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!
Welcome to my blog!
Welcome to my little online home...I have been overwhelmed by God's unconditional love and grace and enjoy writing about what God is teaching me... Blessings to you and have a great day!
Secure in Christ, Part 6 - The Spirit is our Seal and Guarantee
"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..
"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!
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
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
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
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
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!
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!
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!)
Joyful, Joyful Lyrics
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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!
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 5 - He Upholds and Keeps Us
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..
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 4 - We Are Held in God's Hand
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'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
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, that You are for us!
Thank You, Lord
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!
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 3 - We Have a New Nature
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
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 2 - We are in Union with the One who is Eternal Life!
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!
"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 1 - The New Birth is Irreversible
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!
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!
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!
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 - Introduction
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..
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
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!
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
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..
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
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!
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
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....
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
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...
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
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!
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!
"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...
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..
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..
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May the amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. 2 Co. 13:14