I took my puppy for a long walk this morning, knowing that the bunnies would be out. It was still cool, and our neighborhood is filled with bunnies. The puppy has an eye for them and he is always on the lookout. One of our neighbors has a section of landscaping that is filled with bunny-looking rocks...perfect size, shape, and color. As we neared their yard, Buddy started tugging on his leash. I looked to the rock area, but I only saw rocks until I stopped and looked closer. Smack dab in the middle was a bunny sitting perfectly still and pretending to be a rock. Buddy saw it immediately, but I had to take a second look.
God often uses situations like this one to teach me and this morning was no exception. I've been praying John 8:32 for myself..."And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." I've believed a myriad of lies about myself that were whispered to me by the father of lies (see John 8:44)...the enemy, the devil...throughout my life. As I thought about the bunny in the rocks, I saw the strategy of the devil. He hides the truth with his lies. He makes his lies look just enough like the truth, that God's children believe them, and then he uses the lies to kill, steal, and destroy us. The devil convinces us that when a thought is in our heads, it must be true! (My brain is no more reliable than the internet!) I'll be the first to admit that I've fallen for the devil's deception...over and over again. NO MORE!
My prayer has been that God would shine a spotlight on the truth so I simply cannot miss it. God's truth brings with it love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) The devil's lies bring the opposite...fear, anxiety, worry, anger, impatience, etc. It's my job to decide which thoughts take up residence in my brain...the truth or the lies. Philippians 4:8 says, "And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is TRUE, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
We have responsibilities in the relentless pursuit of the Truth. #1 Identify what is true and hold on to it. #2 Identify what is false and get rid of it! #3 Think on the things that are true. A brain occupied with truth has no room for lies!
The devil whispers his subtle lies to me all the time. At this very moment, he has planted the thought in my mind, "Don't publish this. Don't share it. No one will read it and you will feel rejected. Why bother?" The truth is that writing this solidified the truth for me, and maybe no one else will get anything out of it, but I am okay with that. Or maybe, one other person will grab hold of this life changing truth...and that would be even better! Regardless, I am in relentless pursuit of the Truth! Will you join me?
Friday, June 29, 2018
Thursday, June 21, 2018
temporary
The word temporary has been bouncing around in my head and my heart this week. What a relief to see the challenges in my life as temporary! Our human perspectives tend to make us believe that our struggles will never end and there is no relief in sight. We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with fear and hurt and disappointment, and it appears to many people that there is only one way to make the pain stop. I'm here to tell you that suicide is NOT the answer, Jesus is! There is hope in Jesus!
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says...For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
There are two big things that I hold onto in those verses. #1 My present struggles are small and they won't last long from the perspective of eternity. #2 If my gaze (and my thoughts) are set on my problems, the problems are going to seem to grow. My gaze (and my thoughts) should be fixed on Jesus!
As I pondered the word temporary and the verses in 2 Corinthians, I began to contemplate the things that are eternal. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8) Heaven and earth will disappear, but my (Jesus) words will never disappear. (Matthew 24:35)
If you are looking for hope, open a Bible. The Word of God is eternal, and even though it was written thousands of years ago, it is truth for us today! Our first response when we feel fear, anxiety, rejection, hopelessness, or anything else that is NOT from God, should be to open our Bibles and read the eternal words of God to us. (By the way, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are from God. Anything else is from the devil!)
There is hope! Our difficulties are temporary! We should fix our eyes on Jesus and He will guide us through this life on earth!
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says...For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
There are two big things that I hold onto in those verses. #1 My present struggles are small and they won't last long from the perspective of eternity. #2 If my gaze (and my thoughts) are set on my problems, the problems are going to seem to grow. My gaze (and my thoughts) should be fixed on Jesus!
As I pondered the word temporary and the verses in 2 Corinthians, I began to contemplate the things that are eternal. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8) Heaven and earth will disappear, but my (Jesus) words will never disappear. (Matthew 24:35)
If you are looking for hope, open a Bible. The Word of God is eternal, and even though it was written thousands of years ago, it is truth for us today! Our first response when we feel fear, anxiety, rejection, hopelessness, or anything else that is NOT from God, should be to open our Bibles and read the eternal words of God to us. (By the way, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are from God. Anything else is from the devil!)
There is hope! Our difficulties are temporary! We should fix our eyes on Jesus and He will guide us through this life on earth!
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
grace and blessing
At first glance, grace and blessing don't seem like hard words to live by. That's right where I want to be, especially when the grace and blessing come from God. But, somewhere along the path of my life, I got the idea that I didn't deserve God's blessing. I bought into a lie that I had to earn it by meeting a mysterious and unattainable set of criteria that would somehow make me worthy and deserving of everything that God wanted to give me. I tried and I tried, but I still fall short of perfection. The Old Testament Israelites did too. There was no way that they could keep every single one of the Old Testament laws all the time. Did God set them up to fail? No way! He wanted them to realize how much they needed a Savior...Jesus, the final sacrifice for ALL sin for eternity.
I need that very same Savior Jesus! I am far from perfect and far from deserving! I am so grateful that Jesus made a way for my sins to be forgiven and to restore my relationship with God! He did it for you too! Just ask Him...Jesus, please forgive my sins and restore my relationship with God. Simple, but life changing!
I never thought I had to earn forgiveness...that was obviously impossible...but I believed that I had to earn the blessings that came with it. I had to do enough for God that He would want to spend time with me and bless me. It sounds crazy to me now, but I believed that was the truth, even though the Bible NEVER says it.
The Bible is filled with verses that talk about the grace and blessings of God. These are just a few of them.
So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Galatians 2:20-21
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3
God is a good Father. He wants to give us everything He has and everything we need. But, it is hard to bless someone who is convinced that she needs to earn it. How that must break God's heart when I have that attitude. God forgive me! I want to be open to receive the abundance of grace and blessing that God has for me, and then pass it on to the people around me!
I need that very same Savior Jesus! I am far from perfect and far from deserving! I am so grateful that Jesus made a way for my sins to be forgiven and to restore my relationship with God! He did it for you too! Just ask Him...Jesus, please forgive my sins and restore my relationship with God. Simple, but life changing!
I never thought I had to earn forgiveness...that was obviously impossible...but I believed that I had to earn the blessings that came with it. I had to do enough for God that He would want to spend time with me and bless me. It sounds crazy to me now, but I believed that was the truth, even though the Bible NEVER says it.
The Bible is filled with verses that talk about the grace and blessings of God. These are just a few of them.
So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Galatians 2:20-21
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3
God is a good Father. He wants to give us everything He has and everything we need. But, it is hard to bless someone who is convinced that she needs to earn it. How that must break God's heart when I have that attitude. God forgive me! I want to be open to receive the abundance of grace and blessing that God has for me, and then pass it on to the people around me!
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