighted in,
Valuable, listened to, remembered,
Thought of, important, significant,
Companioned, attended to, encouraged,
Whole, complete, sure,
Released, empowered, freed,
Needed, joined, included,
Celebrated, smiled upon, favored,
Befriended, fellowshipped with,enjoyed,

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED!

Thank You, dear Lord!

There's No Other Name Like Yours, Jesus

2011-06-30T08:45:00.000-04:00

He is everything to us, and there's no other Person and no other Name like His!

When We Feel Lost and Far Away..

2011-06-29T11:32:00.012-04:00

This song describes how I felt when I was in a deep, dark, lonely and depressed place that I felt I couldn't get out of.

And God came into my situation, was there for me and lifted me out! Grace!

Hey, I just realized the date this post is publishing - and it was exactly one year ago today that God lifted me out of my darkness by just immersing and baptizing me in His Spirit! Coincidence? I think not!

We can sometimes feel lost and far away, yet He's still right there. He will wash away all those lying voices and troubling thoughts..And show us we're still in His love, as always.. He is there with us in the pain and He is the One who brings us through and lifts us up!

When Jesus Erases the Lies That Hurt Us

2011-06-28T09:18:00.005-04:00

I read a story once in the book Messy Spirituality (by Mike Yaconelli) that really touched my heart. It was an account of a lady named Margaret who had been horribly shamed in childhood. A teacher had decided on a terrible punishment for her tardiness to class: she had made Margaret stand in front of the room while each of the other students came to the blackboard and wrote a sentence about how "bad" Margaret was. The students wrote, one by one, words like "Margaret is stupid! Margaret is selfish! Margaret is fat!" The teacher said this "might motivate" the poor girl to "become a better student." But what it did was crush her spirit and cause her years of heartache, as she watched herself become what those words said, because of the hold those lies held on her. Those lies seared her soul and wounded her deeply, causing her to limp through life feeling unworthy and rotten.

I realized recently that I have been living under a lie that has crippled me as well. I hate how the enemy lies to us and how we can live under what isn't even true. The particular lie that crippled me was "You are a terrible friend. There is something wrong with you. People only tolerate you. Noone would ever want to be close to you. Noone would ever want you for a best friend." Noone would ever want me for a best friend - those words have haunted me for years and years as I have seemingly searched in vain for a really good friend. A best friend. But the words of that lie seemed to be true in my experience. It seemed that noone really did want me to be close to them, to be a truly close friend and confidante. If it weren't for my dear husband, I would truly have felt totally alone. He is truly my best friend. And I know God is my ultimate best friend. But still, women seem to need each other as friends. We seem to need someone to share and laugh with, to talk about wildly swinging moods or clothes or childbirth. It just seems to be the way God made us. And I didn't seem to have that best friend with whom I could share what was on my heart. The lie seeped in deeper and made me feel unworthy, defective, and like an outsider. But it was so deep down below the surface that I didn't even know I believed all this - I didn't even see this lie in my life! But still, like Margaret, lying words had been written across my soul, and I was wounded by them.

But Jesus is our Healer! He comes in and erases the lies of the enemy. He heals, lifts up and restores! That is what He did for Margaret. A counselor helped her through her troubled feelings and wounds. He talked with her for a long time, then asked her to relive that day back in the classroom. Margaret recalled every single student, describing each one and what that person wrote that was "bad" about her. She was in tears as she spoke about that awful day. Then the counselor told Margaret that she had forgotten one person:

"You left out one person...See, He's sitting in the back of the classroom. He's standing up...now He's walking over to the blackboard and picking up an eraser. He is erasing every one of the sentences the students wrote. They are gone! Margaret, they are gone! Now He's turning and looking at you, Margaret. Do you recognize Him yet? Yes, His name is Jesus. Look, He's writing new sentences on the board. 'Margaret is loved. Margaret is beautiful. Margaret is gentle and kind. Margaret is strong. Margaret has great courage.'" (Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality, p. 76-7)

And what happened when the counselor said that? Margaret began to cry. Then her crying changed over to smiling, then to laughing and tears of joy!

I love that story! That is exactly what Jesus does in His grace! He comes in and erases the awful lies that Satan has tried to tell us about ourselves, that we are stupid, unworthy, unlovable, terrible, strange, and hideous. And our dear Lord writes in new sentences that are the truth about us: we are loved, we are worth something, we are whole, we are accepted, we are significant, we are beautiful! And His truth sets us FREE to laugh and to dance and to sing with joy!

Jesus brought healing to me yesterday as well. I joined Margaret in seeing my sorrow turn to gladness. He is so amazing. He brought me a dear friend, someone that I dared to open up to about this deep anxiety I had. It was scary and very vulnerable. But the friend He sent was very patient and loving. She ministered grace to me. She never made me feel like a defective person. She gave me the precious gift of understanding. She acted like I was worth helping and she took a long time with me to work out my thoughts and beliefs. She was Jesus to me yesterday! That is exactly the way He is, isn't it? He doesn't ever crush a bruised spirit. He is gentle and comforting, and He ministers healing balm to us. He ministered that to me. Through my friend, He made me feel special and worth something, that I was someone worth spending time with and worth helping. Through her, Jesus began erasing the lies that I had lived under for so long, the lies that said I was worthless, not wanted, and not "good enough" to ever have a best friend.

The real healing, though, came right at the end of my conversation with my friend. Suddenly, she started saying over and over, "We are best friends. You are my best friend. Best, best BEST!" It was like Jesus was re-writing the sentences on my blackboard! It was like He was saying to me: "You are special. You are lovable. You are beautiful. You are loved. You are MY best friend and you are worthy of being/having a best friend." It was like a waterfall of love pouring over me, so healing and refreshing. It was such a moment of release - in that moment, God healed me of the wounds those awful lies had inflicted! The feeling was so freeing, like a little bird taking wing and floating on currents of air!

The enemy tries to tell us awful lies about ourselves. It's crippling to listen to such trash. Sometimes he's so subtle, and our feelings and circumstances can make the lies seem so true. But they're NOT true! Jesus is erasing those lies by His grace-words to us! He is every day whispering the truth of our belovedness into our spiritual ears. He will get His message across. He won't give up until we see that every lie has been erased and that our spiritual 'blackboard' has been filled with His life-giving, Spirit-words of truth and love for us! He is truly my Best Friend, and He also lets me know I'm worth being someone's best friend down here on earth as well. And so are you! You're worth something! You're valuable! This world would be a much darker place without you in it! You are special! Jesus, your Best Friend, the One with that holy eraser and life-writing chalk in His nail-scarred hand, says so!

(This post is dedicated to my dear friend Martha, who showed the love of Jesus to me yesterday. I love you, M, and thank God for you..)

Random Photos

2011-06-25T21:33:00.000-04:00

Here are some beautiful flower photos that my daughter, the budding photographer, has taken...

For Those Who Have Nothing

2011-06-23T07:24:00.005-04:00

I seem to be in a song mood lately. It's wonderful to find some new songs that are about His grace! Here's one I found recently - This is a great grace song by Rush of Fools...

"For Those"

For those who are worn with nothing to bring but empty hands
For those who are weak, for those who can't find the strength to stand

Lord we know it's for those You've come
Lord we know it's for those You've given Your Son
Lord we know it's for those who can't come on their own
That You've come, You have come for those

For those who are poor
For those who are broken, those who mourn
For those bound by chains with no way to freedom but for grace
But for grace

Rush of Fools

You Love Me Anyway

2011-06-22T08:28:00.001-04:00

Sometimes in the morning, I wake up with a song going through my mind - I feel like God has put the song there to encourage me and remind me of His love and presence. This was the song He gave me this morning, and boy, did I ever need it today! He loves me anyway, He thinks I'm worth knowing and even worth dying for.

I have heard all my life that Jesus loved me enough to die for me, and it's something I had heard so much that sometimes I wasn't seeing the real impact of that great truth. But one day when I was thinking some lonely thoughts, wondering if anyone really wanted me around, God showed me that Jesus wanted me around so much He was willing to actually give His life up for me. He truly died for me, to wipe away the tears and shame and hurt and oppression the enemy has wreaked on my life. He thinks I am worth something, and He is even lonely for my friendship and fellowship.

He just can't bear to be without us! We are worth something! We have an amazing value, the value equal to the precious blood of Christ! We are worth knowing and worth loving. We are worth Jesus. We aren't friendless or rejected. He says He has NOT rejected us but has embraced us in His Son! We are held forever in the arms that won't let go!

Thank You, Lord, that You want to be our Best Friend. Thank You that You actually want to talk with us and commune with us, that those are Your favorite times and the whole reason You created us - it was in love, through love, and for love that You made us! We were made to be with You, hugged by You forever. You even delight in our love to You! What a beautiful thing that our words of worship and love minister to Your heart. I love You, Lord!

There Is Nothing

2011-06-19T07:23:00.000-04:00

There is nothing, no,
There is nothing You can't do

There is no wilderness,
No desert place, no sickness
There is no sinking ship,
No history, no weakness
That You can't save me from
That You can't save me from

When I can't find strength
I'm needing to get up
I'm not outside Your reach
You rescue me with love

Rush of Fools

He rescues us with love - what a great line in this song...

Praise God that He can do ANYTHING!

No matter what terrible pit we find ourselves in, He comes down to deliver us in some way!

Thank You, Lord, that You are a God of deliverance...to me grace means not only that You will always be with us and accept us no matter what we do or where we end up, but also that You will do something about our situation so that we can come through in victory and peace.Thank You for that!

The Simple Gospel

2011-06-17T09:52:00.000-04:00

My daughter's group at church was having a discussion of the gospel, seeking to put it into only a few simple words. Taking what was said there and thinking my own thoughts as well, it comes out about like this:

The Simple Gospel:

God loves us.

But we screwed up.

God took responsibility for our mistake.

And Jesus fixed the whole thing.

That's grace in a nutshell!

We got into a mess, and Jesus got us out.

Thank You, Lord!

Can't Get Away

2011-06-15T09:09:00.000-04:00

We just can't get away from His love, His mercy, His kindness, His presence, His keeping, His care..

That's grace!

Lyrics to "Can't Get Away" by Rush of Fools:

I am an arrow, I am a rocket
I am a river and nothing can stop it
Cause You are the target and You are the atmosphere
You are the ocean that keeps pulling me, You're pulling me here

I am a beggar, You are the table
I am so helpless, God You are so able
And when I get turned around You change my direction
You're so perfect, I'm so broken, here You come with arms wide open
Chasing after me down every road
You're always waiting there

Even when I close my eyes, I can't help but see
There's no place that I can hide, You're such a part of me
I can't get away cause I keep running into You
I can't get away...

I'll never get away
I'll never get away
Can't get away
I keep running into you

Rush of Fools

The Connection Between Grace and the Holy Spirit

2011-06-13T05:30:00.001-04:00


				Reflecting on the Holy Spirit and Grace by Bob Hoekstra "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication." (Zechariah 12:10) Let's take a reflective look at our meditations on the Holy Spirit as a reminder that we are still studying about the grace of God. In considering how to live by the fullness of the Spirit, we have examined how to live more fully by the grace of God. In Zechariah 4:6, we observed the connection between living by the Spirit and living by the grace of God: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit." Serving the Lord is accomplished by the work of the Spirit in and through our lives, not by natural capabilities. The next verse restates this truth in terms of God's grace. "And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace to it'!" Every completed task in the service of God is accomplished by His grace (God's undeserved resources), not by our ingenuity or merit. We also saw how the early church experienced this relationship between the Spirit and grace. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness…And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:31, 33). The boldness they experienced through the Holy Spirit is described as a result of great grace at work upon them. Jesus came to establish a new covenant. "This cup is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:20). This covenant was characterized by grace, in contrast to the old covenant that Moses set in place. "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). This new covenant of grace is also a covenant of the Spirit. "Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). When the Lord Jesus returns and Israel humbly bows to Him as their Messiah, this wondrous response will be the result of "the Spirit of grace" being poured out upon them. This glorious title, identifying grace with the Holy Spirit, beautifully sums up the grand truth that living by grace and walking in the Spirit are two perspectives on the same precious reality. Bob Hoekstra I really enjoyed reading this about how grace and the Holy Spirit are interwoven. The wonderful goal of the cross and resurrection - having the very life of God to be within us by the Holy Spirit - is a grace-gift. The Holy Spirit is freely given to us without our earning or deserving. The Holy Spirit ministers the New Covenant of grace to us. He always relates toward us in grace. He pours the unconditional love of God into our hearts. He doesn't point out our sin but instead convinces us of our righteousness in Christ. His way is never the way of law but always the way of grace. He doesn't require from without; He gives godly desires from within. Thus He moves us to live a life of love by motivating us through grace and freedom, not compulsion. He even bears the fruit of righteousness in our lives, doing what we couldn't do on our own. From first to last, our Christian life is a product of the work of the Spirit of God in and through us! He is grace in a Person! How wonderful that the blessed Spirit within us in this New Covenant is Grace Himself!

God Wants Us Around

2011-06-11T09:05:00.002-04:00

It hit me yesterday that our times of just "hanging out" with God don't just bless us - they bless HIM as well!

God actually wants us around! He loves being with us and loves our company! It blesses His great heart to have us communing with Him. He truly delights in our company!

What a Friend!

It's so nice to know that we have a Friend

who loves us unconditionally
who is never too busy to talk
who loves to laugh with us and to hear us laugh
who truly rejoices with us and weeps with us
who stands up for us and defends us against our accusers
who comes along to bear our burdens so we don't feel alone
who won't discard us when we seem no longer "useful" to him
who isn't just "using" us
who isn't just tolerating us but really likes our company
who actually enjoys our company
who truly enjoys hearing all we have to say
who never judges or criticizes
who always builds us up, never tears us down'
who won't kick us when we're down
who WANTS us for a friend
who thinks we're amazing, wonderful, and worth knowing
who is actually blessed by our companionship
who will faithfully keep all our secrets
who won't ever desert us or abandon us
who will always be there for us
who just loves our times of being together
who is faithful no matter what
who lets us be real
who accepts us as we are
who doesn't demand that we change or improve
who always speaks to us in love
who won't be driven away by our rants and quirks and failures
who still loves us even when we lash out at him
who feels our pain and cares about our hurts
who truly understands us, always
who says we're his best friend
who won't replace us sometime with someone he likes more
who does everything in his power to help us and encourage us
who is there for us whenever we need him
who delights in and celebrates our personality
who won't ever be irritable or angry with us
who will be our BEST FRIEND forever

Thank You, Lord, that You are our Best Friend! It amazes me that You want me around, that You won't discard or desert me, that You treat me as Your best friend and see this friendship as so important and valuable to You that You would be dying to have us in fellowship! I have always felt so lonely, always felt people were just tolerating me, and that once they found out what I was really like they would leave. I have always wanted a friend who would truly love me for me and not leave me. I have found that Friend in You a thousand times over. You are all I could ever hope for in a Friend and in a God! Thank You forever!

The Bottom Line

2011-06-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

The bottom line for me, the truth that God keeps bringing me back to, the truth I need to hear every day of my life, the foundation of my whole way of living, now and forever, is expressed so well in this quote from The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning:

"...through no merit of ours, but by His mercy, we have been restored to a right relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of His beloved Son. This is the good News, the gospel of grace."

Wow! We have been put into a right relationship with God through Jesus' work. There is nothing wrong with our relationship with God and there never will be, no matter what sin or confusion or doubt we may experience. There is nothing wrong with our relationship with God; instead, there is everything right with our relationship with Him!

This is a perfect relationship where everything is always fine between us, even after we blow it, even if we fail to pray today, even if circumstances suddenly go crazy. We will always be in that beautiful place, safe in His arms, forgiven and whole, accepted and cradled, loved and valued, alive and vibrant, full and free, carried through in strength and hope and triumph - safely home, at peace, at rest, in fellowship with the One who truly cherishes us and looks on us with delight, forever!

And to think - we have that wonderful joyous relationship for free, as a gift, simply to be received with the "Thank You, Daddy!" of simple faith. That is beautiful! What a glorious gospel is the gospel of grace!

Grace and Getting a Smile...

2011-06-06T08:54:00.003-04:00

"The Gospel is not the message of what we must do to get a SMILE on the face of God. It is the message about what HE HAS DONE to get a SMILE ON YOUR FACE. The GOSPEL soooo gooood. It reveals GOD! How can we then but LOVE HIM?"

Bertie Brits

Wow, I'd never thought of it that way before...what a wonderful truth!

This quote makes me think of the wonder of the gospel of grace! It reminds me that God wasn't the One who had a problem and needed to be placated. He has always loved us humans and has always been on our side, wanting us to know Him. He has been longing for restored fellowship with us since that fateful day of the Fall back in Eden. We were the ones with the problem - sin had altered our perception of God, and our shame and feelings of guilt were keeping us from approaching Him with any kind of confidence. We couldn't understand or enjoy His love. We were trapped in the confused and distorted lies of sin.

So He did everything possible to put that smile back on our face, that smile in knowing without a doubt we are loved and cared for by God. While we were still sinners, He showed that love for us by Christ's own death for us. He took upon Himself the guilt and shame we felt, took upon us that old sin nature that gave us such a distorted and erroneous view of God and which controlled us and brought us to ruin. He took away every sin and reconciled us to God (not God to us, He always loved us and wanted us near!) - wow!

The whole work of the cross wasn't to get an angry God to finally calm down enough to tolerate having us in His presence without destroying us. NO! The whole point of the cross was to win our hearts back! To open our eyes to the One who has loved us from eternity past, before there ever was a world, before we ever sinned, before anything. To draw us back into His arms, the arms that long to hold us forever!

He thinks you're worth knowing. You are a pearl of great price, so precious and valuable to Him that He gave up everything to have you with Him. He thinks you're worth dying for! The Love we've longed for all our life not only exists, it's ours right now and forever! The gospel message isn't "do this or that and hope to get on His good side." It's "All is forgiven, come home, I can't bear to be without you!" Amazing love! The gospel is such good news! It truly does bring a smile to our face, and it is so true - how can we NOT love such a wonderful and beautiful God?

Peace Be Still

2011-06-04T07:32:00.000-04:00

You are our only peace when our world turns upside down.

You are the Only One who can calm our troubled hearts.

You are the only place we can find refuge and rest for our weary souls.

Thank You, dear Lord, for being our Peace!

Here are the lyrics from "Peace Be Still" by Rush of Fools:

Come to Me, you who are weak
Let My strength be yours tonight
Come and rest, let My love be your bed
Let My heart be yours tonight

Come empty cup, let Me fill you up
I'll descend on you like a dove tonight
Lift your head, let your eyes fall into Mine
Let your fear subside tonight

Peace be still, Peace be still
Please be still and know that I am God
and know that I am God
Rush of Fools

Spring Flowers

2011-06-02T03:49:00.001-04:00

Here are some Spring flowers from around our yard..my daughter took the photos..

Sufficient Grace

2011-06-01T15:07:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I look at my weakness, my performance and my believing, and I say, "Lord, it's not sufficient."

But God looks at His grace and love and Christ's performance and believing, and He says, "It's more than sufficient."

I am totally accepted and qualified and righteous FOR FREE, not because of anything in me or my works, but because of what Christ did. His work on my behalf stands for all time, perfect and blameless!

Now THAT'S something (Someone!) I can rest in with confidence!

"Faith is the awareness of His grace." (Sammy Bilyeu)

Holy Love

2011-05-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

"God is love...God is light...God is holy.."

I was thinking recently how all these phrases come together. In the past my idea of God's holiness and the fact that He is Light ran along these lines: "He is so perfect that He doesn't want to be soiled by us dirty sinners." This idea didn't really make me feel I could approach God - it just seemed to make me feel more unworthy and despairing of ever being close to God.

But the reality is that God's holiness is so different than that! God's holiness doesn't have a connotation of judging and condemnation, of pointing out our faults. God's holiness has a connotation of attracting us to His love. Jesus was perfectly holy, and that holiness didn't repel people. It attracted the worst kinds of sinners and gave them hope. His holiness was the purity and perfection of love and grace!

He is holy - without any imperfection. All that He is - grace, love, joy, gentleness, goodness, peace, patience, self-control - He is all that perfectly, without an ounce of anything different. Think of having a person like that as your Friend; you would be drawn to such a person and feel totally at ease openly up to Him. You would be able to trust Him implicitly, knowing you would never be rejected by Him but only perfectly understood, cared for, and loved! As He shows me His love and grace, I see His holiness is beautiful, healing, attractive and freeing! It means that He is perfectly pure in all His attributes, perfectly and completely those things in all His relations with us:

He is kind in a perfect way, with no unkindness in Him!

He is patient with no impatience mixed in at all!

His compassion and goodness go all the way, and all He does all the time is in perfect compassion and goodness!

He is pure, unadulterated joy and peace, with no hint of displeasure or strife.

He is totally gentle, without one single speck of harshness!

He loves perfectly, is that way every time, without fail, without any unloving traits - ever! He loves without fault, without wavering, without stopping, without shortage.

He is holy in every way toward us - He is perfect love, peace, joy and grace - without fault or blemish or change!

There is no shadow of turning with Him. God has no "dark side," no shadowy part of His character. He is HOLY - He is 100% purely and completely who He is - Perfect LOVE, GRACE, JOY, and PEACE! That means He is 100% trustworthy for all our needs, for all our days...

"Christ In Me" by James Stewart

2011-05-28T07:37:00.000-04:00

Here is an excerpt on the meaning of "Christ in me" from the book A Man in Christ by James Stewart. (I found this on Merrill Thompson's facebook page. Check out his page for many more grace excerpts from different writers.)

"'Christ in me' means Christ bearing me along from within, Christ the motive-power that carries me on, Christ giving my whole life a wonderful poise and lift, and turning every burden into wings. All this is in it when the apostle speaks of 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' (Col. 1:27). Compared with this, the religion which bases everything on example is pitifully rudimentary. This, and this alone, is true Christian religion. Call it mysticism or not - the name matters little; the thing, the experience, matters everything. To be 'in Christ,' to have Christ within, to realize your creed not as something you have to bear but as something by which you are borne, this is Christianity. It is more: it is release and liberty, life with an endless song at its heart. It means feeling within you, as long as life here lasts, the carrying power of Love Almighty; and underneath you, when you come to die, the touch or everlasting arms."

James Stewart

Wow - We don't have a religion we have to carry around - we have a Christ that carries us!

Jesus Culture - I Adore You

2011-05-26T07:30:00.003-04:00

What a beautiful worship song...it's by Phil Wickham and sung here by Jesus Culture..

We adore You, Lord Jesus!

We love everything You are!

And You are everything to us...

The lyrics:

Mercy falls from Your heart down on me
Glory streams from Your face so lovely
A million words could not describe
How marvelous Your perfect light

I adore You
I will sing it with all my heart
I adore You
I love everything You are

That my heart, beats to the rhythm of Your heart
That my eyes focus on Your beautiful eyes
A million tongues could not express
How beautiful Your holiness

My life is yours and will be forever
My love is yours

Nothing is Wrong!

2011-05-24T10:07:00.002-04:00

I sometimes have these feelings that something is wrong between God and me, that I am lacking in some way, have failed or need to do more, that I need to do something to get close with God. These feelings produce an uneasiness and sense of something being "off" in my relationship with God. They are the typical lies of our old enemy, aren't they? Fellow grace-lover Mike Fitzpatrick calls these lying feelings "the stun-gun of the ol' blamer boy." Yuck..

Yet God is reminding me of reality - that NOTHING IS WRONG!

Nothing is wrong with me - I am PERFECT before Him, since by one sacrifice Christ perfected me forever! So that's that..

And nothing is wrong with the relationship between God and me - Jesus has brought me into this grace in which I stand. That's where I always am, in a perfect grace relationship with God. Actually, I have been put into the midst of the relationship of the Father and the Son - now THAT'S a perfect relationship, one that is never lacking or "off" in any way!

There's nothing missing, nothing "off", nothing lacking, nothing incomplete between God and me.

I am perfect and complete before Him, in a perfect and complete relationship! Whether I always feel it, realize it, experience it, or not!

Because of Christ, NOTHING is wrong with us and EVERYTHING is right with us!
Because of Christ NOTHING is wrong with our relationship with God and EVERYTHING is right with our relationship with God!

We walk around today as perfectly loved and perfectly righteous saints in a perfect relationship with the God who perfectly acts on our behalf!

We've got it so good... Oh, what a happy gospel! That means when I have those old lying feelings of lack and condemnation, I can just rejoice in the truth that EVERYTHING is really fine between God and me. I can just ignore those lies and keep enjoying the perfect fellowship I have with Him in the Spirit, because that fellowship hasn't been disrupted or changed at all, no matter what thoughts or feelings may have insinuated. I love it! Thank You, Lord, for reminding me of this..

We are living in the Spirit in PERFECT fellowship with Him today. There is nothing between us. We are so bonded with Him that we are ONE forever. Our Perfect Friend is in perfect relationship with us forever.. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being that perfect, always understanding, always present, always uplifting, always loving friend to us! You never stop pouring out that waterfall of love and grace upon us! Hallelujah!

:)

Forever reign

2011-05-21T23:45:00.002-04:00

What a wonderful song - it's Forever Reign by Hillsong..

All that we need, He is..

We are one with Him in spirit, always together, always having all we need - HIM!

Noone and nothing satisfies our heart like He does..

In our hearts, we're running into His arms and He is the provision for our every need!

The lyrics:

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost it's sting

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing
no other name
Jesus, Jesus

Four Big Truths

2011-05-19T23:05:00.001-04:00

There are four big truths I keep coming back to over and over in my Christian walk. They are so deep and rich, I feel I will continue learning about them more and more as time goes by..

These truths ground me in my faith and make me rejoice in my wonderful Savior and Friend, Jesus, the lovely One! They free me to enjoy the real goal of the Christian life - knowing and fellowshipping with Christ!

I am my Beloved's and He is mine. He has called me to rise and come away with Him, away from my problems and worries and efforts and struggles and confusions and distractions and feelings of lack - to just come away with Him to the heights of joy and be happy with Him! To just be happy in our perfect relationship! For we have a perfect relationship; I am perfect before Him, and He is perfect towards me - forevermore! All because of His finished work!

Four big truths:

1) I am loved and accepted by God - so He will never shun or mistreat me!

2) I am right with God - so He'll never get angry or disappointed with me!

3) I am complete in Him - so He'll never see any sin or lack in me again!

4) I am united with God - so He'll never leave or abandon me!

Think about it - you are perfect to God! You are completely included, accepted, taken in and embraced today. You are right with Him, complete and not lacking before Him in any way. And you are bonded with Him, sealed with the Spirit into a relationship of perfect oneness and intimacy! He is always delighting in you! Wow!

Lord, reveal the depths of these truths to us! That way we can forget about our sins and struggles and self-efforts - just as You have forgotten about them - and we can focus on just enjoying You and Your grace!

Dance, Dance! Because of Amazing Grace..

2011-05-17T08:41:00.003-04:00

Oh, what a happy gospel!

Our sins are gone, remembered no more (Heb. 8:12)!

We are alive in Christ, new creations - the old is gone (2 Co. 5:17)!

We are accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6)!

We are right with God, at peace with Him, by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1)!

We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)!

We are in the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (Rom. 8:9, 2 Co. 3:17)!

We are in the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)!

We are one spirit with Him, in beautiful, intimate fellowship (1 Co. 6:17, 1 Jn. 1:3)

Oh, what a happy gospel - thank You, Jesus!

Random Thoughts

2011-05-15T16:30:00.000-04:00

(My daughter took this picture of the rhododendrons in front of the house..just wanted to share that!)

Here are some random thoughts that have come to me:

What God wants to do in my life cannot be stopped! Circumstances can't stop Him, the devil can't stop Him, and even my own failings can't stop Him from completing His purpose in my life!

Our new spirit is born of imperishable seed and cannot die..the life we have now is HIS life, which is eternal and can't die! That's security..

The Spirit is like a boxer who has entered the ring to fight for me. I may be puny, but He is gigantic and enforces His victorious strength so easily!

He is holding on to me. I don't have to worry about holding on to Him.

Sin isn't on God's mind. Jesus is on His mind, and us in Him..

The friend I've always wanted, to be committed to me, to listen to me without judgment, to always be there for me, to unconditionally accept me, to always want me around and actually enjoy my company - is HIM! He tells me "All that you want in a friend I AM!"

Assume that you have faith and have righteous desires, because...you do! It's our nature..

When feeling that old feeling of not-good-enough, guilty, condemned, must "do" something to get close to God again - remember it's all a lie from the enemy. EVERY negative thought is a lie from the enemy. Remember that NOTHING is wrong and that you are fine and right and one with Him, right now!

Since Jesus set us free, we are free forever and free indeed! The evil one cannot touch us, and no attack or lie will prove fatal. We are free!

Because of what Jesus did, God will never stop favoring me, accepting me, being on my side, or blessing me. No matter what! That's grace!

The gifts of God - salvation, freedom, acceptance, righteousness, the Spirit, power, victory - are irrevocable and can't be lost, no matter how much we mess up!

Right now the Holy Spirit is in me delighting in me...I am valued and loved. Someone thinks I'm special.. The God of all the universe was literally dying to fellowship with me.

At all times, every day, no matter what happens, whether we sense it or not, we are in the Presence of Perfect Love! We live out of the Father's embrace..Our Daddy is 100% pure and infinite love, the love we've always wanted and the love we'll celebrate for all eternity. THAT'S where we live!

God isn't about punishing sin. He's about imparting LIFE. His main focus isn't shaping us up. His main focus is loving us!

:)

Stray Thoughts and His Whispers

2011-05-12T11:34:00.000-04:00

Stray Thought: Sure He cares about the ones who are "together", but why would He care about you...

His Whisper: YOU are My beloved child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought: Maybe you were once a strong Christian, but look at you now, you've fallen away..

His Whisper: You ARE My beloved child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought: You don't belong anywhere, nobody thinks you're worth including in their life..

His Whisper: You are MY beloved child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought: How could God love you - you're a mess and worthless..

His Whisper: You are My BELOVED child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought: You're all on your own - face it, noone is going to take care of you anymore..

His Whisper: You are My beloved CHILD in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought: You blew it, you're guilty and God is surely displeased and disappointed..

His Whisper: You are My beloved child in whom I AM well-pleased!

Stray Thought: You'll never be good enough, you are always lacking..

His Whisper: You are My beloved child in whom I am WELL-PLEASED!

The Father said it to Jesus at His baptism: the Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

And we have been put in Christ. His history is our history. The love the Father has for Him is the love the Father has for us. As He is, so are we in this world. We've been brought into that same intimate relationship with the Father that Jesus has, and the Spirit of sonship is there to tell us of that sonship that we have. He's there to cement into our hearts that intimacy that is ours with Him! He is there crying out "Papa, papa!" within us, and He is transmitting that word to our hearts that the Father is constantly speaking over us: "You are My beloved son (child), in whom I am well-pleased!"

I needed so much to hear that today. I asked God to just remind me of my acceptance in Him. It is what ours hearts long to hear and the very foundation of our Christian lives. Well, He led me to a devotional reading, and I read those very words that we are accepted in the Beloved, accepted as God accepts His own Son! Wow! He is so good to always remind us of the truth and build us up. He is perfect love. May we all enjoy the acceptance that is ours as a fact, by right of inheritance, freely given to us in Christ!

Dear Father, thank You for whispering to us over and over, "You are My beloved child, in whom I am well-pleased!"

The Bear Hug of God

2011-05-10T02:51:00.001-04:00

Here's a wonderful quote from The Lost Secret of the New Covenant:

"When we are given a bear hug, or a fervent embrace, all the ideas associated with love move from an intellectual concept to the actual experience of being loved. When we say that God loves us, we must never think of that in terms of a cold statement of doctrine; we must understand that the Holy Spirit is God in the act of loving us, embracing and enfolding His arms about us. The Holy Spirit is God running to us, flinging His arms around us, and passionately loving us." Malcolm Smith

The Holy Spirit is God Himself loving me, embracing me, holding me, caressing me, cherishing me, enfolding me in His arms.

The Holy Spirit is in us to give us the Father's bear hug of love!

God and the Dolphins

2011-05-08T02:07:00.038-04:00

Recently my family visited a big aquarium that has a dolphin show. As we watched these beautiful creatures leap through the air with flips and twists and amazing synchronized arches over the water, I admit that tears ran down my cheeks. It was just so beautiful to see these lovely creations of God in a playful and graceful celebration of life. For some reason it reminded me of God, His beauty and gracefulness seen in these animals He made.

Later on I found a library book that was a dolphin story, so I read that aloud to the kids since we'd just seen the show. I was struck by this amazing true story of a man rescued by dolphins, and once again I saw a God connection.

The book is called Dolphin Treasure, and the author, Wayne Grover, befriended a family of dolphins while diving off the Florida coast. In the book he describes an experience he had with one of the dolphins. He had been diving with friends a few miles offshore looking for treasure from a Spanish shipwreck, and the weather had become treacherous. He foolishly made one more dive to pull out an artifact he had glimpsed on his previous dive, and when he surfaced, his boat and crew were gone, pulled away by the wind and storm that had come upon them. Wayne found himself floating alone in the ocean. Nearing exhaustion in the middle of the night, he felt something bump against him. When he reached out his hand, he felt the rough skin of a shark inches away. He was about to be killed by sharks!

At just that moment, as hopelessness and anguish swept over him, he heard a sound followed by sharp clicking noises. His friends the dolphins had arrived just in time, and they quickly drove the sharks away! The dolphin he knew best came to him and allowed him to grab onto his dorsal fin; then, the dolphin began gently swimming toward the shore. Yet Wayne was so weak he couldn't hold on to the dolphin, and he kept slipping off. The dolphin communicated to a companion nearby, who came up on the other side of Wayne and lifted him from underneath. So one dolphin was pulling him and another was supporting his weight, buoying him up so he could be brought along in the water.

As the day dawned, they finally neared the shore and the dolphins moved back a little. Wayne stood up - he was in shallow water near the beach. He was saved! He turned around and the dolphins were chattering and swimming around as if in joy about his rescue. The dolphin he knew best jumped up high in the air as if in triumph.

What an amazing story! It's unbelievable but true!

And as I read this aloud to the kids, it dawned on me how much these dolphins acted just as the Holy Spirit acts with us. He is called our Paraclete, which means "one called alongside to help." He is there to lift us up when we can't go on, there to lead us out of trouble, there to fight off enemy attacks, there to be the strength we don't have. He is the One buoying us up from beneath, for underneath us are His everlasting arms. And He is the One guiding us into the way ahead, gently leading us along.

He's always there to help at a moment's notice. He won't ever let us down! Our enemy is already defeated and is no match for our Paraclete! Even after we have blown it and gotten ourselves into a mess of our own making, He is there for us, helping, rescuing, carrying us along, fellowshipping with us as if nothing had happened, because in His eyes, nothing has - our sins can't ever keep Him from us, because they've already been taken away at the cross and we have been forever cleansed and joined to Him, our Paraclete, forever! This union with Him means I'm never ever alone in any problem I face, even if I feel alone, even if I get confused, fail, or seem to forget about Him. He is still there for me, and He will be there for me forever!

And just like the dolphins celebrated over Wayne, the dear Holy Spirit celebrates over us. He dances and sings and leaps and twirls with joy that we are God's beloved ones. He has pure delight and happiness about us! His presence with us is the constant experiential reminder that we are loved, accepted, safe, kept, right, complete, full and delighted in by God Himself.

God wants a relationship with me. He doesn't want to save me so I can be His worker. He saved me to be His beloved little child! He wants fellowship, interaction, a relationship that is so open and free and full of trust that I can be myself, be totally real, and never fear rejection. I have been welcomed into His arms forever. He is sharing all of Himself with me. This is a wonderful love relationship, the kind I've always longed for, of mutual sharing and joy. Out of that wonderful celebration of love comes the power that will change this world and bring His kingdom of love to earth. Wow!

A Declaration

2011-05-06T07:46:00.000-04:00

Those irritating lies of the enemy can get me down. Old programming from years of legalistic thinking can seem to come back to haunt me. But the Spirit continues to whisper the truth to me. And my spirit continues to know the truth deep down.

So I'm led to make this declaration:

God loves me so much that He calls me His child - that is what I am!
I am born of God's Spirit and have His nature within me and no more a sin nature.
I am safe in His arms forever because I am kept safe in Christ Jesus!
My sins are gone, removed as far as the east as the west.
As He is in this world, so am I!
The peace that passes understanding will guard my heart in Christ Jesus.
I am in the Kingdom of righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.
I am never alone, for He is always with me.
I will never be abandoned - for He will never leave me or forsake me.
He will supply all of my needs through the riches of Christ.
I am strengthened with power through the Spirit of the resurrection that lives in me!
He has given me authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing can harm me.
He will always lead me in triumph in Christ!
I have been perfected forever by the perfect sacrifice of Christ.
I stand before Him washed and cleansed forever.
My sin will never come between God and me.
I will never be punished for my sins.
There is no condemnation on me today or any day!
My guilt is gone.
God only looks at me with love.
God will never harm me but only help me.
God will do me good and not evil all the days of my life.
God gives me a future and a hope - things are not hopeless!
I am one with God, one with Him - my spirit and His are in perfect communion always!
God's greatest joy is fellowshipping with me in the Spirit!
Jesus calls me His friend and shares Himself completely with me.
My relationship with Him is one of complete openness with no barriers.
There is no possibility that God would ever reject me.
I am accepted and acceptable to Him!
God delights in me!
I have the right to the full inheritance from my Father.
I am qualified to pray and my prayers are heard and answered and are effective.
No matter what the circumstance, He will turn things around for good.
No matter what my failure or sin, I'm forgiven and right with God in Jesus' name!
Every gift I have from God is a gift and is mine for free without my earning or deserving it.
I am unconditionally loved by a love that won't ever run out or fail.
The infinite and sufficient One Himself lives inside me, so I have sufficiency for all things.
I can impart Christ to the world.
Everywhere I go, I glow with a Jesus glow in the Spirit.
I am in the Spirit, never in the flesh again.
I sit with Christ in the heavenly places.
I enjoy the goodness of God upon me always.
I walk in His favor and grace at all times.
I am never out of His presence and never out of His care, His thoughts, His love!
I am complete and not lacking.
I am full and free!
I am His, and He is mine!

The One I've Looked For All My Life

2011-05-04T08:53:00.001-04:00

He is the One I've looked for all my life,

the Friend I have wanted so much,

Someone to understand, to care, to always be there,

to always support and help, to always accept and say soothing words,

always ready to listen and to give encouragement.

Someone who loves me unconditionally,

Someone I can dare to trust, knowing He won't crush my heart or reject me.

Someone who understands!

I have felt so lonely all my life, and now I'm never alone!

He actually wants to be around me!

I am in awe that the God of the universe would dwell in me by His Spirit.

He's there not to use or abuse me, but to fellowship with me..

to interact with me, to talk to me and listen to me,

to commune with me, to love me..

He is my Intimate Ally, my Strong Defender,

my Tireless Supporter,

my Truest Friend!

If..

2011-05-02T07:02:00.002-04:00

If Jesus took all my sin, there's no sin left on me..

If Jesus took all my guilt, there's no guilt left for me..

If Jesus took all my condemnation, there's no condemnation left for me..

If Jesus took all my shame, there's no shame left on me..

If Jesus bore all my sorrows, I need bear them no more..

If Jesus bore all my anxieties, I need bear them no more..

If Jesus bore all my fears, I need bear them no more..

If Jesus bore all my despair, I need bear it no more..

If Jesus gave me His Life, I'm alive forevermore and will never die!

If Jesus gave me His righteousness, I'm righteous and will never be a sinner!

If Jesus gave me His relationship with the Father, I'm beloved and will never be an outcast!

If Jesus gave me His wholeness, I'm complete and will never be lacking!

If Jesus gave me His joy, I have rejoicing no matter what..

If Jesus gave me His peace, I have calm in the midst of any chaos..

If Jesus gave me His love, I have love for the most unlovely..

If Jesus gave me His faith, I have trust that can move mountains..

Since Jesus took away all that weighed me down, I'm free!

Since Jesus gave me all that He is, I'm abundantly satisfied!

Lord, We're Amazed at How You Love Us!

2011-04-30T05:59:00.001-04:00

He dances over us, even while we are unaware! We see our sins and struggles and issues, and we think we're so imperfect before Him, yet He is dancing with joy over us!

He doesn't see any fault or blemish on us. We are perfect before Him, perfectly loved and accepted and in perfect relationship with Him!

He delights in us every moment of every day, even after we've just blown it for the umpteenth time. He delights in us... Wow - God is delighted with us! He thinks you and I are something special. He thinks we're worth knowing, worth being around.

And He's always in us, loving us, caring for us, carrying us - how amazing..

He is Perfect Love. To be in His presence is to be in the presence of Perfect Love in a Person, Someone who will always do us good all the days of our life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and we shall dwell in the house of Perfect Love forever!

Lord, we're amazed at how You love us!

Rob Rufus on New Covenant Faith

2011-04-28T07:11:00.000-04:00

Here is an excerpt from a sermon by Rob Rufus (at the Grace and Glory blog) that is just wonderful. In it he talks about the nature of faith in the New Covenant. It's so encouraging to be in the New Covenant, where everything is up to Christ and the pressure is off me...He even takes cares of faith! New Covenant faith is about God's faith in us, not our faith in Him - wow! I need to ponder that for a while! Here's the excerpt:

"Listen stop trying to have faith - put all that blooming Old stuff and weights and laws and put it all off and run with patience". Not looking to have faith or trying to have faith! But looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of faith! The NIV says; "Our" faith but it is not in the Greek. "To Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith". So we have a high priest who authors our faith. You didn't author your faith. Your High Priest - HE is the originator and the perfecter! You need perfect faith to be perfectly saved!

Some say; "Am I really saved - I don't know if I have enough faith!?".

No - there is someone called your High Priest that represents you on all matters relating to God and He has perfect faith and is the author and perfecter of faith and so because of Him you have perfect faith before a perfect God and you are perfect in your High Priest!

I want to say a few things about this.

Old Covenant faith is me trying to please God. New Covenant faith is something God gives to me and something that Jesus has on my behalf. Jesus has faith for you. And Jesus has faith IN you.

Did you know that our New Covenant High Priest is better than the Old Covenant priest that failed? He dealt gently with those who are ignorant and went astray - this perfect High Priest is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and He sympathises with you. He has faith for you - but listen to me. He has faith IN you.

I want to say something life-changing here. Your life is not primarily or essentially changed by who you believe in. Your life is essentially changed by Who believes in you.

The most powerful influence over your life is not who you believe in - the most powerful influence over your life is Who believes in you. Our great High Priest has faith in you and has faith for you and is the author of faith and the perfecter of faith as the perfect High Priest because He has made you perfect forever.

When you know someone believes in you, it has such a powerful positive effect on your life. Everyone in this room has many natural gifts and talents - forget about the supernatural for a moment. Many natural gifts and talents. But most people do not exercise them in fullness unless someone you love and respect believes in you and lets you know that. Whether that be a mother, father, brother, sister, friend or a mentor. Take away the Old Covenant law and bondage and condemnation - and see this great High Priest who believes in you and a Father and a Holy Spirit who believes in you. Can you imagine the revelation of that supernatural power that would be released into your life?

Do you know that when someone recognises you it empowers you? Do you know that if you went to a celebrity concert and whoever your great celebrity is was performing on the concert with 20, 000 people there and they stopped and said; "Oh there's so and so! They were a great blessing to my life!". You would just feel a thousand feet tall! Someone as important as that has just recognised you!

It is not the lesser recognising the Greater - it is when the Greater recognises the lesser that the power of the supernatural of the New Covenant takes place!

The Old Covenant had great emphasis on faith in God. The New Covenant's emphasis is on God's faith in you and for you. The Old Covenant lays the burden on you to have faith in God. The New Covenant lays the burden on our Great High Priest to have great and perfect faith on our behalf so you are not examining yourself all the time to see if you have faith - but your eyes are on Jesus all the time - the author and perfecter of faith.

It takes all the pressure off self-focus! It is not your concern anymore. No - my focus is on the revelation of Christ and in Him I was crucified. He did it because He loved me and gave Himself for me. I am crucified with Him! And the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God.

Before the Cross, the flow of faith was us to God. After the Cross the flow of faith was God to us.

When someone asks you; "Do you believe in Jesus?" - you say one thing. "Well I know one thing - He believes in me!". And I am not insecure about whether I have enough faith in Him - I am very secure that He has enough perfected faith for me! If you ask me - do I believe in Jesus? I say - absolutely! How much do you believe in Him? That's not the issue. I do not even want to probe or analyse or introspect that. I just want to keep looking at His lovely face!

I want to keep looking at what He did at the Cross because THAT releases His faith and confidence in me. Your life is not stabilized by you trying to have faith. Your life is stabilized by the revelation of how much faith He has in you and for you.

You see - the High Priest has to have faith for you. The power of the King is not rooted in man's faith in God. That is Old Covenant elemental milk teaching. The power of this kingdom is rooted in God's faith in you. He believes in you - His faith in you is not a blind faith. He is not pretending. He invested everything at the Cross for you so that now His opinion of you is one of integrity.

He sees you not as one trying to be holy or trying to be righteous or trying to be sanctified or trying to be redeemed - He sees you AS YOU ARE. You are acknowledged by God because of the perfection of your great High Priest.

Yes - God says - "I know who and what you are. I know everything I have made you to be through the Cross."

Rob Rufus

Jesus, Friend of my Heart..

2011-04-26T07:48:00.011-04:00

I loved this song back in the day..and lately as I've been going through some anxious times, the Spirit has kept this song playing in the background of my mind. I finally stopped to notice, and I realized I'd been trying to deal with my worries rather than simply looking to Him. So I began to talk to Him about things and began to truly feel better and know He was there. Of course He had been there all along, and it was like He was reminding me that He carries me, He's the friend of my heart, He's the One who truly cares and takes care of my issues - so I don't have to. Ever since I became God's child, my heart and life have been in His hands and He's been taking care of me. That brings such peace.

Here are some of the lines in the song that meant a lot to me:

"Whisper the words of a prayer
And you'll find Him there
Arms open wide, love in His eyes!
Jesus, He meets you where you are
Jesus, He heals your secret scars
All the love you're longing for
All the love that you need
Is Jesus - the Friend of a wounded heart."

I am so glad we are never alone, never without a Friend, never without support, for He is living this life through us! It's a relief to stop and just bask in His Presence. His Presence is all that's needed. He ministers to us all that we need because He ministers HIMSELF! His Presence by His Spirit in us is the source of all joy, peace, hope, rest, love, acceptance, comfort, victory, strength, clarity, fulfillment and life. HE is all those things to us. His Presence is the one necessary thing that Mary discovered, and it (HE) won't ever be taken away from us!

Thank You, Lord, that not only are you WITH us and IN us, but You are also living THROUGH us and You will perfect all that concerns us today! Thank You for the way You woo us back to remembering that when we get anxious; thank You for how You draw us to look to You and see Your "arms open wide, love in Your eyes." Jesus, thank You for being Our Truest Friend who always understands and accepts us and who lifts us UP! Troubles can't get us down because we're upheld and kept by You, and You are living through us! You are always just what we need, and You meet us right where we are and minister to us the word, the love, the joy, the peace, the power - whatever it is we need in that moment, You ARE that for and in us! Thank You for being the Friend of our wounded hearts!

Because of the Resurrection...

2011-04-24T05:03:00.002-04:00

Christ is risen...He is risen indeed!

Because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, because of the resurrection:

- we have also been raised to new life in Him

- our spirits are now alive

- we have God's Life within us

- we are new creations in Christ, all things have become new

- we are righteous new persons, with His righteous nature as our new (and only!) nature

- we have new hearts that are good with His goodness and pure with His purity

- we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places

- our lives are hidden with Christ in God

- we are now part of the eternal

- we can't be eternally lost, because His life in us can't be extinguished

- we're in union with Eternal Life

- we're eternally secure with His indestructible life in us

- we are out of the realm of sin and death and into the realm of Life

- we are no longer married to the law but to Christ

- we serve not in the oldness of the law but in the newness of the Spirit

- we are a clean and holy temple where God dwells by His Spirit

- we are part of Christ's body along with all other believers

- Christ is our very life

- we no longer live, for Christ now lives in us

- we have been born again, born from above, begotten of God

- we are children of God!

- we are part of God's family forever, belonging with Him always

- we are in Christ, enjoying the relationship He shares with the Father, accepted in the Beloved

- we can call God "Daddy"

- the Spirit of His Son is within us testifying that we are children of God

- we are joined to the Lord, one spirit/Spirit with Him

- there is no separation between our spirit and His Spirit

- we are one with Him, in union with God

- we have perfect fellowship with Him

- we are always in His Presence!

- He is with us always, even to the end of the age!

- death has lost its sting for us

- if we die, we won't stay dead!

- Christ is in us, the hope of glory (we already have His glory in us, and one day it will be totally and visibly manifested)

- we will one day be raised up with our resurrected bodies

- we will live with God forever!

Happy Resurrection Day to all!