Lent: Day Thirty-eight: Reconciled with Christ

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Reconciled

This scripture tugged at me last night during our bible reading:

2 Cor. 5:14-19 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,not counting people’s sins against them.

It tugged at me because what did it mean to be reconciled with Christ? Was God mad at me? Did I do something wrong that I needed to be reconciled with Him? Reconciled definition: to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent.

Well there you go; a hearty clarification. I think we as humans always think of ourselves as gods over ourselves. That we are strong enough to go it alone without the aid of a higher power, a force so great He created the world in a breath. I’ve never thought of myself so high that I didn’t NEED God, but I thought there might be others out there struggling with this ego trip of arrogance on their own.

I do remember a time where I was so young and vulnerable that I felt invincible. I had lost my child, I was sixteen, and the invincibility carried me into age eighteen where I thought drinking was my shield from harm. That was until the night I overdosed on too much Schnapps and died passing out in my own vomit. I woke in a freezing shower unable to remember how I got there and only remember the bright lights that whisked me into the tub.

When I woke up in bed the next morning I had a totally different outlook on life. It was at that time I felt the need to be reconciled with Christ and a few journey’s later I became a dedicated servant of Christ. Yes I was saved at fourteen where I had given my life over to God, but I fell and I fell hard. I never turned away from Christ, but again, I had an ego of invincibility about me.

I had given birth to a deceased baby and any grown woman knows and understands the travails of childbirth. Well, to a sixteen-year-old kid who didn’t have a live fetus helping in the push, my pain was doubled.

I begged for mercy after my drunken stupor, then I went to work and to this day I live for Christ and Christ alone. I am reconciled with God and strive daily never to be the invincible ego driven brat I was as a child.

God loved me, the unlovable, with a rigorous commitment. He loved me when I tried to ignore His all consuming power. God saw me for the potential that was in me, when I saw none in myself. Christ walked a path for me, the sinner so that I may one day stand before God with all barriers of opposition gone.

And to you my friend I bear a message of reconciliation with God that no man/woman is excluded from. I hope that from my words you see a woman who is passionate about peace and reconciliation; a woman who is striving to be in alignment with my Lord and Savior.

To Him be the Glory!

God is not a deceiver, that He should offer to support us, and then, when we lean upon Him, should slip away from us. - Augustine

Lent: Day Thirty-seven ~ God is Not a Religion

Luke 2: 40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

God is Not a Religion

Pss. 86: 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

“Religion is for people afraid of going to hell…Spirituality is for people who have already been there.” ~ Vine Deloria – Sioux

I hear so many times people saying, “Don’t shove your religion down my throat.” Maybe they are misinformed but scripture from the bible is not a religion; God is not a religion so when I post a scripture and you’re offended and tell me to stop shoving my religion down your throat, allow me to enlighten you.

Scripture is not a religion. Faith in God is not a religion. Now when a Jehovah’s Witness knocks on your door and tries to shove a pamphlet in your face, THAT is someone trying to force their religion on you.

I’ve been approached many times in the parking lot by a JW and as you’re trying to unload all your groceries, they run up and try shoving a pamphlet in your face. Now THAT to me is trying to force a religion on you. When someone physically approaches you and feeds you their religion as if it is the only one and the only RIGHT one that exists.

Spirituality is not a religion either and TO ME that is just what God and all His biblical testimonies are, primarily. The Buddhists don’t own spiritual awareness, the Native Americans don’t have the market cornered on spirituality. Spiritual experiences are for all whether faith in one God or not.

My spirituality is a deep rooted faith in one God. It is rooted in there being only ONE God, who had a Son through a divine Immaculate Conception, who then died for mankind and all his sins, thus bathing us in the Holy Spirit!

If religion is defined as the worship of One God, then yes, I am religious. I will walk with the Holy Spirit and share with you all that that entails, but I will not say that this is the one and only faith that you must adhere to in life or that it is the only RIGHT one. 

We are all of different creeds and I respect that. I cannot judge someone whose only faith is in spiritual awareness and I would hope that I am not judged for believing in the trinity.

When I was a child, I was raised Catholic and very much wanted to be a nun and dedicate my life to Christ but be it as it may, God wanted a different path for me and in every breath I took, He guided each step. He is the one who put me on this spiritual path. He did not sink me into a religion and guide me in the way of becoming a nun; He had different plans for me.

Spirituality is hard to find a definitive definition. Scientist define it “the search for the sacred”. There is a definition on spiritualism that is defined as: the belief that all reality is spiritual. Metaphysics: any of various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind. If God did not want us to be spiritual beings why use the word over 600 times in the Bible?

Why did God take me on this journey? Why did He set my path on the spiritual aspect rather than a religious road? I think it is because He wanted me to know the differences in life based on spirituality.

Being called a Jesus freak is okay with me. I’ve already stirred up thoughts with this Lenten series and some have been good, while others I can sense are tired of it all already. I’m not called to please you, I’m called to please my Lord and Savior who is guiding my fingertips. I am guided by the warmth washing over me by the Holy Spirit and what comes out in these posts are for all to walk away with and think about.

You can walk away in agreement or disagreement that is for you and where you are in your journey of life. All I know is that God is my divining rod. I can choose one way or the other, I can believe in all He has shown me, or I can shrug off all He has conveyed and take a different path. That is free will.

If you pick up a bible and read it, do you walk away with questions, enlightenment, doubts or unbelief? Enlightenment to me is an AHA moment where a lightbulb goes off in my head. And when I read the bible, I walk away enlightened by the knowledge that God has placed on my heart. I have read many different doctrines and the Holy Bible is the only one that gave me clarity.

God is not my religion, He is a way of life for me. I am a very spiritual person who sees God in everything, and I do mean everything. The land, the trees, the soil, the animals, and yes in human beings whether they have the Light of the Lord in them or not, I see them as spiritual beings set on a different path than me.

My religion is my church (Christians) and my church family (where I go to praise and worship) where we are all set on the same path walking hand in hand with the same beliefs. You can poke fun at me, laugh at my pain, correct me because I’m not grammatically perfect, scoff at my imperfections but please, don’t make fun of my spiritual beliefs. I judge no one and don’t care to BE judged.

God is not a religion, He is a spiritual journey. Embrace it.

1 Cor. 16: 18 For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.

Lent: Day Thirty-six ~ God Uses Christians

“We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.” Billy Graham

God Uses Christians 

I know a few people who have asked, where is God today? We’re living in a dying world with nature rearing it’s ugly head in ways not seen in centuries past. With wildfires, drought, starvation, evil corrupting what’s left of society, where IS God?

While I’m not blind to the world around me, I see the fires, death and destruction all peaking at an all time high. Sometimes people feel God has forgotten us and just left us to fend for ourselves; He hasn’t left us, He is USING us.

When our cousin Mary died on the 20^th of March, we were hit with the shock then the sadness of her being so young. Didn’t Mary have more to do? Couldn’t she help from earth instead of heaven?

Since the age of sixteen Mary has been called to go on mission trips to Ghana to help the needy. This is what her entire short life was dedicated to. While I have never felt the call to go on a mission trip (they’re not trips as humans tend to understand) Mary devoted her life to helping others. She was a part of the Rotary Society and their mission was assistance to the needy.

Mary’s work for God was done. He used her in so many ways and even in death the donation of her corneas was going to make some family exceedingly rewarded. I know that from first hand experience. Her Light shone for all the world to see. Even when she herself was in excruciating pain and very near the end, her light, love and laughter drew a crowd who all wanted to pay their last respects to this Godly young woman.

God uses us for His work. While we might think our lives are insignificant, if you’re a Christian, He is using you in some way that maybe not even you know. People need to see God alive in you, not treated as a passing fancy one week, throwing out scripture the next. They need to see Him in you daily, which is how He stays alive in this world.

I have a friend with Parkinson’s disease and is fighting other illnesses as well. While she doesn’t understand why this is happening to her, I’m assuming God is using her. I think He’s using her to show others how to carry an illness with strength. Other people fighting illnesses will look to her and say, “How is she staying so strong?” And she’ll answer, “The power of God in me.” Having lived her life dedicated to the Church and to Christ they will see God living in her and God using her. She becomes a living testimony.

This is what God is using Christian’s for. To be alive in Christ! Be His voice, be His Word and be His rock. This is no small task either.

I often wondered where I fit in to the grander scheme of things. Am I being used? Well of course I am! I call to mind a sermon from Pastor Mike a few months ago. He was speaking on being used by God. He said that someone wrote to him and said that they felt insignificant and that all they could do was pray. He got all excited at this point and said, “ALL you can do is pray? That is one of God’s biggest jobs is to use people to pray!”

This is why I take prayer so serious. It cannot be undermined, it cannot be simplified, it has to be done with the power and strength of the Lord and with everything in you, not just a passing verb.

God is out in full force using Christian’s and we know it. Maybe He’s using you to care for an elderly person, maybe He’s using you as a Samaritan, maybe He is calling you to do mission work, maybe He’s calling you to be a Light to others so that they see Him in you, maybe He’s using an illness to show people strength or maybe He’s using you to fervently pray. Whatever the case may be, God is using Christian’s globally to bring forth the Glory of God.

So no matter how insignificant you may feel in this world, if you’re a Christian, know that God is busy using you in ways you cannot imagine. In life and death we are all part of the kingdom of God. Our testimony will live when our bodies are laid to rest. Our light will shine forth the eternal power of God.

Job 36:24 Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.

Lent: Day Thirty-five ~ Salvation

Joshua 24:15 (NIV) "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Salvation

I have good news for you, people. The past couple of weeks I’ve written about the renewal of your spirit, I talked about serving the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, praise and worship of the Lord and so many other richly rewarding posts, but today I bring great news, Salvation! It is free, not earned, nor bought or achieved by any works that your physical body can do, it is FREE, given with the blood of the cross.

I may come off a little crass in saying serve, praise, worship and be a part of a church. I think I make it sound like that’s your only way into heaven. It is not so, all these posts are for the committed Christian who understands what it means to serve our great and mighty God. We don’t serve because it will BRING us closer to God; we serve because it helps us FEEL closer to God.

Jesus calls us to be more than a mere Christian in word. If you call yourself a Christian you need to know what it means to be Christlike ie. a Christian. But if you’re a non-believer and searching for the peace within your body and feel that there is a higher power governing you, you need to meet my friend Jesus Christ.

I’ve have a few friends who say they won’t serve such a cruel God, who maims and kills and destroys but they see all His blessed goodness and would rather call the goodness by another name. Can I ask you something? When you were a kid and you defied your mother and she disciplined you, did you hate her? Did you turn away from her? Stop loving her? No, not often.

God is like that. When we sin, sure He disciplines us but by His saving grace we are forgiven. That is not to say that once you become a Christian you carry on like nothing has happened spiritually to you. You don’t drink booze, lay around reading and believing, sin and keep on sinning some more because God will save you.

I know a few people who will believe in God and all the testimony in the Old Testament but won’t believe Jesus is the Son of God. They’ll believe God parted the sea, they’ll believe he wiped out humans on the earth and saved the animals via Noah, they’ll believe a man resided in the belly of a whale, but they won’t believe in the Immaculate Conception?

“Since no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all. There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief.” ~ John Calvin

To be Christian, you believe that the blood of Christ was shed for you, a sinner among men. You’re not going to become a Christian just because it is a phase you’re going through. You’re going to become a Christian because you feel empty inside; you feel like something is missing and you sense that there IS a power out there that can fill the emptiness. Salvation! You become saved by grace from carnal sin by the hanging on the cross of God’s Son.

Christians are called to serve the Lord. We feel a need to do good, help others, attend church, praise and worship; it is part of our spiritual Christian growth. But to others who don’t know Him who want to know Him, salvation is yours for the asking and receiving. God extends His hand out to you, sends a comforter by way of the Holy Spirit, and washes you in the Blood of Christ so you too feel changed spiritually.

When this happens to you, you no longer hang onto just reading and believing. You want to take ACTION, not because it brings you closer to heaven, or brings you closer to God, but because you can sense the power of God in you and this new spiritual growth calls out to you and propels you into action. You crave being closer to God! All the reading and believing in the world will not bring you into a closer relationship with God, action FOR and TOWARDS God, will.

Through salvation, the will of God becomes evident. You won’t miraculously stop sinning, but you have a clean slate FROM your sin to begin anew. You will STRIVE to be Christ-like meaning you recognize any and all of your sin and bring it to Jesus. Only He can wash away the unclean sin.

Yes, we are all sinners and fall short of the Glory of God but salvation is the saving grace, through Jesus Christ. Read and believe this, you CAN taste heaven and see what awaits you. You CAN drink from the cup of salvation and walk eternally with Christ himself. You can take this to the heavenly bank and cash it; God awaits YOU!

“If you have to be reasoned into Christianity, some wise fellow can reason you out of it! If you come to Christ by a flash of the Holy Spirit so that by intuition you know that you are God’s child, you know it by the text but you also know it by the inner light, the inner illumination of the Spirit, and no one can ever reason you out of it.” A.W. Tozer

Lent: Day Thirty-four ~ Praise and Worship

Isaiah 29:13-14 (NIV) The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

What is this talk of praise and worship? Through this Lent series, you’re learning about the great Almighty God and Jesus but what does the bible say about worship and praise? Is praise in reading the word? Is worship in believing?

The word praise is used over 400 times in the bible; the word worship over 200 times, so the words in scripture must carry some meaning; more than just reading and believing.

Praise is defined as: the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God. Worship is defined: reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred; formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: They attended worship this morning.

1 Chron. 29: 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

God calls us to praise and worship Him. He not only calls, He commands us to do so. If you have a mother, you understand command. When your mother said be home at eleven, she wasn’t asking you politely to obey her order, she was commanding you to listen to her.

This is the same with God. He doesn’t ask us to read and believe the bible; the choice is yours but He DOES command you, once a believer and follower to praise and worship Him outside your comfort zone.

Your comfort zone is the nice quiet place you reside, read and believe. With all your intelligence that you’ve garnered after reading the bible and dissecting it scripture by scripture; your wisdom that you think you own and have gained will be swallowed up.

Isaiah 29:13-14 (NIV) The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

These people that the above scripture verse is speaking of are the ones sitting comfortably in their homes. They call on God with their mouths, they pray with their lips, but their hearts, sitting comfortably at home are far away from Him.

Have you ever heard the one that if a tree falls in the woods and no one was around to hear it, would it still make a sound? I hear over and over again a logically wise response, a resounding NO!

That’s what praise alone is; it is making a sound (if the utterance leaves your mouth) but it is not heard. You are paying lip-service to God and to me (TO ME) that is short changing an all Mighty and Powerful God who says their wisdom will perish and their intelligence will vanish.

Worship is the same way. God does not command us to worship alone.

Ex. 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

I feel as if your (my) television screen or computer screen is a false God. If your worship of Him is with a television, radio, or computer screen, remember the Jealous God. The screens are no different than that of the golden calf that the people built while Moses was away receiving the Lord’s Commandments. The TV becomes a false god.

We get into a comfort zone and remain there thinking we can pick and choose how we praise and worship. The choice isn’t ours to make. God COMMANDS us to worship Him and Him alone, He COMMANDS us to praise His name and His alone. He calls us to come out of our cocoon of a comfort zone and Praise His Holy name.

Will God hear your praise alone in your cocoon? Of course He will. But like our mother commanded us to be home at a certain time and we chose to come in a little later, we are chastised by her. Do we expect God to be any different? Does He pick and choose the commandments you’re to obey? Does He say come to me in the comfort of your home and sit idle and praise me? No! He commands us to EXALT him, praise Him, glorify His name, worship Him and Him alone.

A Christian understands the commandments. He or she understands praise and worship and the benefits that flow through your veins.  He doesn’t pick and choose how he sees it fit to praise and worship, he is guided by the very hand of God.

Chron. 16:29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Matt. 4: 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Praise is the basis of the Christian spirit. Reading and believing is not praise. Praise is when you feel in the pit of your stomach a glorifying of God lift inside of you and song is poured through your mouth. You are not a tree, alone in the woods falling with no one around to hear. Your voice is lifted up and those surrounding you hear your praise and are there with you glorifying the heavenly high God. The power of Lord rains a spiritual shower on your spirit and the psalms of praise are heard.

Pss. 150:1-6 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

In closing, allow me to say, we are not to pick and choose how and when to praise and worship; God makes it very clear the methods in which we are to follow scripture and His Word. Picking and choosing is the way of a vain and selfish man thinking of himself above the Savior and King.

“When God’s people begin to praise and worship Him using the Biblical methods He gives, the Power of His presence comes among His people in an even greater measure.” ~ Graham Truscott

Just as there is POWER in prayer, there is also a Mighty POWER in praise and worship. If you are new to the Christian faith, let me tell you, once you feel the power of praise, you will no longer pick and choose the scripture you adhere to. Your praise will be felt and heard.

Lent: Day Thirty-three ~ Poetry Sunday ~ Spiritual Growth

John 7:38 (NIV) "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Spiritual Growth

Now has come the season

Where my soul tends to grow.

Like living waters inside me

My spiritual growth will flow.

The buds begin to surface,

The flower not yet seen

Until the sun has nurtured

From sleep what they can glean.

The trees will slowly waken

Arise from seasonal cold;

The buds will peak in numbers

Bringing forth the springtime gold.

My soul will drink in measure

The still waters from within.

My spirit churning back to life

The new season I now begin.

Take from me the darkness,

As my slumber is called to rise

Fill me with living water

For to shed my winter cries.

Behold, a new me emerges,

As a bud turns into a flower.

Washed over by the hand of God

I’m renewed by a spiritual shower.

Pss. 51: 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Lent: Day Thirty-two ~ Quotation Saturday

Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

LENT

"Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what path we must take in life..."

~ Pope Benedict XVI

"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor -- He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”

~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

"Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy."

~ Pope Francis

"Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God."

~ Thomas a Kempis

BELIEVE

“The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives. That's the only lasting thing you can create.”
~ Chuck Palahniuk

“It's what you choose to believe that makes you the person you are.”
~ Karen Marie Moning

“If you let people break your spirit and detour you from your path, then you have not been true to yourself or those you're here to touch, those who believe in you.”
~ Allison DuBois

If you believe in God, you have faith and trust in the unknown. If you have faith and trust in the unknown, then you believe in YOU.

~ Joni Zipp

“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

TRUST

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
~ Corrie ten Boom

“I do not trust people who don't love themselves and yet tell me, 'I love you.' There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”
~ Maya Angelou

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”
~ Thomas Merton

“None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.”
~ Paulo Coelho

OBEY

“If you lose your integrity, you will also lose your identity, your sensitivity and your dignity. Integrity is honesty, modesty and security in all kinds of weather. It should be our priority!”
~ Israelmore Ayivor

“Yes, it is God who works in you. And, yes, there is work for you to do.
Yes, the Spirit empowers you to do the work. And, yes, you do the work.”
~ Francis Chan

“Don’t worry when you meet opposition for obeying God. Worry when you don’t have opposition, because you’re probably not obeying God.”
~ Craig Groeschel

“The suicide committed by Sampson was partly determined by the craftiness of Delilah and partly decided by the disobedience of Sampson. Satan uses crafty means to set traps for us, but by our obedience of the laws of God, the traps remain functionless.”
~ Israelmore Ayivor

Gen. 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Lent: Day Thirty-one ~ Pride

Ezek. 7:10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.

Pride

Prov.  16: 18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride goes before a fall is a paraphrase of an ancient Hebrew proverb, designed to warn man that excessive pride will often cause one to fail. Excessive pride? Oh, I know people like that. I have family members who are so proud of their beautiful richly decorated homes and their fancy garden and pool by the wayside. That would be pride in the excessive. A ‘look what I have and you don’t’ attitude.

Me, I’m just happy in being alive, having a roof over my head, and having food in the refrigerator to fix for my family. I’m not a prideful person and any time it tries to rear its ugly head I have to swat it away like a pesky fly, kill it before it becomes too excessive.

We are not called to be prideful among men. To me, pride is a form of shame also; shame of health issues, shame of poverty issues or shame of living arrangements, all a form of pride. When someone is ashamed to take assistance from someone reaching out to them, pride rears its ugly head and the words that come out are, “No, no, I don’t need any help.”

Man is so prideful that he would rather do without than to take a handout. Even if it is freely offered, man in his shame hides his face proudly stating to themselves that they are too good for charity. This is the fall; they will hunger. Sure they’ll pray for food, a better job, ways to make ends meet but when assistance arrives they are too prideful and miss a rish blessing.

I think the problem is that man tries too hard to acquire something instead of knowing when a blessing arrives; it passes by on the train heading out of town and they miss the opportunity because of their pride.

About eight years ago, I thought I was too proud, but when Steven lost his job, was going blind, and we had no means for food we surely didn’t pass up the food at the food pantry that was ours if only our pride wouldn’t walk through the door with us.

Sure I was witness to people taking advantage of a system that was put in place to help people like us. I myself wasn’t able to go out and get a job because Steven was losing his sight, he needed to be taken to the doctors, he needed to be taken places that he could not have gotten to on his own. Yes we were offered gas for our truck from the Pastor and no we didn’t hide in shame, we HAD to take it. We were learning how to humble ourselves.

When we needed help in moving from Texas to Nebraska, the arm of the Lord reached out and guided us seeing to it that we had a house to come to, accepting assistance from people who didn’t even know us, to ones who knew us personally. We basically were in God’s hands for about three years before things began to change. Steven got his sight back, Steven got a job and we learned a lot about what the face of patience looks like along with a humble spirit, along with watching any ounce of pride fleeing from us like we were lepers.

I then was diagnosed with lower lumbar facet joint arthritis in my back. A chronic pain which would limit my mobility but praise God, didn’t leave me completely immobile. I can do lots of stuff, but pride often tries to rear its head. Like some Loch Ness monster, it peeks out only for me to see. “No, I don’t need a cane,” “No, I don’t need pain pills,” “No, I don’t need this or that or the other thing.” Yup, pride, swimming in the murky waters wanting me to take a hold of it BUT never really ensnaring me in its trap.

Sure I can be too proud to declare that I’ve stood in line at the Department of Welfare, I can put on a brave face and claim ‘I NEVER stood in the aisles of a food pantry.’ But what would the point in that be? I’m here to tell you that even the Godliest of people have suffered the pangs of pride; threw off the ugliness and embraced true blessings.

The next time you look at a homeless man or woman and think they are the scum of the earth, why not think of what put them there? Why not show a little compassion and understanding knowing that not ALL homeless people WANT to be where they are. They just never caught a break. Your pride won’t allow you to walk up to one and hand him coffee or a few quarters for some food. No, you’re too afraid he’ll just use the money for booze but really that is your pride talking. You’re too proud to approach the homeless.

Heb. 13: 2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

And keep in mind, while you’re sitting there all haughty and prideful, a fall will come when you least expect it and you’ll have no one else to blame but yourself. Pride is also dressed in boasting. Neither is attractive or becoming to a Christian.

Pss.10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Lent: Day Thirty ~ Power in Prayer

Prov. 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

Power in Prayer

I love to hear the words, I’m praying for you. That means a person is actually calling out to God with my name and asking Him to bless me. But wait, is everyone who utters the words I’m praying for you mean that they are praying?

The heart of a Christian is bathed in prayer. Prayer is the cleansing, the healing, the nurturing of the spirit. I believe the world is bound to prayer. I think even the atheist in some way believes deep in his/her soul that there is a God. The reason they call themselves atheist is because God didn’t answer a prayer of letting their mother live while she lay dying, or maybe their sister died and they prayed for her to live.

Usually something tragic has to happen for an atheist to not believe, or they are raised by a non-believer and adopted that belief system. But to give up on God because of unanswered prayer? That is just silly. They seek proof of a physical existence and are never satisfied with any answer they receive.

Humans are fashioned to pray. Some believe they are just talking to their conscience and that there is no force or spirit driving them and when they pray they are actually praying to themselves. I hate to burst their bubble, but God is hearing them. Will God send a bolt of lightning down and give that person all that they prayed for? Nah, He’s waiting for them to acknowledge that He exists. When their prayer is answered will they thank God?

People falsely assume that prayer is about asking and receiving and just because they asked and didn’t receive they turn from Him. Prayer is so much more than asking and receiving, taking and taking, it’s about compassion of the soul.

I like to meditate. I like to go so deep within my mind that the universe and all the cosmos responds to me and it is in that place I voice my prayer, fervent prayer.  I can feel the energy flow slowly through my veins, pulsating through my body and reaching into the depth of my heart making it beat to the drums of the orchestral heavens.

Pss. 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Prayer to me is not found in a virtual emoticon, it cannot be conveyed as a heartfelt prayer that way. Prayer is found (to ME) in the words something like, “I’m lifting you in prayer,” assuming the person praying knows what the lifting you in prayer means. But prayer is never found in non-words. People asking for prayer are desperately reaching out to God’s children and they need to hear/read words to comfort them in the struggles they are going through. I cannot and will not diminish someone’s pain by not giving him or her comforting words of my offered prayer.

To me, lifting someone in prayer means I am going into a deep meditation of compassion where I sweep myself into the pit of my stomach and feel the churning rising up within me encompassing the outer banks of the cosmos in a compassionate plea to the Almighty Lord of my soul. The Holy Spirit is there in the realm of conscious meditation and He hears the calling of a need out of your compassionate plea for another.

Saying the words, ‘praying’ does not necessarily mean that a person is praying but their thought of prayer for you is heard. When people extend their words out in number to pray for the same thing it is then felt and when lifted inside you, it is received then answered.

Prayer is the mighty power of the Lord, mounted up inside of you weaving through your thoughts and is carried to the outer banks of the spiritual realm. Our impassioned plea reaches through a timeless expanse into the ear of the Creator and all His creation. This is where our soul resides and this is where the Holy Spirit dwells awaiting prayer.

Can people pray for themselves? There is no particular way to pray but if you are praying selfishly asking the Lord to send you money, or to pay your bills, or to bless you with riches beyond belief; please know that those prayers are heard but will not be answered in the way you think or want them to be.

If you are hungry, He will give you food. If you are tired, He will give you rest. If you are thirsty, He will give you drink. If you are poor, He won’t give you money. In the depths of prayer, there is no evil. Evil only resides in the man who embraces sin. Where there is prayer, satan can not cross the boundaries lest you allow him in via greed and selfishness.

Our soul calls us to pray. Fervent prayer is the rich soil in which you will plant the seed of love and allow it to grow to the magnitude that darkness can never enter. Through prayer you will never know hate, you will never feel the need to release any anger that is welling inside you. Prayer is the calming affect of peace that your soul craves and if all men believed in the power of prayer, there would be no wars.

Prayer is the very essence of your soul. It is calling you to a union that binds you in the love and precious Light of the Lord that resides there. Prayer is the very magnet that draws you to God. Some will fall to their knees and place their hands together, some will raise their arms in praise of the Mighty Deliverer, but prayer is never entered into lightly. Your words become power and there is Power in Prayer, use it wisely.

2 Chron. 6:40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Lent: Day Twenty-nine ~ Coincidence?

Pss. 104:2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Coincidence?

Was it coincidence I was born on my mother’s birthday? Was it coincidence that has been the ruler in my life throughout the years? I can’t name ALL the things that people would deem ‘just coincidence’ but like ‘luck’, coincidence holds no weight with me.

I think people blame coincidence on things they can’t explain. God forbid should they think that the Almighty God reigns supreme in their life. Sure the great universe works in threads, threads that tie instances into happenings, weaving a blanket called life that covers you.

Nature plays a part too. Some call it Mother Nature I call it Father God. The only Great Spirit out there with a needle and thread is the Master Creator himself, God. There isn’t a slew of gods out there in the cosmos directing your paths. There is no Mother Nature or Father Time there is only One true God. Coincidence? I think not.

Now a lot of times people accept explanations of the scientific nature because they have been so absorbed with finding the truth (or proof) of a situation that they never find  real answers due to blindness. If you don’t believe in the trinity, you might not get my meaning.

God the Father is the Son and dwells in your life daily via the Holy Spirit. There it is, the word Spirit. In the bible it states, “No one comes to the Father, except through Me”, (John 4:16) Not believing in the Son of God as man flesh, you’ll never come to know the Holy Spirit and will always be searching for some great scientific truth whether it is in Astrology, Astronomy, prophets or religious leaders; you’ll search endlessly seeking some great Spirit all because you don’t want to accept God, Jesus and the HOLY Spirit.

It is not some grand coincidence that the world was formed. Not one ounce of coincidence knows you by name, knows the hairs on your head and calls you blessed. It is not by coincidence that we exist and seek continually to find an answer as to why we are here and where we go afterwards.

I love to think of us as a blanket put together one thread at a time making us all different but all part of the same blanket. Each seam brings us together and this is why people, certain people, enter your life. Whether through friendship or a divine draw that places you as a thread to make up ones blanket in life.

I am a part of your blanket as you are a part of mine. You read me so then you too become a thread tying together the quilt that makes for a comforter to cover you when you’re cold.

We are all part of the collective conscience that brings together two beings. God is the weaver of this blanket, Jesus is the thread that knits us into each others life, and the Holy Spirit is the warmth of energy we feel when relationships are formed. We become a blanket for each others soul connected by the One and only master Creator, not by coincidence.

If you are bound to trees, to animals, to love, to compassion then it is not a coincidence that we have met or have been woven together. God is the force that binds us together through the love of nature, animals and all things created. Did you ever wonder why we’re friends? God saw to it that our lives intertwined. He saw to it that we formed a square in the blanket.

Was it coincidence when Steven and I needed a place here in Nebraska, this house, totally affordable, was available? Was it coincidence that two years my man was blind and he finally got his sight back? Was it coincidence that found him a job that was willing to work around him not being able to drive in the dark? Was it coincidence that an affordable car was right there on the parking lot where he worked? Was it coincidence that two weeks later his truck would be totaled and he’d walk away without a scratch?

I think I have the secret to what people call ‘luck’, I have the key that will open the door on the mystery of coincidence and it is simply defined as blessings. If blessings don’t fill your cup to overflowing then you believe in coincidence. If you do not feel rich beyond all meaning (and I don’t mean money) then you are wrapped in the belief of luck.

My cup over flows, I’m rich beyond all measure, and my Spirit is filled with the love of God! I am a part of a blanket that is here to offer you warmth. My friends, we are one with the Spirit of Christ. Whether you believe that it is just a coincidence that we met, I’m here to tell you, there is no such thing as coincidence.

God be with you all!

Pss. 91: 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Isa. 3:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

 

 

Lent: Day Twenty-eight ~ Temptation

Luke 8: 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Temptation

Lead me not into temptation. That’s a hard one to swallow. Would the Lord ever lead you INTO temptation? I don’t think so. Like I said, it's a hard one to swallow.

We live in a click me world where temptation is right at your fingertips. Temptation comes in many different colors and sizes and usually wears nothing or something enticing to lure you.

Have you ever been to the store and passed a pie that you know your healthy diet would not like you for and in the heat of the moment you bought it anyway? How about a shirt, clothes, toys, games, materials of any kind? All of these things can be very tempting.

Temptation is usually disguised in a way you don’t even know that you’re being tempted. People click things in the heat of the moment, stay fixated on that thing then keep coming back in an addiction form because it is so tempting you can’t resist.

I think of Jesus as He was tempted by satan. It was after His forty day fast; at His most vulnerable state Jesus was tempted. When satan asked Him to make bread to fill himself with, Jesus responded, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Tempted again satan asked Him to throw himself down for the Angels of God would save him and Jesus responded, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again the devil tempted Him with the ruling of many kingdoms. And AGAIN Jesus nearly spat in the face of satan and commanded him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Satan fled and t was then that the angels came and tended to Jesus.

Do we think ourselves any stronger than Jesus when it comes to temptation? You are truly foolish if you think that. We are tempted hour by hour when we have decisions to make. I remember a time when I was without food or means to get food and I had told my mother that, “God will provide, I have faith.” In MY mind not having food was my time of temptation and I prayed for the Lord to provide for me as I fought the dark arms of satan.

I even had people tell me, “God isn’t going to provide food. You have to go out and work for it!” I held the stance that God WOULD provide for me, my faith in Him KNEW He would. Within hours bags and bags of food came through my door.  Yes, He used man to bring me food, but I was filled nonetheless. God provided. Is that what was meant by man cannot live on bread alone but from every word that comes from the mouth of God?

I rested in my faith and His word and He provided. I was tempted to go out and by any means get food, be it beg, borrow or steal, but I stood firm in my faith instead. In the depths of my hunger God filled me and I was nourished. In the bottom of the pit as I lay hungry God saw to it my mind, body and soul was fed.

From those days on Lent took on a whole new spiritual meaning to me. During Lent I deprive myself of things so that I may find the richness in God’s blessings. Deprive seems like such an ugly word. I withdrew from my daily temptations. Things I’d normally find attractive and enticing, I refrained from; a sabbatical of sorts.

Even to this day, actually more so in this day, I face many temptations. Since the computer came into my life, temptation is too easy to fall into and let it just carry me away. But I will not put God away from me. In my daily ritual to fend off satan I find prayer to be the warming link of God in me.

I found this quote: “Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.” ~ Watchman Nee

When Jesus was tempted instead of being led into temptation, I feel His prayer was the power that caused satan to go away. Satan knew Jesus and God were one in the same and he knew he had no power over God. So satan sat back and watched the persecution and death thinking he had won, little known to him it was the saving grace of mankind.

As God’s blood dripped, every man and woman present knew that He died for them; some were shocked by the realization that He WAS God in Man, and the non-believers went on about their business of the day and lived as if no man and no God could save them from their sinful death.

Behind every temptation there is a prayer feast. You cry out in hopes that your faith is not in vain. You beg for mercy and walk away from sin, or you sin and then beg for mercy. But know this, there is no man or woman alive who doesn’t walk daily with the temptation of sin by their side. It is their choice and free will to decide who wins the battle of good and evil. If God brings you to it, only He and He alone can bring you through it.

1 Cor. 10: 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Lent: Day Twenty-seven ~ Mocking the Holy Bible

Matt. 22: 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

I always find it quite amusing when a movie comes out with a religious overtone but more times than NOT there is no biblical value except that they use God in a detrimental manner just to garner money. They turn non-fiction into fiction and to me those boundaries should not be crossed, not with the Bible.

I also find it interesting that Christians who KNOW a film or book is derogatory to scripture would actually PAY money to see it just so the can say, “Yup, it was foul. Don’t waste your money.” To me, they are just as bad as the person making the money, when they would hand out money for blasphemous, derogatory words against God.

The first thing that comes to mind is The DaVinci Code. All I needed to hear was the book stated that Jesus had sex. I didn’t need to hear anymore and I had NO desire to read the book or see the movie. I was not going to fall into satan’s lap just so I could say, “That was wrong! That isn’t what the Bible says.”

But wouldn’t ya know, Christians everywhere flocked to buy the book and see the movie. Why? Just to make themselves feel good when they asserted that the story was hogwash? Looks to me like satan won on that one. He had Christians by the millions buying what he was selling. Even if they hated it, it was with Christ’s blood that money exchanged hands.

Now I fell into the trap of paying to see The Passion of Christ, only because I had heard that it was an eerie, close rendition to what the movie industry imagined Jesus actually suffered. What an imagination. They saw it as Jesus suffering, blood-whipped, denied and persecuted. Hey, that’s how I imagined it too!

I do not and never will imagine fairytales of Jesus ever having sex. I won’t give any man money so he can live in a lavish home with swimming pools and acres of land just because he writes Jesus had sex. That would be satan’s lies and I know them when I see them, I don’t need someone justifying why THEY bought into his lies. Just for the clarity of them being right and the author wrong?

Biblical stories don’t sell unless they are wrought in lies. Take for example the new movie coming out about Noah. Now I don’t need a creationist to tell me the movie is a bogus bag full of lies, all I need to know is are they capitalizing on GOD, or in their terms the Creator, to make money? Are they stirring controversy? Is it a story rich with biblical truth or is it a twisted tale of deceit?

As soon as controversy surrounds a movie or book, I close off the evil that is trying to sell me on the falsity and lies. I know some Christians, many actually, won’t be able to resist the urge of satan pulling them into see what he has up his sleeve. They’ll feed the controversy, deny the lies being spewed by the web-weavers, then on some quiet night when they least expect it, they’ll find themselves viewing the blasphemous tale, just so they can add more, “What a foul movie. Don’t waste your money.”

Whether they paid for the movie or got it for free, they’ll view it and justify why, when satan came knocking, they fell prey and opened the door. The Bible stories are fast becoming Hollywood’s new franchise. Whether it is shrouded in truth, whether veiled in deception, whether blanketed in controversial themes, bible stories are a free for all.

I read this from Dorothy Pomerantz: “The fact that the Bible is in the public domain means that no one studio can corner the market on Bible movies but there also aren’t any pesky authors to negotiate rights with.”

Oh, I think she got it all wrong, as did Hollywood in thinking they have no ‘pesky’ author’s to contend with? Oh they have the One author, the One Creator, the One GOD to deal with. And since they don’t seriously believe in the bible, they feel they can mock it and toy with it without any ramifications.

And you the consumers are going to be swallowed into the abyss with them because what you think is innocent viewing is not as innocent as it appears. Remember the wolf in sheep’s clothing? Hollywood would have you think it is a designer shepherd gathering all you sheep by the waving of God in your face.

You smell the lies, you have the lingering wretched aroma caught in the back of your throat, your eyes see cinematic thrills that you want to hold in your hand to say Aha! When in reality, you are taking a bite of the apple and will soon be put out of the garden.

The Bible is not a fictional tale to be toyed with. The bible is a sacred text and anyone trying to put their fictional spin on it is falling into the arms of satan to do his bidding. I’m all for a fictional tale, I’m on board with a non-fictional tale as long as it is truth that is being sold. But I am not going to buy into any author who pretends to know a non-fiction story when they themselves were not alive to witness the story unravel.

To man, it’s all about ego and control. No man likes the fact that there is an all powerful God in control of his life. Man needs control to feel whole in this world so he takes a sacred biblical truth and makes it his own. It’s all about controlling the unknown.

I don’t pretend to know the whole truth, I don’t research until my fingers bleed to get to the truth of what the bible mysteries hold and I surely don’t feel it within my power to twist the stories around to fit in a man’s world. The bible stories are a mystery and should remain as such to maintain its sacred power.

The Holy Bible; you either have faith and believe, or you toss it with the rest of your arsenal of books as a good fictional tale.  The CHOICE is yours.

John 5:39-47 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

I receive not honour from men.
But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?