Humility is Key

With my friend Amanda's permission, I am posting what was shared at church last night that God gave her. It brought conversation for many of us that really didn't seem to have an end in itself. There is much to share on this, but for now I will let these notes speak for itself as you read it with the Holy Spirit's leading. 

To Be Spiritually Teachable

*References in NKJV

 unless otherwise noted*

PRAISE GOD!
Psalm 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the
day.

The purpose of any of this: RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER.First & foremost be
humble in spirit; Christ-like. Hunger & thirst & be filled!

Matt. 11:29-30 “Take My yolk upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and
My burden is light.”

John 13:5 After that (Passover feast & before Judas betrayed him) He poured
water into a basin & began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with
the towel with which He was girded.

Phil. 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He
may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.

Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before
honor is humility.

A humble heart yields:
-rest for our souls
-an easy burden
-obedience
-uplift
-exaltation
-honor

The Lord rewards us at every turn when we seek Him earnestly.
We are better prepared to respond lovingly to any trial, test or hardship (LIFE)
when we are first humbled in the presence of the Lord. (Matt. 5:6)

Choose to Bless

I’ve been really challenged this week.  Found out that someone shared some information with another about something they didn’t know, and in turn, it caused hurt in them as well as anger in me.  It made my blood just boil! I was SO mad at the hurt is caused my friend who heard this and at the miss-information it was told in.  I remember my hands were shaking and I had to count to 30 and calm down I was so angry.  Also, it caused all these thoughts about this person who did this, that I know were not of God to form in my head which was making its way to my heart - I wanted those thoughts to stop before they were to make a home in my heart.

I was able to share this with a trusted friend who helped calm me and encouraged me to seek Jesus as I knew I was supposed to.  The Lord led me to Matt 5:43-45 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” 

Pretty heavy scripture - but a command none the less. The Spirit was really tugging at my heart in regards to blessing this person who (whether they know or not) hurt other’s in what they said when they shouldn’t have. The Spirit was reminding ME of how many times I have prayed to love, forgive and bless others yet, in the thick of the emotion, I cursed and didn’t bless. Ouch!! Think about it, how many times when in the thick of a quarrel, whether it be with your mate, a sibling, friend, co-worker did we choose to bless right away or… run with our emotions and feed our anger?? Let’s be honest about it.

I found myself on my knee’s asking for forgiveness of the hardness that was trying to take root in my heart and asking for a new heart for this person. I was then able to bless them out loud with my mouth and it’s finding a home in my heart.  I’m challenging myself to cultivate that kind of a more immediate response to bless instead of curse at the height of the moment, in the thick of the emotion, so that Christ will shine first. It won’t happen overnight obviously but with Gods grace and with much practice, practice and more practice. 

 All things are possible through Christ Jesus (Mk 10:27)....right?!

Teacher Grace

Remembering from the last blog I wrote that this was going to be a two part share, I wanted to go back and recap a little. I had written how “the big toe helps us to keep our balance, so we don’t fall flat on our face”.  Let’s focus on that word “help” for now.  In thinking on the word help I was led to Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”.

In this passage the word grace caught my eye and also the word teaching.  It states that the grace of God teaches us. It also tells us that His grace teaches us how we should live and that it IS attainable because of His grace.  That was pretty profound for me when I saw it that way. I don’t know about you but the thought came to me, that in our times of help, be it one of those life things that come out of know where or a sin of some kind or anything that you might think of, when we are in need of help that is when grace (help) comes in.  Because grace (help) gives us what we don’t deserve sometimes.  Also, if we let it, it’s teaching us the lessons in how to live before God and with God.  He truly is our only audience. Grace (help) is giving us another chance by means of teaching us a lesson, if we are teachable.

Grace was given to us through Jesus “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17.  Jesus is not only our grace giver but many things in-fact.  One thing He is that we know well, is our Teacher.  The gift of grace He gives us should teach us that when we are in need of help, it’s His grace that will pull us through and hopefully, lesson learned.

The Big Toe

This is going to be kind of  2 part blog so it’s not too long.  I will do the other part in a couple of days.  Okay, though it is only Tuesday there are some things that were talked and shared on church on Sunday that has stuck w me as well as others from what I am hearing.  We were talking about relationships in the body of Christ.  We talked about when someone in the body is hurting or going through a trial or has even fallen into sin affects all of us.  One person put it this way – and I’m paraphrasing here “when you are going through something that is hard, it hurts me.  A part of the body is hurt and it affects ALL of us. It’s like my big toe is hurting”.   

It was funny mind you and got chuckles of course but I thought of that often since Sunday and something that I realized later, when they used the big toe as the analogy I thought, it’s the big toe that helps us to step forward as we walk physically.  The big toe applies pressure to make that step forward and helps to balance us out so we don’t tumble forward and fall flat on our face.  Not to say that when our brother or sister in the LORD who is “down” stops us from going forward,  but sometimes it can hinder us in a way that going forward can be a bit more difficult or frustrating because our hearts our grieved. We are told in God’s Word to help others who are down but at the same time to make sure it does not cause us to fall (Gal 6:1-3).

 Ecclesiastes 4:10 gives us truth that “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.”  We need each other to help each other out! There are no bones about it. We don’t have to go at this alone.  As we need Christ Jesus, we also need each other.  We need our big toes (each other)  to help us  go forward.

In Remembrance

With Jehovah this am and reading some things, I came across the Lords Supper.  In praying for what He wanted me to see in it- here is what was given to me.  I've never thought of it this way before.

1 CO 11:23-26

23"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes"

Breaking it down:

V23- Interestingly enough, Jesus broke bread for the first time w them the SAME night He was going to be betrayed. 

V24- He then first gave thanks to God before anything else (I can learn from that!).  He then broke it and said to eat it & that it is His body that was broken for us.

   *Jesus "broke" the undefiled intimacy He had w the Father for us.  He had to leave the Father to come here. He was separated from God. Sometimes we can consider something "broken" as "separated" like a marriage can be. Marriage (which God created) is the ultimate example of what God wants our relationship to be like w Him.

V25- After supper (the bread/brokenness from God) Jesus took the cup and said it's the New Covenant IN His blood and we are to drink it.

Drink also means to "take in" or "to receive".  We are to take in & receive what He gave us. Salvation with Him.

   *God desires a blood sacrifice for atonement of sins (Leviticus 17:11).  Christ IS the new covenant.

V26- we are to do it often and not forget. Waiting for His return.

    *John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

We "brake" the bread first because He had to leave the Father first-----then we "drink" (receive) the cup of His blood after because it is His blood that made the new covenant.

As I was writing this all down in my journal and the heavy-ness (with gratitude) of it was in my heart, a Third Day song popped into my head...

"You left your Throne in the sky - just to live inside my heart."

May Communion never be a "traditional ritual" in our walk w Yeshua.

Persist In Faith

To be totally open and honest today, I had a pretty heavy heartfelt crying/talking session with our Heavenly Father.  It was about numerous things for numerous people, including myself.  I haven’t done that in quite a while.  It was a “Hannah moment” you could say.  Aren’t those just the best sometimes?!

What brought that on is I have been feeling very burdened. So, in knowing I am not suppose to carry these burdens alone I sought God and He led me to the book of Hebrews.  Knowing that the book of Hebrews is a lot about faith, God had me in chapter 11 which is also known as “The Hall of Faith”.   Without listing the entire chapter which I could do, I highly encourage you to read it on your own.  But for today I’m focusing on verse 6 and it reads: “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.”

In the midst of my seeking, crying and vulnerability to God, He revealed some things to me in my walk with Him that is lies from our enemy that I have been believing.  I consider that was a reward indeed from Him to show me this. Because in place of those lies now are His truth. This in turn, will feed my faith. Now that backfired on the devil didn’t it!

It’s amazing that the God we worship tells us that without faith it is impossible to please Him. Because in 1 Timothy we are told to “contend for the faith” meaning to fight. We have to fight for our faith because we know that makes God happy.  Well Satan knows it too!  The enemy does everything in his power for us to let go of our faith, throw in the towel and give up. Satan doesn’t want God happy. Satan wants to hurt God- and us (John 10:10).

Chapter 11:1 states “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  It’s hard for us sometimes to live out our faith in our everyday lives, but God tells us He rewards His children who diligently seek Him. We are to walk by faith and not by sight. God is serious about this.  He didn't leave us stranded by any means.

We are to persist [to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition or importunity] in our God given faith (Ro 12:3).  Don’t give up!

Allegiance via Hardships

In praying about what God wanted to share today one thing kept coming over and over.  I stand back and take a look at what is going on around me in the people’s lives that are dear to me. I even take a look at those lives that are far from me whom I don’t know that well and what I’m seeing everywhere is the hardships everyone seems to be going through in one form or another. 

2 Corinthians 6 talks about Paul’s hardships yet he stays faithful to the ministry God has called him to.  The New Living translation says this “We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.  We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”

I listed the entire passage because as I read it, it made me think on my own hardships and am I living in such a way as these passages state? I had to read it again. and again and then view my walk w Christ.  We know what we are called to do and how to live in front of the world once we choose to follow Christ.  That goes for the same when we are in our own personal hardships if not even more so.

A quote that was said at the women’s conference that I had written down says “am I living for my allegiance?”  Meaning, in my darkest hours and I feel the world is closing in on me, am I being faithful to God? Am I being faithful to what I stand for?  That is a deep question we must ask ourselves.

Hardships in our lives are a true test of our faith to the world. It is also an opening for witnessing and sharing our testimony to those who are going through their own hardships.  That is so often an open door from God.  The world is watching us to see if we are remaining faithful to “what we preach”, no matter what season WE are in.  We’re told we will have hardships in this world (Jn 16) – but as the Amplified version says
“For I (Jesus) have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]  Selah.

In The Thick

So I went to my first Christian conference this weekend.  It was all women w many speakers. Both female and male speakers. There were over 6000 women in all.  Many different nationalities.  400 of the women were teenage girls.  I loved that! We also had a 150 or so from the Dominican Republic and we were told a women flew in from Dubai! We had some come down from Canada and then others from all over the United States. I think that is so awesome!  

There was a handful of men who at the beginning we were introduced to as a whole that ended up in another part of the building, so they couldn’t see or hear what was going on to be praying for us.  There was a prayer room open 24 hours a day for the women.  I was also surprised but delighted to see all of the moms who brought their babies -so many beautiful babies.  They had a nursing room set up for them just outside the doors so they didn’t have to go too far.  There was another room to do some “shopping” as in books and other literature and booths to check out.

There were so many women that they turned several of the men’s restrooms into ladies restrooms for us. Thank You men for that!! Ha!  We had a little café we could purchase from and some vending machines as well.  The conference lasted 2 days.

It’s really a lot of information to soak in, in such a short amount of time. As time goes on and it starts to settle into my thoughts and spirit I will be sharing w you. I didn’t know what to expect really for my first conference and I have to say I am tired yet encouraged. But what I want to share today though is something that I didn’t “hear” at the conference but a small yet profound revelation (as my friend called it) that was brought to light. In my heart.

Going w some friends and also meeting some new friends there and just looking around at all the women, and then coming home and sharing w church Sunday night who are also family, it popped into my head that when we (the body) are with each other, we are IN the thick of Christ’s love. To go along w that the Good Lord gave me the verse in Matt 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”  And then another verse in 1 John 4:8”God is love”. 

So, if He IS love and if He IS w us when 2 or more are together, hanging out, we are in His love!  I sit back and think now, that when I’m with you, and we are just hanging out or at church or in a bible study or even just watching a flick together, WE are IN the THICK of Christ’s love. 

There is truly NO other better place to be - is there. . .

Fighting for the Broken

We know that we are told in the bible we will have trials, tribulations and hard times (James 1). We moan when we even hear those words but we know that will never be avoided.  Sometimes though, life can seem so much to bear.  Things can be going along pretty well in our own lives, yet in the lives of those around us there are hardships and brokenness at every angle.  I'm seeing in much lately.  Whether it’s family, friends, family of friends or friends of friends – you get the point. There is much brokenness around us. Our hearts break when we hear what they are going through. 

It’s so easy to get angry and the injustice of life sometimes and we want to lash out at someone or something. We forget we have an enemy that hates us and our lives.  We don’t understand life sometimes and the wrenches that are thrown into our lives and we see so much brokenness around us.  We want to “fix” what is going on in their lives and help them. I know that I do.  I know sometimes I feel so helpless when confronted w those I care for who are “walking in the valley of death.” which can mean different things for different people.

Yet, Jesus came to set the captives free. To bind the broken hearted. Thats is the old and new testament. What He did for us all is something that will never really be understood.  We are to accept as a gift for that is exactly what it is.  We were broken and He died for us.   He fought for us and now I want, am, fighting for others w His name and power.

How do we fight? Where do we get the power, the tools, strength?  From God. From being in His Word and spending time with Him. By letting Him fight for us, we in turn extend that to others.  He will show us how.  We already have His armor (Eph 6).  The Lord provides everything we need to intercede on behalf of those who are broken and hurting. 

Take time to read some of the things He did and some of the things He said.  They will light a fire in us to fight for the broken.  We have the almighty God living inside of us!(1John 4:4)  Remember what He did for us at times of brokenness in our lives.(Ps 77:11)  We are called to come along side those who are going through these trials and encourage, uplift and pray for them.  We are to give comfort as we are comforted (2Co 1:4).  We are to fight for each other. 

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.(John 15:13)  When we are fighting for the broken we are laying down our lives as a solider lays down his life for his comrade.  

The LORD told us He would be with us until the end (Matt 28:20) – may we try to be there for each other.  Victory is here!

We Already Have It

On hearing a word earlier this week from God I’m excited to share this. I have been thinking about this and asking God for His direction in the way He wanted it to go. The title of this share is what came to me and it’s based on Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. I had recently heard about us truly “having all we need and we have all the power of Christ” once we accept Him as our Savior.


In this passage of Eph it states just that. God blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Meaning, we don’t have to pray and ask for these. He already gave them to us. We need to find them and draw them out and live them. Whether it’s needing to forgive someone, healing for something or even needing direction in a situation. We have these inside of us w the power of Christ Jesus. The verse says “has” blessed us meaning past tense. We already have them. Are we really grasping that? It reminds me that not long ago I had been praying for something and God blessed me with it (though I didn’t realize at the time). I then asked for someone else to pray about it for me, for God to bless it. They told me that no they weren’t going to pray that because God already blessed it. Why would I pray for what I already have? That made me stop and think about it. How often do we that?

I was then lead to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”. Again this passage is telling us that the Father who can do anything according to the power that works IN us. We truly don’t realize the power from God we have INSIDE of us. This might sound silly but I heard someone say once that the reason we bow our heads to our chest when we pray is because when we are saved, Christ comes to live inside of us, so we are bowing our heads because we are looking at Him. It’s kind of goofy but true in a funny way.

We know the verse “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” from 1John 4. So if He is greater and living in us – we have everything we need and we have His blessings already!

Grace through Frustration

I had a couple of things I wanted to share about on certain subjects, yet that is not Gods plan today. It’s out of frustration and grace that I’m writing. The past 5 days give or take a few things have caused great frustration in my thoughts and heart. Some of it because of friends & family some of it just from daily life. Don’t get me wrong, everything will turn out for good as Romans 8:28 says, yet it’s the “getting to that good” is the frustrating and hard part – but refining indeed.


When these situations arise that cause frustration in me I think of who is involved and who it affects. I see hurt and disappointment. I myself am hurt and disappointed. Some in them and also in me. That causes even more frustration! Then I find myself after being wound up about it, I will sit and think on it all, but this time I seek God on it. It takes me a while to do that sometimes – why is that?

I wonder if Jesus got frustrated? In reading the bible and the stories in the gospels I don’t really denote any frustration coming from Him but I’m guessing He had some on the inside - maybe.

Jesus was human as well as divine. One of the many reasons I thank Him for coming as a human in flesh & blood (Matt 1) is that it makes it easier for me personally to believe He can relate with us. That is crucial for me. Jesus was tempted with all things as we are yet He didn’t fall into that sin (1 John 2:16). That is what I’m thinking on today as I’m trying to sort through these frustrations.
For myself, that is when Gods grace comes in. Jehovah gives us His grace at the right time for the right thing, in the right amount (2Co 12:9). When we receive that grace from Him, His peace comes with it (John 14:27). Now that is an extra bonus indeed! Mind you I still have these frustrations and questions but now with His grace coating them and me, I’m able to let them go and pray. Even to stretch my hand and or ear out to those who are going through the hard time without judging or condemning.

God reminds me in His word that we all fall short of the glory of Him (Romans 3:23).  That sure keeps one humble.  Yet His glory will be revealed in us (Is 40:5). His glory is revealed in these frustrations of life because His grace shines through. There are many by-products of His grace but that is another share in itself.

I’m humbled and encouraged by God and thankful that He truly does understand. Truly! We serve such a personal God. The LORD knows we get frustrated and angry. He knows we get tired and weary with life sometimes, but His peace that truly surpasses understanding & guards our hearts through Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7) is part of His grace that has no end.

In praying for a verse from the LORD this is what He gave:

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” 1Co 1:25

Don't Limit God

Sometimes during the day as I’m busy around the house I will listen to a conference via internet. I was inspired to share this one with some of my own thoughts by a guy named Andrew Wommack. He talked about how we CAN limit God and our lives are not all predestined. He gave a verse in Psalm 78:41 that reads “Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.” This verse caused me to take a moment and really grasp it that yes, we can limit our Creator based on what we’re doing and the choices we make in our life that He didn’t want for us. God gave each person free will. In Deuteronomy 30:19 God is telling the Israelites to “choose life”. He gives us the free will to make that choice. He even explained about the blessing and the cursing depending on what is chosen.


We can limit God by a number of things. A big one is fear. God desires faith from us and not to fear. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God”. Fear will limit God and what He wants to do in and through us. We forget that we have don’t have a spirit of fear but of a sound mind (2Tim 1:7). Whether it’s fear of people, confrontation, relationships or getting out of our safe zone etc fear limits God. There is nothing to fear.

Busyness is another that popped into my head. I was reminded of the story of Martha & Mary (Luke 10). We know that Martha was busy cooking and cleaning while Mary was at the feet of Jesus. Martha was upset that Mary was not helping her out yet Jesus told Martha to not worry about it and that Mary had ‘chosen’ what is good. Mary did not limit God where as Martha was w her busyness.

And last but not least is pride. A proverb that instantly came to mind was chapter in 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride can come in different forms and can be very subtle. We know and are confident that God works all things for good that those who love Him right? (Romans 8). So if we choose to let our pride come in the way of something that God has planned for us, then we are limiting God and His great plan for our life won’t happen until that pride is removed. A pride issue I remember in my life at one time is when I was choosing to ignore a prompting of the Holy Spirit’s leading to talk to a friend to rectify a situation. I didn’t swallow my pride and let God do His work and it took an extra long time for our friendship to be restored. I was limiting God because of my pride and that cost me much.

To wind this one down today I leave just one question for all of us and one that I’m trying to implement into my daily walk with Christ. What are we limiting God on in our lives???

The Face of God

A verse was shared at church that has been rolling over in my mind like laundry does in the dryer. I have not been able to get it out of my head. It’s in Psalm 27:8 it reads: “When You said “Seek My Face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” Many questions and thoughts came up regarding this verse but the one that has stuck with me is this “when we are seeking God’s face, what are we looking for?” “what do we see?”


I got to thinking of what is my own answer to that question. No one has ever really seen God’s face yet we do see His face in many forms at many times. But are we aware of His face when we see it? Do we acknowledge it? I have a girlfriend that told me that when her daughter was born, she saw the face of God. God captured her heart through the birth of her daughter. I’m amazed by that.

It makes sense if we are not seeking the LORD then no, we won’t see His face. I’m reminded of the verse in Jeremiah 29:13 where God says “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”. It’s interesting that in the verse in PS 27 it’s the 'heart' that will seek God’s face. Again there is the word heart. God is plainly telling us that we have to seek Him with our heart to find Him.

In the book of Proverbs it says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”. When I read that while thinking about seeking the LORD’s face, it occurred to me that not only is our heart the wellspring of our life, but in essence, when we are to seek God with our heart, we are really to seek Him with our life.

God desires for us to seek Him. He places things in our paths to stir our desire and hunger for Him so that He can show Himself to us more and more. Let’s pray and ask God to help us see His face when He reveals it to us as we seek him – with our heart.

Relationships

Recently my husband was away for work for quite a while. In that time I hunkered down and asked God what He wanted me to hear Him on while my hunny was away. God didn’t delay. He brought several things to my mind that all had one important aspect. Relationships. Mine with Him and mine with others. I thought of struggles with family & friends and even Jesus’ relationship with the Father.


I thought of Jesus and how he loved the un-loveable. I thought of the stories in the gospel how He spent time w His followers and w the Father. I thought how to keep peace in my relationships? (At least at my end).

For me, it starts through being humble as well as knowing who we are in Christ and having our relationship w Him as the example. That's a pretty big example.  It’s really like the “golden rule” do good to others etc. but w Christ we have to accept those who don’t do us good (Matt 5:43-48). Do I really pray for those who hurt me? Do I really love and forgive those who are angry at me and ignore me? Do I really let it go and choose peace and love instead of the attitude of “I’m right” or talk & think negatively about them while letting strife and bitterness take root? We are to put on the same attitude of Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5).  That's a pretty tall order but doable!

If I want my end of the relationship to stay in peace then I have to choose to do as Christ did. It may sound hard and my human feelings go against everything in me but He didn’t leave us hanging. We are told in the bible that walking in the flesh reaps things of the flesh but walking in the spirit reaps of the spirit (Gal 6:7). I’m learning to choose the Spirit.   Jesus left us a helper, His Holy Spirit. He even said it’s better for US if He goes so the Spirit can come (John 16:7). How awesome is that!

We need to learn who the Holy Spirit is and have a relationship with Him to help us through the times of loving, forgiving and accepting those in our lives who we have relationships with. Mind you it's not easy but with Christ all things are possible (Matt 19:26).  Also, God gives us grace (2 CO 12:9) and He knows it’s a process for us and all He asks for is one day at a time (Matt 6:34). It’s not rocket science and it CAN be done. Through the grace God gives us, we need to extend that grace to other’s as well as ourselves. And remember, “I can do ALL (forgiving, loving, accepting) things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

Hey Everybody!

Wanted to give a shout out and say HI and introduce myself a bit.  I've been walking with the LORD for about 10 years now and the last couple years I've been seeking Him like never before.  Lately I've been praying for an open door of any kind to get out of  my comfort zone and share the name and glory of Christ Jesus thus the new blog you are now reading. 
In my seeking God as of late He has been speaking to me of the importance of relationships - not only ours with Him but also with each other.

I will be sharing the "downloads" from God I've previously shared w some of you by email, which I will now be blogging. 

My prayer is that this edifies the LORD Jesus Christ and draws us more near to Him. Amen.

"And now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You." Psalm 39:7