No Greater Love (Youversion)
Freedom Is…
What Does True Rest Look Like? (From the YouVersion Blog)
A Prayer for Those Who Have Been Hurt
His Time, Our Gift
Hello, Dear Ones. I hope this finds everyone blessed. I came across this quote by R.C. Sproul and was prompted to reflect on my life. I am always evaluating my time and what I spend or have spent most of my life doing. I have found that different seasons of life require different things of us. There are times of busyness and times of rest. There are times of lack and times of harvest. There are also times that challenge and stretch us. Why? Because God has orchestrated our lives in a way that grows, prunes, and develops us.
With that being said, it is important to remember and fully understand that our time, our lives belong to Him. Our lives are given to us for only an allotted time and specific purpose. We are all here on assignment, on borrowed time. Therefore, it is imperative that we are intentional about how we live each moment. This helps us to minimize distractions, unfruitfulness, and wasting time. Plan with God in mind. What do I mean? Focus on the fact that our time is a gift from Him, something preciously entrusted to us. Therefore, we need to every effort to make it count. When we do this, we plan accordingly and the way we live our lives changes. Through the leading of His Spirit, it is possible for us to be good stewards of our time and do all we can to reflect His glory. When we do, everyone and everything we touch will be blessed. Then, we will be able to stand before Him on that great day and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
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Fear Not
Isaiah 41:10 ‘Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you;
I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].
Good Morning, There is no doubt that fear will come. If you’ve ever found yourself in an unfamiliar place or the valley of decision, I can guarantee you that fear will probably be the very first visitor to come knocking at your door. However, we have the power to answer differently.
We can confidently respond by letting fear know that it has the wrong address because our God has taken residence within us and is with us. He has boldly instructed us in His word, “DO NOT FEAR”. Why? Because “He is with us”. Since He is, we can face any challenge and boldly move forward even in uncertainty.
As stated in today’s YouVersion devotional, “Do It Afraid!” and allow God to be who He is on our behalf.
Enjoy your day!
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Our Warrior In Heaven
He Fights for Us!
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
Deuteronomy 1:30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.
Deuteronomy 3:22 You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you.
Joshua 23:10 One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you.
2 Samuel 22:2-3 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.
Psalm 37:40 And the Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they trust and take refuge in Him.
Psalm 61:1-4 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and fainting; lead me to the rock that is higher than I [yes, a rock that is too high for me]. For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, a strong tower against the adversary. I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever; let me find refuge and trust in the shelter of Your wings.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
The Beauty of the Blood
For my crafting business, I often make wood-burned cutting boards. I usually start off with a piece of plain, sometimes flawed wood but end of with something very beautiful and unique. First, I design a stencil, cut it out, and use a chemical to put the design on the wood. Then, I use a heat gun to burn the image onto the wood. Afterwards, I stain the wood. Once it’s dry, I apply a shellac to seal the wood and give it a shine. I have done this process many times but the other day I began think about the process that we all go through as believers.
We all come to Christ flawed and broken from the effects of sin in our lives. He takes each of us the way we are. After we give our lives to Him, we are marked as His own, prepared to be molded into His likeness (designed/stenciled). Through the fire of the Holy Spirit, we are purified (the heat gun). His likeness is imprinted into us and the longer we stay in the fire, things that are not like Him are burned away. Ultimately, His precious blood cleanses and covers us (stains us).
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18
My favorite part of the process is staining because I love how each cutting board picks up the stain in it’s own way. NO two boards are alike and the stained flaws actually add to the raw beauty and uniqueness of each board. This happens every time I apply a stain to a board and leaves me amazed. Regardless of how many times I use the same stain, the results are always diverse which adds a special element to each finished product. One blood (stain), many diffe outcomes. Isn’t that just like us? The same God, the same blood but we are all different and special in our own way. Only His blood can take our flaws, the ugly in us, and make them beautiful. Earthly stains have an expiration date but the stain and power of His blood is everlasting. From age to age, it is able to save, deliver, and heal ALL MEN/WOMEN from ALL things. There is NO- thing under heaven that can diminish its power. What do you need to place under the blood in your life today?
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
Thousands of years ago, Christ hung on a cross bloody, died, was buried, and rose after 3 days beautiful, so we could have a right to the tree of life. His work in our lives is evidence of the power and beauty of His blood. Let His power and beauty shine through your authenticity.
Share your testimony! Walk in His purpose for your life! So, His glory may shine through you.
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He Is, He Shall…
Christmas: The Gift of Reconciliation
Today, I was thanking the Lord for Christmas and He told me that Jesus’ birth was the beginning of our reconciliation back to Him. Unfortunately, many people were not able to be with some of their loved ones today because of conflict and misunderstandings. I’ve been there. However, I’ve seen the restorative power of God work many times in my life. God is able to heal and restore even those things that appear to be hopeless. God can breathe life into the deadest situations. If we can remain hopeful and determined to forgive as well as love inspite of how we feel, God will work.
Sometimes that hope requires silence, love, and patience but God is working. I’ll be the first to admit that it isn’t always easy to do or what I’ve felt like doing. What restorations are you believing the Lord for? Will you trust Him? He is able.
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