Tag: Word of God

Habits

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In this one short and sweet proverb there is so much. I have heard this often in my life and honestly there was a time that I wondered can that really be true? I mean I have watched kids who it seemed were brought up right ( that is at least what I thought ) they were “taken to church”, bible classes, looked great outwardly, from my perspective they knew the way that they should go, and then…they departed from it!

So how can this proverb really be true? I recently read a book called Habits By: Charolette Mason that made me think a little more about the idea of training up a child. Let us consider some thoughts and think about the wording used in the scripture, as well as consider other scriptures, to help us better understand what this means.

You must TRAIN UP the child! And that is not a simple task. Though things like involvement in the church, bible classes, even discipline to a certain extent can have a great influence on your child, if these things are not done right, they can have little effect on the whole being of your child and before you know it the outside influence of the world is greater than yours and children depart from the way that you “told” them they should go.

Now why did I put quotations around that word told, I believe something important must be understood, and that is that getting our children to understand The Way is so much more than just telling them, the way, or even showing them the way, but it requires training them in the way that they should go.

I really love this analogy of habits, they are like ruts in the road, you drive that same path over and over creating ruts in the road, so after long enough you have created ruts so deep that you start to slip out of it, and it takes much more effort to go out, we usually end up falling right back in. This is as the habits we lay down in our minds and daily actions. Our thought patterns, and lifestyles are like well worn paths as we get older that we naturally just travel on.

“The constant direction of the thoughts produces a certain set in the tissues of the brain, this set is the first trace of the rut or path, a line of least resistance, along which the same impression, made another time, will find it easier to travel than to take another path. So arises a right-of way for any given habit or thought” -Habits page 21

Now this can be good or bad obviously, this book was very eye opening to me to see within myself many habits, that I unknowingly have been just in the rut of the path that I have been going on most my of my life, it’s clear to me that I need to repave some roads, and create some new ruts with persistence. This won’t be an easy task but I know it will be worth it not only for myself but for my children. And it starts within…

Before the outward work I must do the inward work, or it would be in vain! And what a shame it would be to put all of the effort into something like good habits just for the sake of how others will perceive me. Train a child up in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. This fails us when it is done in vain.

“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The Pharisees and scribes whom Jesus was speaking to in the verses above, received some of the harshest words from Jesus and rightfully so they had it all backwards they were outward focused, and hypocritical. We must start this habit training with genuine consideration of ourselves and our motives, to take care as we train up our children, with a love for the Lord and the truth, and a prayerful attitude.

“Mothers thoughts show on her children like painters in their paintings.” -Habits page 19

Our children observe so much of us, you know this quote from the book really got me thinking, I try my best outwardly to be the best example to my children but I do forget inwardly I also must be that example, now I know they dont know all of my innermost thoughts, but some of them I’m sure unknowingly come out on to my children. After all we do read these verses and they are sobering reminders to keep our thoughts clean and pure.

“And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭27‬:‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Understanding our thoughts as habits is so important we can be habitual negative thinkers, doubters, or judgmental, to the point where we don’t even realize that we are thinking this way, and so many thoughts just naturally transform into our actions. Which is why it is important to be intentional, in considering our thoughts.

“A mothers duty, is to cultivate good habits within herself, with great tact, watchfulness, and persistence.” -Habits

I often find myself in a never ending cycle, of picking up a new habit, it working great for a few weeks and then a slight change in our schedule and we are back at square one as if we had never implemented anything new. This is where I found it important to consider persistence. Persistence is key!! Well worn paths don’t happen overnight, or over a week, maybe in a month they may start to become a little more obvious but definitely not the deep rut that we are talking about, those take years to create.

So what must I do when the changes hit, the lulls, or the times where I want to give myself or my children a break? It is in these times that it is of the utmost importance that I consider, my goals, those good habits that I am trying to form within myself and my children, the making of these well worn paths that will set us up for success in life. For example when running a marathon, and you start to get worn out with the run, you don’t keep yourself going by thinking of how difficult it is to run, or how bad your body hurts, most people who think that way would probably not finish the run, but you keep yourself going by thinking of your goals. Your immediate goal might be to complete the race, but you may also have some long term goals that you are also thinking of as you are trying to keep yourself going, like becoming a stronger athlete, or whatever it may be. We should apply this to our mentality of habit building understanding that we must be persistent and especially watchful of our behaviors and thought patterns.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us

exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (Goals)

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (Consequences)
‭‭II Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬

I boldened some spots in the verse above not because those are the only important parts, the whole verse itself is one of my favorites, but to show that is is important to remember the great promises that are told to us just as we would goals in running a race there are spiritual goals that are the promises we are given when overcoming this world! They are great to remind ourselves of when things in life feels too difficult. Then as the verse goes on, we read some qualities that follow an add to, so it begins with faith and then we add to it. As you read the verse above we see where perseverance comes in, because God knows us so well, that He (through this letter written by Peter) reminds us that there will be difficult times in your life that you must persevere through. As you persevere and continue on in adding to your faith the other qualities that we find in the verse above we begin to form this path in ourselves and in our children that becomes automatic to who we are through our habits. Which is the training that we should want not only for our children but also ourselves. Because as we also read above when we lack those qualities we become short sighted, even to blindness.

Being short sighted or blind would make life very difficult, as a parent. This is obviously spiritually, so think about that for a second, short sightedness is being unable to see things clearly unless they are relatively close, or in lacking foresight. Foresight as a parent helps you to make decisions that provide a better outcome for your future, and that goes for children as well, but children don’t often have this ability which is why they need parents to TRAIN them.

“A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Which brings this post full circle…

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

My ultimate goal as a mother is teach my children to be obedient to the gospel of Christ. How do I teach them this if I am not living the example myself?

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What kind of habits are you training your children in? What kind of habits do you have? are they bettering your family or are they hurting your family?

I know for myself, there are many habits that I need to remove, some improve, and some that I need to bring in altogether. I highly recommend this book for reading yourself in it there is a list of habits in the back, that are helpful to consider for bettering your life. But more importantly I would recommend having a healthy understanding of Gods word the Bible and starting there if there is anything I can help with please do comment. We are living in a world that is lacking truth in so many ways!

Thanks for reading!

Habits: The Mother’s Secret to Success (Charlotte Mason Topics) https://a.co/d/4cpeybU

Magnify

I will MAGNIFY HIM with thanksgiving.

I know we are traveling through a difficult passage of life right now, there is a lot of scary, and negative news out there. It may feel like God is far away. I ask you to answer this question for yourself, is God big or small to you?

I will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

In our lives it’s very easy to get focused on all of the things that are not going our way and if we are not careful they can consume us to believe that nothing is going our way. And we begin to question, doubt, and distance ourselves from God.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:12-16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It can start out very simply, and very quickly escalate us into feeling as though our whole life is a mess, and we lose our lights. I will keep this thought short and sweet to remind you to look at the life around you and notice what you do have rather than what you don’t, be thankful to God, take time to consider what He has done for you up to this point and do your best to be thankful for Him…

Even in our trials we can be thankful…actually we are told we can have joy and glory in them, because God is making us stronger!

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:1-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

MAGNIFY HIM

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Make a list of what you are thankful for, if you have heard the song count your blessings, think of it! Each one of us have been blessed in different ways, it will do us no good to compare our blessings with the blessings of others because then that can make you envious, and ungrateful for the life that God has given you!

“A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14:30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Count YOUR blessings and you will find that God is nearer to you than you realized! He loves YOU so much, let His love motivate you each day, to be a worker for Him, to learn to be self less, and Magnify Him and praise Him for what he has done for YOU each and every day.

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:1-22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬


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!

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?

 

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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,

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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…

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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? 

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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! 

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