Following God

God clearly tells us how to live this life on earth. His Word, the Bible, it the measuring rod by which we evaluate ourselves and everything we encounter in the world.  It is given to us for our instruction and correction [2 Timothy3:16].  God's Word is not intend to be a judgment against us but guides us. Even if we have taken a wrong turn GOD'S Word will correct us and put us back on the right path. Of course we must choose whether or not to
take His Word into our heart.

Unfortunately, many of us have developed the habit of taking God's Word as a measure to judge the spirituality and behavior of others. The Bible does put a warning not to be part of the worlds evil schemes and stay away from these people [read Psalm 1] ,..  but never are we to condemn them in our heart, while we at the same time lift up our own righteous behavior and "excellent" performance.

Why does Christ not want us to judge others?

• We will be judged by the same measure that we judge others [read Matthew 7:1-6}  
• By judging others we are elevating ourselves above others, allowing pride and and self-righteousness to take hold.   
• We forget that it is by God's grace, and nothing in ourselves that keeps us from making the same mistakes.
• Our judgement may not be accurate, we may be adding our own interpretation and religious tradition to what God's Word actually says.  The pharisee's made this mistake. They burdened the people with many extra laws and regulations [Mark 7:10-13}.  
• "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.  -—Peter 4:8

Why Does God Love Us?

So why is it that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

What is it that God saw in us that was so deserving that He would make the ultimate sacrifice for us?   Nothing mankind has ever done is worthy of His amazing Love!  Back in Jesus day, and just as it is today, people broke everyone of God's Commandments. They turned away from the 'living-God" to follow their own desires, worshiped nature, and self-made idols.They were selfish, unthankful, corrupt and rebellions. They lived life hating, lying, cheating and shed innocent blood.  God's assessment of everyone on earth was, "There is none righteous, not even one." (Romans 3:10).  But, out of God's love for all people then, and still today, we are worthy to be redeemed — because God created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26) and because he created us for himself. (Colossians 1:16). 

Why did God send Jesus to redeem us?  
I believe the answers lies near to God's own heart ... because He created us for Himself. 
How it must have hurt Him so deeply when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him in the Garden He created just for them. How they listened to the serpent while Satan distracted them, causing them to sin against God and disregard all He had given them and taught them.  

If we can consider the extent of God's love for us along with the sacrifice He made on our behalf — to send His Son to bear our sin and become our Savior, and being made in His own image — we have a heart that can recognize that God's only desire is to restore us back into fellowship with Himself.  

Or hearts will overflow with praise and worship if we daily allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God's amazing love to us

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

I wonder if I'll ever find my way?

I wonder if my life could really change at all?

All this earth - could all that is lost ever be found?

Could a garden come up from this ground?

You make beautiful things,

You make beautiful things out of the dust,

You make beautiful things...

You make beautiful things out of us.

All around Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found —

You make beautiful things... 

You make beautiful things out of the dust,

You make beautiful things... 

You make beautiful things out of us.

Oh, you make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust,

You make beautiful things...

You make beautiful things out of us.

You make me new, You are making me new.

Beautiful Things … Full lyrics on Google Play

God is Greater Than Cancer

What is our response to God's greatest demonstration of His Love for us?  Today I am thinking about "Passover" which is celebrated on the Jewish calendar tomorrow March 21, '16. There is more to it's meaning and more than just a one day of celebration... but today I am remembering what God did for me happened 12 years ago.  A few weeks ago Christian's celebrated Resurrection Sunday [Easter].  On this day Lord Jesus rose from the dead.  We celebrate Easter  to remember Jesus' resurrection. It is the proof of His victory over sin, Satan, and death. It is also the source of all our hope, comfort and assurance that we too will rise again should we die before the Lord's return.

I was just newly married in 2002, and one year later I was diagnosed with cancer at the base of my tongue [stage level 3]. Quickly it metastasized into the lymph's in my neck. It was a rough time for myself and my family as I underwent chemo and radiation.

A very large lump had appeared in one day, I discovered it on my neck in church on a Sunday morning... it was not there a few hours earlier. I received treatments for about 6 months. I was still not eating solid food and was very weak, being fed through a tube inserted into my stomach. Returning to church a short time later, I was given a word from the Lord  that I was healed ... I received confirmation from another person later that day. I was miraculously touched by the Lord that day and what seemed like a death sentence for me turned into new life.

My health was restored back to me and I never felt stronger. I had peace and assurance beyond what I had ever felt before.

When I was a few years younger, I first made a new beginning with the Lord, but, I continued to live my own life my way. What happened to the faith that I first had, that brought me to believe in Jesus Christ?  It was there, but had to be developed.  Over time as the Lord worked in my life, He brought me through various life situations to show me my need for growth as He taught me His way.  Jesus touched me in ways I could not ignore. He was real in my healing and real because I knew the peace I experienced during the time of my sickness.
Amen! to His saving Grace.

I am thankful for the “Gift of Life” Jesus Christ has given me. Let God be glorified!
O LORD my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.
O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave—
You have kept me alive… Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His Holy Name.    —Psalm 30:2-4

As professing Christians, people watch our lives very closely...

The moment we received our call from God on our lives, God  intended to make each of us His example of a Christian who can follow — even though He knows we are not perfect.  We should consider how mindful we must be of our conduct and calling so we bring honor to Jesus and not to discredit His church.

When Jesus called His twelve disciples, He invited them to simply follow Him.  He didn't make them promises of special position, power and money.  He just said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1:17.  The disciples were with him 24 hours a day for more than 3 years.  They watched... every aspect of Jesus private life and public ministry.  Each time they heard Jesus teach the Word of God, they could watch to see if Jesus followed His own teaching.  Every time He healed the sick, cast out demons, cleansed the lepers, gave sight to the blind, they noticed if  He gave God the glory or took it for himself.  What was their conclusion?  They came to the same conclusion that Peter expressed, "We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”  John 6:69.

What did the people say about the disciples and the believers of the first century church? 
They were observed closely, and were first called by the name of ''Christians" in Antioch. (Acts 11:26).  We still carry on the same responsibility today to produce authentic lives that mirror the first followers of Christ.  The times have changed over the centuries, but the message is the same. We must remind ourselves daily that the future of the church depends on us providing the correct examples ...  "In speech, conduct , love, faith, and purity , show yourself as an example of those who believe." — 1 Timothy 4:12.

What if we mess up and make mistakes?
We will never be perfect - and those who watch us will surely point out our mistakes and failures.  This is what we must do.we must:

     - We must humble ourselves
     -  Ask forgiveness form God, and those we may hurt
     -  Accept correction and continue to walk in God's grace

Authentic Christians are in a sense placed in a fishbowl!   We are called to live "not as the world lives".  Those who watch us can learn from us, and if they desire to become authentic Christians can have the right example to follow as well.  Those who are not living authentically are observed as the ones the world calls 'hypocrites.''

• Let's be careful how we represent the Lord Jesus to our generation - by maintaining a close and personal walk with God.   
• So that the lives of other may begin to reflect Christ's character
• Our friends and families will have a testimony in our community that honors Jesus.  

May the the Lord bless you and keep you close to Himself.  

Do You Have a Testimony About God?

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
My loving-kindness and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield;
And He in whom I take refuge.  —Psalm 144:1-2


Like David's testimony of what God was in his life, we too should experience God in this way when we cry out to Him for help.

This is so powerful of a description of what our Heavenly Father is to every one of us ... when we take a moment to reflect on all He does. 
Each expression in David's psalm  is a personal testimony for us:



MY ROCK — The Lord is my rock, my solid foundation; in Him I live and have my being.  Without Christ nothing I do shall prosper.  God's spirit is my peace.  By His power He works out everything in my life.  God built His Church (we, His people are the church) on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.  "On this rock I will build my Church."  —Matthew 16:13-20,  1 Corinthians 10:4

MY TEACHER — The special work of instructing us and conforming us into the image of Christ is through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:14-16;  1 Corinthians 12:28:1-31,

MY LOVING KINDNESS — Psalm 63 verse 1 - 3 is David speaking to God,

      1 "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 
2  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your  power and your glory. 
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.            

Proof of receiving God's steadfast love as our own works through His mercy, grace, faithfulness, goodness, and favor.  Without receiving God's attributes of His strength, steadfastness, and love — the depth and richness of God's Loving kindness is lost. Love by itself easily becomes sentimentalized, and separated from covenant God made with us.  To go about without God's Loving kindness suggests our strength and steadfastness is only through our own efforts. What is done apart form God will never last.  

MY DELIVERER — The process of conversion or turning to God is the reality of turning back again to Him from where we have wandered off.  Our sin separated us from Christ but we can be drawn back through Him by his grace and mercy, because we are his creation He preserves us and redeems us if we have chosen to belong to Him.  . 

MY SHIELD  — God is very often our shield of protection.  We may have close encounters with enemies; if it were not for God's shield about us, we would not experience his protection by which no enemies weapon can penetrate.


MY FORTRESS and STRONGHOLD — Our daily battles are not fought according to the  ways the world fights. Our weapons are not physical if we belong to God because this warfare is spiritual in nature. By the Holy Spirit of Christ, our weapons are those of the “full armor of God” and consist of “the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Taking up the shield of faith, we extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. We use the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

God’s plan is to demolish spiritual strongholds., by this the Lord is building His Church, and the “gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). What is needed are Christian soldiers, totally surrendered to the will of the Lord, who will use the spiritual weapons He provides.
                         
 Psalm 46 was written out of adversity from which God has provided deliverance to David. It relates to anyone who is in a time of trouble, or to anyone who will face trouble, no matter how extreme. It tells us that:  
     
       1   In God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.  2 We stand fearless at the edge of the cliff of doom - courageous in storm and earthquake;  3 before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.  Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel armies protects us.

4 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city, this sacred haunt of the Most High. 5 God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn. 6 Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything he says.

7  As Jacob-when wrestling God, God also fights for us, God with angel armies protects us.  8 Attention, all!  See the marvels of God!  He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, 9 Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. 10 "Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything."  11 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel armies protects us.   —The Message, Psalm 46

MY REFUGE — We have the privilege of going to God anytime, anywhere. We seek him in times of pain and great joy.

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?  Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
You can take it to the Lord in prayer

                               

What's Left For Us To Do? Faith That He Can, Trust That He Will....

How many of us realize we more than often do this:  When faced with trouble, we often pray to God as if we were unwilling to really believe God wants to grant us answers to our prayers.  We might agonize, shed tears and plead with Him, as if we have to wrestle for an answers to our request.  

Nothing is further from the truth.  In God's love for us He is more than eager to answer us when we call on Him.  He has already delivered us from the worst fate we will ever face ... we are delivered from hell.  To save us He made the greatest sacrifice, giving up His only Son, Jesus to die for our sin on a cross.   The Apostle Paul reminds us that if God paid such a high price for our redemption, we can be sure He will freely give us everything else we also need.   

No Problem is beyond God's Power
When Jesus walked this earth, mankind witnessed the power of God close up, and this brought many more people into church everyday.  
-   He stilled raging storms
-   Multiplied the bread to feed the multitudes
-   He worked on water
-   He cast our demons
-   He opened the eyes of the blind and opened deaf ears
-   He healed every kind of sickness and raised the dead

Because of sin, Satan holds all of mankind captive; and because of it,  we were all destined for hell.  Yet the power of the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and sets us free to become sons and daughters of God.  We have the same divine power working for us  — when we cast all our cares upon Him.  Our natural response is to do the opposite of what we find in this scripture.  We first and most often worry, get anxious, and imagine the worst outcome.  We have to purposely retrain ourselves according to God's Word.  We must deliberately practice being helped by God's own Spirit the next time we encounter a problem in our home, with our children, or in our ministry.  

Our part is to trust Him completely.  That is called FAITH!  The best thing we can do to honor God is thank Him even before we see answers... before we see evidence of His intervention.  When we do this His peace will fill our heart protecting us from fear and despair.  That's His promise,  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7.

Psalm 86 verses  3-13  A Prayer of David. 

  Incline thy ear, O Lord, and answer me...
  save thy servant who trusts in thee.
 Thou art my God...

Gladden the soul of thy servant,
for to thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For thou, O Lord, art good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee.

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
hearken to my cry of supplication.
In the day of my trouble I call on thee,
for thou dost answer me.

There is none like thee among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like thine.
All the nations thou hast made shall come
and bow down before thee, O Lord,
and shall glorify thy name.

For thou art great and do wondrous things,
thou alone art God.

 Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth;
unite my heart to fear thy name.

I give thanks to thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify thy name for ever.
For great is thy steadfast love toward me;
thou hast delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Who Do We Love Most?

This month we celebrated the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, this, the foundation of our faith.  How much Jesus loves us to to have come to earth and lay down His life for our redemption.  No one forced him to die for us.  He did it out of His own free-will knowing it was the will of His Father for us.  We must also learn how make the Father's will ...our will also.  Jesus considered us more important than thinking of himself and all the pain he would suffer.

God desires that Christ's love and selflessness become part of every believer.  It is our most important testimony.  Can we look at our own heart and see how we are doing reflecting Jesus?  As people we naturally evaluate everything and everyone in relationship to ourselves.  No matter who we  are, we evaluate everything in relation to how it might benefit, bless and promote ourselves; or how negatively it may affect our life and plans. Jesus' mindset was much different.  He always thought of others before himself.  This is Christ's example according to Philippians 2:3-4:

 "Do nothing out of selfish gain or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of us regard one another as more important than ourselves... not looking out for our own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."

Who is our neighbor?   Luke 10:25-37
And Jesus answered, ''27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind... and, Love your neighbor as yourself."  
Then someone asked Jesus "Who is my neighbor?  When we think of a neighbor, we think of someone who is in close proximity of ourselves.  But Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan.  We learn that God expects us to regard all people we come in contact with as our neighbors.  It presents us with  a great challenge to reach out to people across all social and cultural barriers,  We see others just as valuable as ourselves ...we reach out in Christ's love to help them in their need.  

How do we start?
With the parable of the Good Samaritan. those who were held responsible were the same people whose paths crossed with someone in need that day.  God will arrange for people in need to cross our path and He puts it within our ability to love and help them.  We do all in Jesus' name.  If we know Christ's teaching on this, why do we find it so hard to do it, with dedication and joy?  Often deep down in our heart we still  consider ourselves better than some other people.  We often do not want to lay down our personal agendas or lower ourselves to a servants status.  We need to remember what the Lord Jesus gave up to be become our Savior.  

     3 Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 6 Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
 7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
 8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—        even death on a cross!  (Philippians:1-11:)