Confidence
Should we have confidence in God, ourselves, or both? The stuggle to find to proper attitude towards confidence, especially to find more confidence in God.
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The CURE.
I know right now there is so much information about the corona virus, or COVID 19, this is not an informative post about that. But seeing as we as humanity, are facing this epidemic together, I think about how we can overcome something that each one of us whether infected or not is dealing with in some way or another and that is stress, anxiety, worry, and fears and at the end of this post my goal is for this to encourage, to offer hope, light, truth, something to trust in, something to grasp on to, but also a reminder of the seriousness of our souls.
Things have been changing and they have been changing SO FAST! For many of us too fast for our liking….
With everyone of us, dealing with this differently, in our own way, each one of our lives have been impacted in some way or another,
So if you are reading this, I understand compared to some people, my life has really not been impacted much by this… our home life hasn’t faced too much change, because I’m a stay at home mom, homeschool to a certain degree, 1 kid in public school, and for the last 11 years every 2 weeks our routine gets changed up… but that is a routine in itself at this point.
Now I won’t say I have it all figured out by any means, because I would be lying if I didn’t say this hasn’t shaken me a little bit, I have read news articles, I have heard of the deaths, seen the numbers, the closures, and the stores, it all feels kind of eerie at times… watching life shut down so quickly. Feels crazy.
I couldn’t imagine being a person who has lost a loved one over this time, in my life I have never lost someone so close to me yet, I have never felt full blown grief before, so to think that we could face that in a time like this, feels kind of scary, the uncertainty of it all…
So what do we do with this feeling, these fears?
One winter a few years back I was driving home in a snow storm it was dark outside, white our conditions, pretty much all I could see was the road directly in front of me, if I stopped moving I would not make it home, but moving forward was so scary because I could not see far ahead…I traveled this road many times before, but in white our conditions it doesn’t matter, the road is still scary you don’t know where your going….all you can do is DRIVE SLOW…
I feel like that is life right now, we can’t see far ahead, but we also can’t stop moving forward!
Driving slowly, being cautious, understanding the conditions of this life are not always going to be certain, they feel pretty stormy right about now. But humanity is doing it together, and you know there are some sure things that we can grasp on to in times like this.
Our steering wheels still work, but we can choose whether or not to grab them, we choose to push on the gas peddle, and we choose the speed we still want to go.
God is our refuge!
We have One God who can help us get through this storm. I have noticed that who you follow has a lot of affect on how you will handle this storm,
One little comment of panic, really can escalate my fears,
But one re assurance of hope, light, and truth,
Reminds me of my faith.
I have tried to limit my exposure to the panic at this time just as much as I limit my exposure, to germs.
You know this also got me thinking though, we can see that this virus is clearly doing something but the scariest thing about it, is that you don’t know where it is, all you can see are it’s effects, the lives it touches.
We’re making big changes in account of this virus, out of fear for our lives or the lives of the ones we love, and humanity.
We are desperately waiting for the antidote, the cure… an ease to our worries, but what if it is already out there. God is our antidote even though we can’t see Him doesn’t mean we can’t be saved through Him. I tell you, stop thinking about the fact that you can’t see Him, learn a lesson from this virus, we have learned that it has effected people, and we are willing to make changes on account of that…
God also has done the same, but so much more, we will read all the news articles about the corona virus, but will we read the Good news of the gospel, you can even do your research and find out that those events actually happened, you can find out that Jesus really came to this earth, you can find out that he died, but he rose again, so that those who rest assured in His truth, have nothing to fear not even death, not even a virus (now this is not saying we should not be cautious)! And if that is not enough there is story after story offering hope to Gods people, the people who make the choice, that is the key! To follow Him!
But we the people, struggle to believe, struggle to surrender, we are so quick to hand ourselves over to “other gods”
Other comforts in times of trouble, we have no faith…we are afraid but we will not surrender because we can be so stubborn
We might say or think things like this.
My family and friends aren’t doing it neither will I…
They always did things this way…So I’m going to follow in their footsteps, and trust what they trust do, or what they did…
I just don’t get how a God so loving can allow sickness in the world I just don’t believe in it…
Well okay,
But you will makes changes for your life on account of a virus that you can not see, but what happens if it infects you,
What happens if you are faced with death, I don’t want to make this a negative blog post but I want it to be real,
We have confidence in the preserved Word of God!
We can have confidence in His power! Especially His saving power!!
And because of that confidence we can make changes in our life, which especially in times like this allow God into our lives to give us strength to overcome the panic and the fears….
So I’m going to give you some scriptures to read to offer hope, encouragement, and most importantly TRUTH during these troubling times, my friends God is in control, as always I pray that you would desire the truth, yes these times can be troubling, but Gods promises are so much greater than the troubles of this life. If you don’t seek them in times of trouble I pray that you would. And I’m here if you need anything please let me know!
❤️
First things first let’s remember the words of this verse, in order to keep your mind strong, this is how you grasp on during a storm….
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NKJV
Gods word, His lovingkindness, His Mercy, Grace, and the eternal Salvation that was given to us through Jesus Christ!
It is pure,
it is lovely,
But if you were to imagine death in the absolute worse possible way, (Jesus’s death on the cross)
We today are sitting in our homes because of a virus that is killing people, I know we are calling our nurses and doctors hero’s because they are risking their own lives for the sake of saving the sick….
Think on a larger scale here, not to downplay their heroism by any means but let’s not forget who the real hero is here, the one who actually took on the most gruesome death for saving our souls, for giving us freedom and don’t for a second doubt that he felt every last bit of that pain, suffering, and burden for you,
We are told that he was so stressed he was actually sweating blood…
Jesus
saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:42-44 NKJV
His heroism is to be glorified most of all
Because he took this on willingly, but not without pain, suffering, agony, sorrow, hunger, he felt every one of our deepest fears to the core, he understands what we’re going through right now as we face some of these fears ourselves in life,
He may have died, but he died to prove something to us, eternal life, death, is just a crossing over to a far better place, a place without fears, pain, sorrow….
if you are not confident in this please make every effort you can to gain that, it is attainable, but it takes Your effort! It’s not something you wish upon yourself it’s something learned through, study, prayer, faith trust,
And obedience to the Word of God,
Please ask yourself honestly this question:
where do I run to find comfort when things feel uneasy?
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” Luke 21:34 NKJV
These things are DISTRACTIONS from,
Knowing Him,
And letting Him know you,
Let Him into your fears,
Surrender your struggles turn away from any vice that replaces God,
Because we are in some troubling times now, but they could be a lot worse,
There is still time to find hope to cling on to,
There are still means to be saved eternally,
It’s not a forced decision, it’s a choice.
But if you never choose it, you never receive it… if you don’t care to know about Him,
He will never know you.
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:22-27 NKJV
Don’t fall because you decided to never hear the Word of God. And you never let God hear you….
“Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah”. Psalms 61:1-4 NKJV
And for one last read I won’t post it on here because it is lengthy, but the power lies in GODS WORD and in your willingness to learn and know this for yourself and act upon it>>> not just read across a verse here or there but you open it up yourself and read it for yourself, Romans chapter 8, all of my verses have come from the New King James BIBLE (NKJV)
Please reach out if you need encouragement or help durning these challenging times I would absolutely love to help if I can, but more than me reach out to God because He is so Good!
🙏❤️
Beverly
Living Hope
From time to time I may share on here thoughts from my husband, but before I do I want to share little bit about him. Joe is his name, we have been married for 11 years this coming March, it has been a blessing to grow with him. We have learned so much together getting us to this point in our lives.
Our marriage is something I really cherish, having someone beside you to love and support, and share good times and bad with is truly what I believe God designed marriage to be for (helpers) Genesis 2:18. Someone, who, not only is there for the love that we all long to have in our lives, but also someone, who knows you, who is committed to you, and who wants to help you grow to be the best that you can be.
Who is honest with you about your flaws, but gives you grace, forgiveness and support when you do make mistakes.
Who is patient that you are growing, and understands that they are growing to.
Someone who can help you by praying for you. Seeing how they can better themselves and motivates you also to do better.
That is this man for me. My husband ❤️😍
Im very blessed, but I don’t say this to boast because I believe we all have something special, God really has blessed us all, I don’t believe the Bible would be so universal if I didn’t really believe in that.
It is so important that we dont get focused on others, but we look to our lives and what God has given us and work with that, because each of us has something that is very special, whether it is something about you, your spouse, your family, friends, life….anything… we can not focus on what we dont have but rather what we do.
so as I count my blessings I’m very thankful for my husband, who I can as his wife honestly say that, he doesn’t do this stuff part time, he truly does practice what he preaches, and that is evident in our home and I am so grateful, but on the same token we are still human and we are like I said before
growing,
trying each day and may make mistakes along the way.
Our prayer is this, that we…
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18
So here is something from my best friend, partner in life, my husband and Im sure you will see more from him in my future posts as well.
LIVING HOPE
BY: JOE MURDOCK
It has been said that the Gospel writer John is the apostle of love and Paul is the apostle of faith and Peter is the apostle of hope. Peter specifically talks about a living hope. I find this to be an interesting idea since hope only seems to be a word that means waiting for something. But is that all that this hope means? Let us examine this living hope that Peter mentions in 1 Peter.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5
So my initial thought is, how does one live out hope? I think it is important to first understand how hope is defined scripturally. Biblical hope means much more than what man has mindlessly limited it down to or has over zealously used it. In some instances hope today is used as no more than wishing and in other cases has be made to seem so far beyond our comprehension that it is impossible to understand. Yet Peter tells the first century Christians and us to have a living hope! Hope according to the Strong’s concordance is to anticipate usually with pleasure, expectation or confidence-faith hope. Isn’t that interesting a faithful hope. Just like everything in Scripture, faith is always going to be connected to the words that are pleasing to God.
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6
Since we now understand what hope is biblically and Peter mentions a living hope, a question I have is with a living hope is there a dead hope? Guy N Woods in his commentary on 1 Peter writes when He (Christ) allowed himself to fall into the hands of the Romans and to die on the cross, the hope of the disciples was blasted and their faith failed. Peter with his faith gone, returned to his nets John 21:3. Sadly for too many when things start to get tough, they will give up. This attitude or mindset must be defeated. But without a proper understanding of what we hope in, our hope can easily die and we go back to doing what we did before we had hope in Christ. Friends that only leads to empty promises and a life full of sadness. Remember what Paul said in Ephesians
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:6-10
Empty words come from those who have a dead hope which is no hope at all! We must continue to press onward towards the goal that is set before us and not allow the snares of this world to trip us up.
Finally as we have defined hope the way God would have us to understand it, let us now live it out. That is what God would have us to do and what Peter means when he says to have a living hope. A hope that is not dead but one that is thriving and producing fruit in ourselves and in others. What an encouragement it is, to be able to share in a living hope with our church family.
“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Romans 8:24-25
Are we willing to eagerly wait for the coming of Christ? Not idly but full of faithful anticipation and excitement for the time when we are redeemed!
“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.” 1 Peter 4:12-14
Waiting…
Tomorrow I will….
You fill in the blank….
What are you struggling with right now that you have put off until tomorrow?
It doesn’t even need to be tomorrow, maybe it’s just “later”
say for instance it is the ever popular in need to….Read my Bible…
“I need to read my Bible”
“I need to be better about praying”
What about committing to Christ, going to church, being a better steward of your time….
I want to talk about waiting, something that I have been and at times still can be guilty of…
This type of waiting is not “patiently” waiting as in
“I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.” Psalms 130:5-6
this is the “procrastination” waiting.
From verywellmind.com I found an article Tips for overcoming procrastination, that said this about procrastinating…
As I read this I definitely see so much truth in these statements, there was a time in my life that I would actually call myself a procrastinator, I would prefer not to label myself that way anymore because I used to admit to it not seeing any problem with it, because somehow, someway, I would seem to get things done…. (but I “sold” so much time for this lifestyle, and no to mention, health and sanity as well)
Gods word has helped me overcome so many of my old, harmful habits, and still continues to do so, I take steps forward each day that I choose to, follow, seek, and depend upon it and Jesus.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6
Let’s just take a second and break down what this is telling us….
Blessed: happy, joyful, and truly thankful.
Are those: those who do what this says👇
Who hunger and thirst: what do we do when we are hungry and or thirsty, we start thinking of what we want to eat, drink, and we eat and drink.
It’s rare to say that we would call ourselves hungry and sit in front of food or water, and let ourselves starve, or thirst.
We don’t say I’m hungry, and thirsty, tomorrow I will eat, unless we are trying to fast, or don’t have the means to do it.
“And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Revelation 21:6
God will satisfy the needs of the hungry and thirsty but we must choose to:
1. understand our need for it
2. choose to take it, just as much as we choose to eat or drink, to fulfill our physical needs, we also have spiritual needs.
For righteousness: to be morally right, or justified, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, seek to be morally right, not just right, as in have the right answers but right as in their actions proves them right, and not right to ourselves, or the world but to the One God who created us, and that makes a fruitful Christian.
For they shall be satisfied: seeking to do the right thing, the answers can be found in Gods Word, the living waters…is not just a “good read” but when applied to our moral character and actions it is truly satisfying to the soul….
So….
What are you waiting for,
What harm is waiting doing to you?
Why do we wait until we are spiritually deprived and starving before we will spiritually feed on the bread of life! Waiting to make positive changes until it is a convenient time, is most likely only going to pull you further away making the time that would be convenient, less, and less convenient.
Don’t get fixated on tomorrow, tomorrow you will most likely regret something you didn’t do today,
Don’t wait to be perfect before you try to make a change, we only kid ourselves when we think this way…circumstances will probably look ugly when you realize you need to change. Right now if you see an area in your life that you should be better in it, my advise would be start, no matter how difficult, scary, or impossible it may seem.
One important detail about change that we must understand is that it isn’t always easy, the process can be hard, changing habits, and lifestyles that were hard on us can be just as grueling as the pain we faced because of this issue, if not even more…
My last post I wrote was on honesty, and this is a very important quality that we must have as we make changes. Its so important to surround ourselves with honest people, be an honest person, and have an honest heart when reading or hearing the word of God, as much as we possibly can, because there will be times where we will want to give up, or look back, remember the good and not the bad that comes with damaging habits, and we will lie to ourselves and say again, it’s not so bad, to give in, give up, or set some important things aside to indulge ourselves in harmful habits again….
I think this is a major reason why we may procrastinate certain things in our lives because we know that some things, some changes that we know we need to make are just plain difficult.
So how do we do all of this? How do we stop procrastinating, or waiting for the perfect moments to be and do better, and how do we push through, when it gets difficult?
And just so you know there are many, many stories in the Bible of these very patterns of human behaviors that you can look too and see what happens you give in to yourself and of give up on God rather than push through…
Let me just say there will be times that It gets worse before it gets better, but the better is worth the worse, we must see the end goal, we must have hope, faith… and understand the greatest act of love that taught us how to start fresh….
Jesus
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—” John 3:1-23
Baptism into Christ places you in the the kingdom of God, there are so many benifits to being in His kingdom it would take me blogs and blogs to tell you all about it which Im sure you will continue to hear about it from me… but for now let’s just say one of the greatest benefits of that is the hope of heaven, eternal peace, surrounded by the purest LOVE…
I think we all have some sort of grasp on Love, in some way or another, we either have it, have known it, want to know about it, or we long to grow in it…
What’s stopping us from reaching that love and it’s full potential is ourselves…the thought of tomorrow I will take care of that, or I’m going to wait until I feel better, I’m not good enough for any sort of Love, I fear what I might need to do, change or give up, to be in a better place.
let me ask you…
What are some important changes that you will put off?
What are things you often give up on when they get difficult?
I ask myself…
why do I fear difficult circumstances, so I wait, or avoid change.
I tend to fear uncomfortable, vulnerability, and the lack of my own self sufficiency, I don’t want anyone else to know that this life is hard, and I need help at times, every single one of us needs help actually.
And that is why God had given us, Jesus, each other i.e. the Church and His word to guide us into all understanding of the truth, that is why it was so important to Jesus that He teach his disciples of this.
Teach each other, help each other, and Love each other, are some of His core teachings.
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
If we wait too long on trusting God, we will become self reliant (to the extent that we can) and not now how to be reliant on God when we really need Him, it is best to make that change right now, rely on Gods help…Just face the fears, whatever they may be, YOU CAN TRUST that God will be right there by your side even through the difficult stages, that are bound to show up.
When you make a commitment to start working out, are the days always easy? no, are there set backs? yes, and are there going to be times where you have to push through? absolutely, but with and end goal in mind, we can start.
Don’t wait to start, with an end goal like heaven,
it’s so worth the process, for, that hope makes every challenge we face worth it. But even so the change of life style here on this earth and being a part of the spiritual kingdom of the Church of Christ, has many benefits too (you can read about this unity and love, and christian walk in Ephesians 4) …. waiting just gives us more time to doubt and delay… and I’m afraid waiting only makes it harder to commit in the future.
Proverbs chapter 24 is where the thought of this Post came from, I hope it encourages you as much as it did me, to stop waiting, to be strong, push through when it gets tough, to get back up when you fall, not giving up but always trying and be better. Thank you so much for reading, Please as always let me know if you have any questions. May God Bless you, and may you desire to know and seek His word, His Truth.
“A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory. Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth in the gate. One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer. The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men. If you are slack in the day of distress, Your strength is limited. Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste; Know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 24:5-14
“Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not plunder his resting place; For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him. Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked; For there will be no prospect for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out. My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change; For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?” Proverbs 24:15-22
I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction:
A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man. Proverbs 24:30-34
Honesty
Sometimes the thought of being honest scares me like no other…
So you may know from either my Instagram, or recent blog posts, or maybe you don’t know at all but I have decided to challenge myself in 2020 to be more BOLD.
So far I have been working on keeping up with blog posts once a week, sharing truth in my life as well as being more intentional about knowing it myself…
so with that being said I must share this next word that comes to mind as I dive into, this “Boldness” that like I said before is way out of my comfort zone (see take courage post)
Honesty,
I don’t think honesty comes without courage at times, unless your a 3 year old telling your mom how her cooking is, or how her hair looks in the morning ( I may or may not know this from experience) kids they are maybe a little too honest, is that even a thing?
When we think of honesty, most of us would say it would be a quality that we would like in a spouse, friend, some of us really enjoy being around our family because, they are honest (or maybe it’s the other way around, we dislike the honesty) but when we have honest relationships with others we can be ourselves.
We are being who we are, without that feeling that we need to hide behind a mask which is really something to cherish!
But does honesty always come as a positive, or does honesty at times bring about conflict, tension, and sometimes maybe even break relationships, how should we use this very powerful tool within ourselves….
Let me first start by being honest with you…
Every time I get ready to post a blog post, or instagram post, and in the past Facebook (which I got off of because I was getting overwhelmed with the amount in information that was feeding into my brain, and it was making me feel very anxious) but I get really nervous! I think about my friends and fellow readers, or followers, people that have decided to read what I have to say. I want to say the right things so that nobody gets offended, or hurt feelings because of something I may have said, that maybe people think I’m directing my posts at them which is not the case what I write is from a broad observation, of time, expierence, research, listening, study, and my own life, I don’t ever direct any posts to a particular person, but I pray that maybe they would help someone. Honestly I mostly write because it helps me.
When I take the time to research and share information I really try hard to make sure I myself am practicing what I share, before you hear about it, and I know I am not perfect… I can always do and be better, I don’t ever want to be put on a pedestal…I get easily embarrassed when there is attention put on me… so honestly, I share because, I care… I spend so much of my time throughout the week in thoughts about how I can help others understand, how I can be a better Christian, wife, mother, friend, neighbor, the list goes on and on, and there are times where, I just feel like I have failed, it’s easy to get discouraged over that but I have to constantly remind myself that I am trying to grow, and that there may be times that growth comes with some hard truths, that feel painful, and difficult to swallow because there are times where, I too don’t want the truth (but I need to hear it)…
Which leads me too this topic of honesty!
When Jesus speaks parables unto multitudes of people he would often say
“And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!””
Mark 4:9
This phrase is found a few times in the New Testament, why do you think we need to be told to hear?
Multitudes listened but only few heard, I mean it should be an obvious thing if we have ears, we can hear right?
But you have heard the statement in one ear and out the other?
How many of us actually listen to what is being said to us?
Honesty is something that starts within ourselves, honesty starts within the heart and it starts with the individual, can you make anyone be honest with you?
and is it possible to become unaware of the fact that we may not be honest with ourselves?
in my last post (The Jesus Trend)
I touched on this idea,
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? Matthew 7:1-4
its very easy to notice the flaws in each other, before we see our own. WE BECOME BLINDED. Dishonest with our own hearts. The word of God must be read from our hearts, applied to our hearts, and first change us before we start challenging others.
I find it interesting when I read and see how Jesus often uses that phrase “he who has an ear let him hear”
many heard this, but many walked away assuming nothing was wrong, maybe it crossed their minds as an interesting thought, but never did they stop and really listen to the truth that was being spoken to them.
But some did, Jesus disciples wanted to know more, wanted to know why? they had ears and they heard, they had eyes and they perceived..
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13:10-23
They were listening with honest hearts wanting to know the truth about Jesus teachings, what do we do with this information. Not simply being there to “hear” the message in one ear out the other but really listening with an honest heart.
Lets read of the parable again from Lukes account of the Gospel of Christ.
Luke 8:4-15
And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Hearing the word, Hold it Fast (That is to remember it a remind ourselves of it daily) in and HONEST and good heart, we will ….WITH PATIENCE, Bear fruit!
If we look back to Matthews account, Jesus tells His disciples ( Followers of Jesus)
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matthew 13:17
The prophets, and righteous men before Jesus only spoke of these mysteries that were to come. Jesus, who was The mystery revealed, was standing before their eyes answering their questions, teaching them.
Some of us say, well if I had Jesus standing before my eyes, I would be asking so many questions….Really?….would you?
WE HAVE THE BIBLE!
the before, the present, and the what is to come with Jesus….
The Old Testament, before Jesus, You can read and see our human nature, our failures, Gods patience, Gods guidance, Gods Love, But also Gods seriousness. When He says it He means it.
The Prophets spoke on behalf of God of things to come. The righteous men were followers of God…But even the prophets and righteous men made mistakes. Sometimes they questioned their purpose in life and sometimes they even failed.
But Jesus, came knowing His purpose, and did not fail, despite the difficulties that it came with, where most of us would just give up…
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Isaiah 6:8-11 (prophecy about Jesus)
Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness, teach all truth, and complete the Word of God… If I could help you understand all of it I would but I am not capable on this type of platform, nor would I want to do it because I can not perfect it anymore for you than it has already been done, and Im still growing in it, THE BIBLE, has it and we are all capable of learning from it but you must open it and read it with and honest heart, I do not wish to add or take away any of that.
Now if you see the Old Testament, was before Jesus, the New Testament, is after Jesus, That is after Jesus Died on the cross, and rose again. The Gospel accounts, are the present Jesus, His life here on this earth MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN. Each one is the same time period, pretty much the same stories just from different perspectives, the perspectives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. When Jesus died on the cross The law that was physical to so many, became a law that was spiritual a law to be obeyed first and foremost with in our hearts, “fruits” are produced when you are obedient to the truth. Honest with yourself is the only way you can get down and cultivate that soil, trees don’t produce fruit, overnight, usually it takes time and maturity and strong roots. From the Gospels, we have the establishing of the Church (Acts) and the letters to the either the churches in the different areas, or letters written to individuals, the Teach them the truth, to help them stay strong, and be encouraged to continue on following Christ, Because the enemy works very hard to take that away (with lies)
So I ask, how do you read the Bible, Is Jesus just a story? or is His message Truth? and what do you do with that? Being Honest with yourself is the first step towards a much better life, both now and forever.
Be thankful for the honest relationships in your life, be thankful for the truth even when it may be difficult to hear, and don’t be afraid to ask difficult, honest hearted questions, that will lead you to the truth.
Thank you as always for reading, I hope and pray that this would help you look closer into the word of God, to search for the truth, and to wholeheartedly seek after knowing it and follow it.
If I can help in any way please let me know.
Beverly
The Jesus Trend
We are seeing Jesus lovers popping up all over the internet,
I just can’t help but notice,
And please don’t get me wrong I love Jesus too, and I don’t think we should ever be ashamed to tell others about Him.
But I just can’t help but question the truth behind the matter of some,
And I wonder is this a trend or is this for real,
I am all for spreading the good news of Jesus, I’m all for encouragement, I’m all for helping others Find God!
But I just can’t help but think of the sermon on the mount, the words from Jesus himself, for 3 chapters of the Book of Matthew we have the greatest sermon ever preached, please understand one thing as you read the Word,
The chapters in the books were mans adding not Gods, when you read the sermon on the mount don’t pull this verse out and use it the way you want it…
““Judge not, that you be not judged.”
Matthew 7:1 read the entire sermon preached by Jesus….
Understand why it’s there, what it’s purpose was, and the context of the entire message.
This message is for you not for you to throw in someone else’s face, if someone is trying to help you because they see you going down a not so good path, please grab their hand as they are trying to pull you from destruction and thank them….
I would post the whole sermon but instead, I would greatly encourage you to open your Bible and read it for yourself from start to finish starting in Matthew chapter 5. Jesus didn’t stop preaching at the end of chapter 5 and pick up where he left off a day later, he preached continuously from chapter 5 through to chapter 7, It’s an important message!
““Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM M E, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
Matthew 7:13-29 NASB
It hurts a little to see the mass amount of people proclaiming Jesus, how much they love Him and The message of grace…backed by such worldly lifestyles!
Its seems more like confusion than a message of truth to me,
Jesus came to save us from this world that we want to participate in while holding on to the Jesus diamond cross around our neck,
he died on that cross for you,
and you get to wear it,
Does that not seem backwards to you!
(I’m not saying that everyone does this but this is just an example)
He told us to carry our crosses not flaunt them
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:27 NASB
Go and find out what this means.
And I don’t share this out of hate or judgment but care and concern because the fruits of our life will always speak so much louder than the words that come out of our mouths,
Or in this case, the posts of our social media accounts.
This is an avenue that I try to be cautious of because it is so easy to show the world a different you, it’s easy to be a “Jesus lover” or “saved by grace” On the internet, but who are we at home to our families, friends, spouses, who are we to our co-workers or neighbors, and most importantly who are we to God?
What kind of fruits are you displaying in public, or private, how do you yield to temptations? (self-control)
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:19-26 NKJV
Each one of those fruits should be dissected in our lives, they are hard to master, but not impossible, we have an example and we must follow it everyday especially as we proclaim to be His followers, we must be different from the world.
Let us not be conceited…
Provoking one another…
Envying one another!
Social Media has to be the largest outlet for this kind of behavior, provoking (look at me)and envying (look at them)…
What is your purpose to show Gods glory or yours? trust me I know it’s easy to get caught up in attention…but is it worth your soul or someone you may be affecting as they watch your example.
“Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. S ee how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
James 3:1-18 NASB
This is hard to share, I’m not trying to exalt myself above anyone else by any means,
Please take this with a sincere love from me and for the truth.
And thank you for taking the time to read, with love,
Beverly
I was in a rut a few years back wondering why things just didn’t feel like they matched, I thought I was doing everything right…this sermon really helped me put things into perspective. Please take the time to listen, I pray it would help you as it did me!
Mom Guilt, A change in perspective.
Mom guilt
Read More...The God of peace shall be with you….
I feel like this is our extended New Years Eve,
So I will just say it
Happy New Year!
Here is to life, and to being real about it all!
We made it back home from our annual trip to Cold Bay, Alaska It’s really a blessing, and I’m so thankful that we have the ability to go to this place every year and do what we do! I hope that everyone has a place that they can go, to take a little break, change pace, think, reflect, and most importantly be in nature, take part in God’s creation, which is really amazing!
Have you ever felt like you just wanted a break to change your pace?
The Holidays are coming up,
And the real new year is coming up as well,
How many of us are actually thinking about our New Years resolutions (maybe, not yet, too early, I know)
We gotta get through those indulgent holidays first, I know!
Your probably wondering where I’m going with these thoughts, well so am I,
When I started this blog I wrote that this was my way of reflection, decompressing my thoughts, so I’m actually just writing what is in my head right now, as I sit on another plane, heading to another place, another break from reality I guess you can call it!
Not because I dislike my reality, I actually really love my life, but this hasn’t always been true for me…I have surely had my struggles, and by no means do I have the perfect life.
But let me share something with you,We all know what Phillipians 4:13 says,
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Philippians 4:13 KJV
We read this and we are empowered, aren’t we,
ALL THINGS!
CHRIST,
WHO STRENGTHENS US!
Really amazing to think about isn’t it?
I strongly believe that Christ does strengthen us, and that he can help us overcome SO MUCH!
But in context this actually is talking about lifestyle, and being content no matter what because we have CHRIST, and no matter what, he has got our back, whether we are in the storms of life, or full of joy, whether we are rich or poor, hurting or happy.
Philippians 4:4-14
Rejoice in the Lord always:
Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
Which surpasses all comprehension,
Shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally brethren,
Whatever is true,
Whatever is honorable,
Whatever is right,
Whatever is pure,
Whatever is lovely,
Whatever is of good repute,
If there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise,
Let your mind dwell on these things.
The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,
Practice these things;
And the God of peace shall be with you.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly,
That now at last you have revived your concern for me;
Indeed you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak from want;
For I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity;
In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both having abundance and suffering need.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Nevertheless you have done well to share with me in my affliction.
Philippians 4:4-14
So as I sit here in flight, reflecting, thankful, and rejoicing in the blessings that God has given me, I am also so very thankful for the struggles as well because they have taught me so much, they have helped me grow,
Those reality breaks, they don’t have to wait until the New Year, or the trip, sometimes we just need to stop breathe, and think, what am I doing and why am I hurting, and give in to Gods Guidance, and Christ’s strength.
PAUSE,
You are never too far gone for God to work with you,
Content in all circumstances means that, whether life is going great, or life is difficult you have the Creator on your side wanting to help fix you!
And sometimes it hurts, sometimes it’s hard, but it’s only because he knows how much you deserve, and he wants to give you more! But sometimes we get so stubborn in our ways thinking life can’t get better and we shouldn’t feel content regardless of the circumstances, when it’s good we feel guilty, when it’s hard we feel hopeless, and we feel like we need to have all the answers rather than just trust the process!
So with all that being said,
I get stubborn too,
I think life is something I need to handle all on my own,
I think well I’m already this far in, I can’t stop now, I can’t turn around….
That’s why I say take a break to look at your life, where is the first place you take your computer when it’s broken, well I’m sure if you knew the designer personally you would take it straight to him, but most likely your either gonna read the manual it came with, or your gonna take it to someone who has, and has studied it and knows how to fix it.
We are not computers but we have a designer a Creator, we also have a manual (Gods word, the Bible) and we also have people who have put in the time and effort to read and work on themselves through that manual, and speaking from experience myself, I know it works!
I’m learning to be less stubborn in my ways, and more dependent on God, more trusting of Him, and content in every circumstance, because it is true that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:31-32 KJV
His work always leaves me so in Awe!!
“Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”
Psalms 46:8-11 KJV
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”
Psalms 62:5-8 KJV
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
John 8:12 KJV
“And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. [ But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” ]”
Matthew 17:20-21 NASB
“Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?””
Luke 8:22-25 NASB
“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””
John 16:22, 33 NASB
As always if there was ever anything that you could get from taking the time to read my blog my prayer for this always is that you would take the time to desire the Truth in your life, we are are capable of being stronger than we think, which is exactly why Christ came to die for us, I pray you would find a Bible and read it and learn about that! And the love that He has for us!
May God bless you and you be able to find what it means to be content in all circumstances! And what it means to be able to do all things through Christ who strengthens you ❤️
With love,
Beverly
Where is your Peace?
Guided imagery brings you to a place of peace.
Usually when asked to close your eyes and go to a place that is calm and peaceful,
We think of mountains, beaches, meadows, rivers, forests
the sounds are those of waves crashing, or birds chirping, wind blowing, rain pouring
Where is your place of peace?
And why is it, that this place usually involves nature,
I honestly don’t know, maybe yours doesn’t involve nature
But when I think of complete peace within myself I’m near the ocean,
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
A warm breeze, and the sun setting
I love sunsets,
I could watch them all day!
if only…
Why do we get these glimpses of beauty? Why can’t we just stay there forever?
What’s so beautiful about the sun setting?
to me it is that I can actually look at the sun without being blinded by its brightness
the colors of the sky amaze me and the reflection of light seen upon the water shows just how powerful God really is.
To think that this earth just accidentally happened, to me is hopeless
What’s the point of the beauty if this is all just an accident
What the point of joy, if we don’t have love
What’s the point of life when we don’t have a God,
What is our purpose if it is not for Christ
(Now hold on…)
A long time ago God created the world,
Whether you believe it or not, it doesn’t change a fact!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Genesis 1:1
The world was a perfect place of absolute peace, not a worry, not a sorrow, not a burden, not a tear.
God made animals, and he made a man, this man was different from the animals because God breathed His own breath into him…
His soul into man! ( how blessed are we)
That soul was uncorrupted knowing no evil, man was given a helper, a woman (taken from and for the man, but also given a soul of her own)
Together they were given a perfect home to enjoy and be completely taken care of!
God, because of His love gave them a free will (yes, you have choice in this life)
In this perfect garden there was a tree…a tree to understand,
Understand something different from what they knew,
Knowledge of good and evil,
With that tree of knowledge came another thing that was death
The perfect home and everlasting life would be severed through disobedience,
Death!
A tempter came told the woman you won’t die you will just be like God, don’t you want that..to know good and evil…the thing is they already knew good, but it couldn’t have been considered good without the counterpart evil. Good without evil is perfect!
(What did God say when he created it all, “it is good”,perfect. Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good.)
Back to the fruit of that tree of knowledge of good and evil…
Eve took it
She didn’t die instantly
What!!??
she passed it on to Adam,
Everything changed!
Here comes the knowledge…
They instantly understood what evil was…
disobedience to their Creator,
They were ashamed, and instantly wanted to hide away! Naked, vulnerable, and now they understood the one thing that God wanted to keep them pure from!
Evil!
But a God so loving knew this would happen
He had a plan of redemption,
The Tree of Life…
in order to live they must now take from that…you see all along it wasn’t about forcing anything for God, God is Love and all He wants is children that love Him, not because they are forced to, but because they want to love Him! The peace, the beauty, the wonders, the love, they all come from God!
And He gave us an opportunity to do that, His word is a gift, a gift of life, and manual on how to live it to the fullest, it’s a powerful message of His love, we don’t want to read it because that just seems so unfair that God would just create us, put us in this world, and then make us read a book on how to live in it…
(so unfair right)
I think not…
But honestly the whole thought of reading the Bible used to burden me, but what I have actually realized is that it is not His Word that is a burden, but the world and the lies within it, they damage us!
They take us away from those places of peace, calmness, and love. So far away that we need to deliberately close our eyes and think deep to find that happy place again!
God knows our burdens, He gave us this gift inside the gift, that is Christ!
A perfect example, to come to earth and show us how to cast every burden aside, He did something that none before Him could ever do and that is die for our sins!
We killed him, in anger, in jealously, in lies, In deceit, in selfishness! But still He said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” Luke 23:34
The walk of a perfect life, to a cross of crucifixion, an absolute selfless act to pay a price for heaven to give to us, for everyone who cares to understand, everyone who cares to say Glory to God in the highest, I love Him because He first love me!
Everyone Who understands the necessity of the death that Christ faced for us, and the necessity of the need to clothe ourselves in that death, burial, and resurrection.
The death defeated sin, but only defeated sin for those that would remove it through His holy cleansing power!
Rest is found through His love,
Fear of death, defeated!
Comfort is a promise! For now and forever through Christ, but only for those willing to receive that comfort! It’s not a simple as speaking, it’s not as simple as a thought! Death came when disobedience happened in the Garden of Eden,
Life comes through obedience, to the Tree of life.
Taking from that Tree of life, to live in the comfort and peace in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Close your eyes, and imagine a place
Where you are completely at peace,
Find yourself in that happy place
Tell me, what part of that exercise involves chaos, clutter, fear, darkness.
We do that to ourselves, while our hearts LONG for that peace,
God wants us to trust His journey for us, (not my will, but His)
It hurts sometimes as we walk this journey with Him because there are so many things that we have only ever known, that have been weighing us down,
God wants to help us remove them to find that peace,
that removal can be painful,
That place of comfort, will one day be our never-ending home!
Time was created by God who doesn’t exist within that matter of time, that’s hard to take in, but the beginning and the end are something created by Him to teach us that this world is not the home we should strive for because it doesn’t last forever,
Peace with Him though,
That can start now,
And that never needs to end,
Obedience,
Removal of selfish motives,
Putting on love,
Again God who created us didn’t create us to force us into anything,
We all have a choice,
The lie that tells you that, He is unjust, unloving, and fake,
Or even the lie that tells YOU that you are unworthy to be saved!
Is the same lie that started the fall of man,
“Surely you will not die,” said the serpent!
“You will be just like God” said the serpent!
As hard as we may try, we could Never compete with God,
Call yourself a “lucky accident” that came about from a mashing of rocks billions of years ago!
Or call yourself a child of a Creator that loves you and will give you every opportunity to turn to Him,
Who knows how to free you from the chaos, fears, and darkness.
He doesn’t promise it to be easy,
But promises freedom, peace,
Comfort, and love!
“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9
What is your promise?
What is you image of peace?
What is your life?
What is your purpose?
Where is your peace?
As my title emphasizes my love for the truth, if you have any questions about my post, I would first recommend reading the Word for yourself, here are the listed scripture references, any further questions please let me know!
Creation and fall of man
Genesis 1-3
The righteous and wicked contrasted
Psalms 1
Proverbs 14
The works and the Word of God
Psalms 19
What is the Tree of life?
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” Proverbs 11:30
Revelations 22
About Jesus and his care:
John- chapters 14-16 (read this without the chapter breaks, it breathtaking, beautiful, and comforting. The chapter breaks in the Bible are man-made not necessarily meant for stopping points sometimes we miss great passages from stopping too soon.)
And why did Jesus Die?
Collisions 2 and 3
The whole Word of God is full of this love, and knowledge! The Bible is truly and treasure given for our benefit, not for our burden! My prayer is that you would read it filterless, with the ability to break down the barriers placed upon your hearts! The promise is truly fulfilling! May God bless you always!
she desires TRUTH 