7.8.14

Acts 26:20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God--and prove they have changed by the good things they do.

My Thoughts

There is a difference in knowing who God is and what He does and knowing God. For years I knew who God was, I didn't really know God. Knowing God changes you, He makes you want to be a better, sweeter, kinder, more loving person. If we don't see those changes in our lives we only know who God is, we don't actually know our Father.  The only way to know God is to spend time with God. Not just in church on Sunday morning. But actually spend time knowing all about Him. 

I was at lunch with a friend yesterday, I asked her, "how did you meet your husband." I wanted to know more about her. When I was dating my sweet Robby we talked for hours and hours about who we were, what we liked, loved, hated. And now 33 years after getting married we are still learning about each other.  If Robby had had a book about his life I would have read it from cover to cover. 

I love my sweet Robby with all my heart. So I do my best not to do things that make him crazy, and I do my best to do things for Him that make him happy.  Things that make His life better. He calls me several times a day, because he loves me and wants to hear my voice. I feel so blessed when the phone rings and I know that it is him. Because I love him so much just being in the room with him comforts me.

That is how we should feel about God. We should do all we can each day to know Him better. We should learn what pleases God and what God hates and act on that knowledge. We need to learn how to draw God near to us so we can just feel His presence in a quiet room. We should desire to talk to Him. We should want to tell Him our victories and out troubles. We should always seek His advice about our lives. 

We talk about people we know ad love. Our spouses, our children, our grandchildren if we have grandchildren. And when people we love do things for us or give us wise advice we talk about that. If we know God, if we act on His advice and see the changes it makes in our loves we won't be able not to talk about God and all He does for us.

If we find ourselves not knowing what .god likes are dislikes. If we find ourselves not calling God near, if we find ourselves not wanting more of God's presence, if we find ourselves never mentioning .god in our everyday conversations. Then we need to ask ourselves, do I know God or do I just know who God is?  It is not a bad question to ask, it is an important question that we need to ask ourselves. It is a life changing question.  It is a life saving question. It won't make God unhappy or shocked. In fact it will please Him, it will make Heaven rejoice in the fact that we are learning the difference in really knowing God, that question answered is where the amazing change begins! 

6.23.14

Acts 15:24 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements. 

My Thoughts

I love this! It tells me that .god does not ever want to overwhelm us. He teaches us little bits at a time so that we won't be so overwhelmed that we can't grow. god loves us and wants to get us to a perfect place with Him, he knows that takes time. We need to give ourselves a break when we mess up. Know g we mess up means we are growing. Knowing we messed up means we can find a way to do better next time. I believe God celebrates our victories no matter how small they may seem to us becauseHe lives us and moving forward is growing. 

7.4.13

Please forgive my absence... July 2 I became a first time grandmother to Ripley Michol Patrick...she weighted 7lbs 4 oz and was 21 inches long.  

Acts 23:4-5 Those standing near Paul said to him, "Do you dare insult God's high priest?" "I'm sorry, brothers, I didn't realize he was the high priest," Paul replied, "for the Scriptures say, "You must not speak evil of any of your rulers."

My Thoughts

I went to find the scripture that Paul was talking about...it says in Exodus 22:28 You must not dishonor God or curse any of your rulers.  Look here in exodus is says "any of your rulers." 

I have done it...I have spoken bad of our president.  Today I thought God protects His children when His children choose to live under His protection.... if we want a different president we need to honor God...and God will honor us with a righteous leader.  We can't go about blaming our leader we must respect our leader because The Bible tells us so!!  We must go about correcting what is wrong in our lives and then God will work out the rest. God will protect His children... our nation is not falling apart because of it's leader... or because of the corruption that goes on.. or because of the evil people out there.  Our nations is loosing ground, doing not so good, because God's children are not doing what God ask of us.   If we, God's children will act in a way that honors God.  If we do the things God requires of us, God will honor us with righteous leaders.  The first step is to quit speaking evil of the leader we have and get on our knees. 

Acts 17:24-25 "He is the God who made the world and everything in it.  Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man made temples, and human hands can't serve his needs--for he as no needs.  He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.

 

My Thoughts

"... and he satisfies every need."  I love that part best!!  Look it says every need...not just some of our needs...but our every need. God will take care of our needs!!  I find that when I have a need that is not being met, it is a need that I have not given to God yet, I have kept it for me to try and satisfy and I am telling you I do not get that need satisfied until I give it all over to God.  Oh is he speaking to me now!!! 

 

God will satisfy our every need, God wants to satisfy our every need, God is working all the time to take care of us!! We just sometimes take a different path.  How often God has given me the path to my needs only for me to take the fork in the road instead.  God tells us in His word all the time..If you do this, then I will do this.  Another words, "If you want this need met, this is what you need to do so that I will be able to met this need."  too often we ignore the if and then wonder where God is.  God will satisfy our needs, God wants so much to satisfy our needs we just have to spend time learning what the "if's" are so God can do the "then" part.

6.25.13

Acts 16:25-34 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.  Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations.  All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!  The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open.  He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself.  But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! don't kill yourself! We are all here!"

 

The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.  The he brought them out and  asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

 

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household." And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household."  And they shard the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household.  Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.  The he and everyone in  his household were immediately baptized.  He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.

 

My Thoughts

Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail unjustly. The very guard  that was later saved treated them cruelly. Then they had a chance to escape, which was wrong.  Even thought they had been badly treated and thrown into jail unjustly they still did the right thing.  They new that escaping would cause the jailer to be killed.  They knew that it was wrong for prisoners to escape.  They had the perfect opportunity to run, but they didn't.

 

Looked what happened because Paul and Silas did the right thing... a whole family was saved!!  Because Paul and Silas had walked the walk even in their pain and suffering by singing hymns to God, and because they had followed the rules even when others did not... a family was saved!!

 

What this story teaches me is that doing the right thing is never in vain, even if I don't see the results. Doing the right thing no matter what somebody else has done to me can be my greatest witness.  Doing the right thing can change a person, who changes their family...then each person in that family will go out and choose to do the right thing.  My actions no matter how small they might seem, no matter how somebody else has treated me, must be doing the right thing. 

 

As I learn and grow in God I am learning that being a witness is a lot more than telling people how to be saved... it is living my life in a way that makes me a "go to" person because I will choose to do the right thing.  When I do this the opportunity to share what God had done in my life will just happen. I won't have a script to follow...I will have my own story to tell...and that is so much more powerful!

6.14.13

Acts 9:33-34 There he (Peter) met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight year.  Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and roll up your sleeping mat!" And he was healed instantly.

 

My Thoughts

Today I was really struck by the words, "Jesus Christ heals you!" It made me acutely aware of all things coming from God. I know that...but I do so many things in  my day without thinking of it.  I do so many normal, everyday things without being aware. 

 

We are trying to get better at knowing that Robby's paycheck at the end of the week is a gift from God and being thankful for that.  We are trying to always be aware that when we fill our buggy with a weeks worth of groceries and pet food that that is a gift from God and being thankful.  I need to be aware that when I woke up today that it was from God the gift of another day and be thankful.  It is easy to see the big things as gift...like a complete healing.  What we need to become acutely aware of is the little things.  The everyday things that are all gifts. If we are aware of the everyday things being straight from God himself, we will never forget to be aware of the big things. 

 

When I get my mind on thankfulness I often think of how the first of any operation that saved somebody was to the world a miracle...like taking our our appendix... or the first heart cath.  Not only was the person saved aware of the miracle from God, the world was aware.  Now we see so many things as routine surgery and we are not even stirred by the lifesaving miracle that went on.  So often we don't even give the person credit for having had to have surgery. 

 

Every time a mother has a c-section, a person has their appendix or gallbladder taken out.  Every time a person takes a pill that keeps a disease under control we should be celebrating as excitedly as this man did that picked up their sleeping mat and walked!!  And every time that something, anything nice or good happens in our day, every time we get to go to work or receive our paycheck, every time that we put food on our plates we need to remember to be truly thankful for what God has given us.

 

Everything is a gift from God and we need to be humble enough to be thankful. Humble enough to know that fact. never so haughty that we think it is all our own doing.  But instead thankful, truly thankful to God for all Has given us whether it be our ability, our drive, our winning spirit or a smile from a stranger, a kind hello, a helping hand from somebody a hug that comes straight from God through a friend.  We need to remember that it is all straight from God Himself!

6.5.13

Acts 3:7-8  Then Peter took the lame  man by the right hand and helped him up.  And as he did the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk!  The, walking, leaping and praising God, he went into the temple with Peter and John.

 

My Thoughts

How often does God heal us today through modern medicine?  How often are we spared much pain because God sends us enough pain to know that we are sick and need surgery? How often does somebody we know have the opportunity to go to physical therapy where our bodies can be retrained to relearn what was lost during a sickness or an injury?  Yet do we leap and dance and praise God?  Do we thank him for the healing?  Do we give Him the credit?  So often we don't.

 

I imagine that the lame man's family were leaping with joy when he arrived home.  I bet he could not wait to tell them...but he went to the temple first to praise God.  Why he didn't even get to the temple before he started praising God. 

 

We are given so much. Yet we go about grumbling and complaining when we should be leaping and dancing!!  Each time we get well from a cold or the flu, each time we go into surgery and get to come home the same day!!  Think of that!!  When I was a little girl I was in the hospital for three days when I got my tonsils out...my daughter came home the very same day. When my step-sister had her gallbladder out she was in the hospital for days...a few short years later I went in that morning and was home by lunch time.  That alone was worth some dancing and praising!! We have knee replacements and hip replacements.  Stints for our arteries to keep us from having heart attacks and strokes. All of these wonderful things are miracles...wonderful miracles. Yet we forget to leap and dance and praise God.  Instead we come home complaining about any little thing that went wrong ... we didn't get a pillow when we wanted it...the nurse was having a bad day and didn't treat us just right.  We get so lost in our discomfort that we forget we have even had a miracle. We are so comfortable all the time that a bit of being uncomfortable makes us complain.  When it should be the other way around... our comfort should keep us leaping and praising!! 

 

We need to learn a lesson from this man...health is a wonderful thing...healing is a wonderful thing! Gifts from our wonderful Lord.  We don't need to ignore those wonderful gifts we need to get excited about them.  Treat them as wonderful as they are and go about leaping and praising God. 

4.3.13

Acts 4:19-20 But Peter and John replied, "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.

 

My Thoughts

Wow!!  Let me set this up for you... the high council had just ordered Peter and John to quit spreading "propagnda" any further.  They were going about telling the Good New of Jesus.  Peter and John replied to them that they had to obey God and could not stop telling all they had seen and heard.  God protected them...the council were afraid of starting a riot so they had to let Peter and John go.  But they didn't want to!!

 

What this verse said to me is that we have to stop being politically correct!!  We have to stop keeping our mouths shut about God in fear of stepping on someone's toes!!  We have to go about telling the Good New of Jesus!!  If we can't do this in peaceful, "politically correct," times... how will we have the strength and courage to do it if we are the generation that live through end times? 

 

We can't stand by when people stand against God without standing for God.  In Matthew 12:30-32  Jesus says, "Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me." And in Luke 11:23 Jesus says, "Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me." This is written at least twice, it is important.

 

We can not stand by and let people trash the name of God, the name of Jesus.  In Acts 4:13 the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of ordinary men with no special training in the scripture.  We are ordinary men, we do not have to be scolars...we just have to trust that God will give us the words to speak...then we need to speak, if we don't we stand with God, we stand against God. 

6.25.12

Acts 16:25-28 Around midnight Paul ans Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundation.  All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!  The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open.. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself.  But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here."

My Thoughts

Paul and Silas had been badly beaten and thrown into prison...yet they sing praises to God.  There in their pain...in their chains...with open bleeding wounds they sang praises!!  When the earth trembled and the prison doors opened...and the chains were broken... not only were Paul and Silas effected...the men around them that had witnessed their faith in God... these men were freed from their chains too!.. Then the guard..their very enemy..the man sent to guard them was freed from death because they did not run.  This man, the guard, took them home...feed them and bandaged their wounds...he asked what he needed to do to be saved.  All because Paul and Silas did the right thing even in their pain.. even in their captivity.  The next day God rewarded Paul ans Silas by having the officials set them free. If they had ran when their chain were broken they would have not been free in their freedom..they would have been running forever. 

This is a great lesson for us today... when we choose to praise God...to trust God... especially in our grief and pain... in times when we feel under bondage from things of this world... it not only effects us.. it effects the people around us... it even effects the people that seem to be our enemies in profound ways!! Our attitude toward God during our worst days is the greatest witness of our love for God and God's love for us!!  Paul and Silas' actions saved many men that day from the depths of hell. Our actions are our best witness of God's love and power...our very actions have the power to save a person's life. 

A few months ago I watch a You Tube video on this man speak about his 23 minutes in Hell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv8pLUMDVRc  This video made me know, without doubt that I don't want even my worst enemy to go to such a place.  I pray that my actions..in good times and in bad speak of the love of God in my life!!  I pray that I live in a way that make people want to know and love God....I pray that I can be the example that Paul and Silas were that day when they praised God in their deepest pain.

6.22.12

Acts 14:11-15 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done (healed a crippled man), they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.  And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.  But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,  “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

My Thoughts

The people saw Paul and Barnabas as gods.  It saddened them to be thought of that way...they knew that all power comes from God.  It got me to thinking that we so often treat athletes and movie stars like gods...we give them more time than we give God.  Don't get me wrong..I am not saying that going to a football game... or buying a shirt to support you favorite team is a sin... or that watching TV is a sin... I think the sin comes in,  in the way we do it. 

The people could have been thankful for Paul and Barnabas...showed their appreciation for them... but made their sacrifices to God...sent up their thanks to God...they could have given God what God was due for all He done. In the same way we can appreciate our sports teams...and our favorite TV shows... as long as we give God what is due.  For instance God expects 10 percent of our money and probably 10 percent of our time... If we spend the evening watching TV but have not taken time out of our day to spend time with God are we not giving TV stars more time than we give God.. in a way worshiping them... If we spend our money to see a football game...or support our football team with team clothing when we have not given God, His 10 percent...are we not putting athletes ahead of God... making them who we worship? 

God gave us things to get excited about, to enjoy....but our first excitement should be in Him.  He should get the first of our time.. the first of our money...the first of our thoughts...then we are putting Him as our Lord and King.... then we can enjoy the rest...when we put other things ahead of God..we are treating them as gods. We must be very careful to give God his rightful place in our lives.

6.8.12

Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than and human authority."

My Thoughts

What freedom we have when we choose to make God happy instead of making people happy!  Have you ever had a decision to make ....and 10 people wanted you to made 10 different choices?  We have all felt that way!  Or sometimes there are just lots of choices that nobody is asking you to make...you just feel conflicted on which one to choose.  What I have learned since I learned to really follow God is this: If I stop and say "What would God want me to do?" my choices are narrowed down sometimes to only one choice...sometimes to just a few.  But they are always narrowed down.  Freeing my brain and my time....and freeing my thoughts after my decision. Keeping me from going over and over in my head "Did I do the right thing?" When I let God lead me...when I make decisions based on God's word and what the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do...that frees my mind to the point of peace. Peace is true freedom.

 I am not always good at it...so often I fall back on what I was use to...but each time that more of God's word drops from my head to my heart I get a little better... I have learned to know that God is happy with us when we move forward.... moving forward, no matter how small our steps are,  is progress!  God wants us to grow so that our lives will be better...God wants us to grow because He love us so much. God wants us to grow so we can be free!!

6.6.12

Acts 3:21 For He (Jesus) must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through this holy prophets.

My Thoughts

Jesus will come and restore all things!! What an exciting thought...Imagine the earth like it looked in the Garden of Eden...Imagine all of us restored to perfect health...Imagine being the prettiest you have ever been. Imagine how much everything and everyone will glow in the presence of Jesus!!  Imagine how perfect love will be!! Imagine how much each and every person will love each and every person. Imagine the animals and the people all taking up space together loving each other!  Imagine how beautiful the songs of the birds will be!! This verse says final restoration... which means we won't ever need to be made right again!!  Wow! It is going to be amazing!  All we have to do to be a part of this is Believe Jesus is the son of God, Confess our sins and ask Jesus into our lives! I hope no one that I know or love...or no one that somebody that I know, knows and loves misses out on this wonderful, glorious time that we are going to have with God!

1.8.11

Acts 26:20 (Paul said) I preach first first to those in Damascus then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God -- and prove they have changed by the good things they do.

My Thoughts

There are so many verses we are taught as a child..... so many we just begin to know as an adult that we hear over and over again.  I believe that the last part of this verse should be one that we put into our remembrance. It is so, so important but so often not practiced by Christians today. We need to prove that we are changed by the good things we do.  We should go about doing good in such a way that people know that we are Christians. People should be able to see the love of God in our heart by our actions.  Not just at Church but at home, work, play... while we shop, play golf.  While we are on vacation...by the way we celebrate...we should go about doing good things...saying kind things... we should go about showing love to everyone one we come in contact with!  We should be like the song "And they will know that we are Christians by our love, by our love." It is not enough to say we are Christians and show up at Church on Sunday morning... We need to show up as Christians in our everyday life! We need to go about proving we have changed by the good things we do. These are not Paul's commandments..these are from Jesus himself... in verse 16 Paul tells how Jesus told him to "Get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You Are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future." Jesus wants us to prove we have changed. Lets get busy and go about doing good! What we do for others we are doing for God.

6.4.11

Acts 23:5 "I'm sorry, brothers. I didn't realize he was the high priest," Paul replied, "for the Scriptures say, 'you must not speak evil of any of your rulers.'"

My Thoughts

Oh this is such a fitting scripture for the 4th of July. As citizens it is our duty to elect a president...to go out and vote!  We get the opportunity to vote this person out of office in four years if we do not like what he/she is doing.  But while any person is president of our wonderful United States we need to pray for them, we need to speak highly of them and we need to support them. The Scriptures tell us to do this. God tells us what is best.  With such mass media that we can all be a part of... blogs, facebook etc. people from all over the world can see how we feel.  We need to present ourselves as a united front.  We don't do that when we trash our president. If we don't like what our president stands for we need to pray and pray some more... but we still need to support him/her. We became a strong nation because we are United... we can become weak by being divided.  The enemy looks for the cracks in our armor.  Thumpers mother, from Bambi,  put it well when she said "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." God knew when He put these words in the Scriptures how to keep a nation strong.  We need to listen.

6.19.11

Acts 13:15 After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.”

My Thoughts

This verse says to me that it is very important to encourage each other.  It comes just after reading from the books of Moses and the prophets. We all need encouragement in all areas of our lives. We need to know that what we do matters. Growing is hard to see in ourselves.  It is kind of like looking in the mirror. When we look in the mirror at ourselves we tend to notice the things we don't like about ourselves. I don't like my nose and that is always the first thing I see when I look in the mirror. Try as I might I can't see the whole of myself. I see myself in parts...and usually I am seeing the parts of me I like least. Every once in a while we pass a mirror that we don't know is there and we catch a glimpse of ourselves as others see us...and it takes a minute to even know it is our reflection.  We see the whole...and even think to ourselves "hey, I look pretty good!" It is especially nice when we have had the thought that "That person sure is pretty." and that person was our self!  We tend to see how we have grown or what we have accomplished in much the same way, in parts. Noticing what we can't do, what we have not accomplished, ways we haven't grown. We see other people...and other people see us more in a whole part... they can see what our accomplishments are. They see how we have grown. The look at us and see the big picture. I think that is why words of encouragement are so important. Important enough to list here just under the reading of the Bible so far as it had been written. We all love to be encouraged! One of the reasons we love it when people see what we have done is because they see it bigger and better than we do.  When someone else notice what we do and comment on it, for a second we get to experience us through somebody else's eyes. Say for instance we have just given a party...we often think about what could have been done better, what we forgot. But, somebody else see how well everything went, how everything feel into place perfectly. We never know that unless somebody tells us.

I believe we do better when we are told we are doing good.  When somebody says to me that I am so sweet, I try harder to be even sweeter.  They have encouraged me by noticing what I can do, they have noticed what I am good at. When I am told what I am doing is working I try even harder. When our boss tells us we are good in an area, we tend to always pay extra attention and be good in that area.  When others encourage us it gives us the will to do better, to go on!. Encouragement is so important in  our lives. As much as we need that from others, others need it from us!!  When we notice the good in others, the accomplishments in others, the growth in others. When we see something somebody has just done that was good we need to tell them just how good we see it, to build them up, to spur them on.  It gives  us the want to,  the strength, the "encouragement" they need to move forward and become the best they can be. Today, everyday when we notice something nice about somebody else, something positive about somebody else don't keep that wonderful treasure hidden in your heart...share it with that person. It may be the encouragement they need to become even better than they already are. It may be that encouragement they need not to give up. Those thoughts shared become seeds that grown into bigger and better things.

6.18.11

Acts 12:5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

My Thoughts

The story goes on to tell how Peter was surrounded by guards, bound to guards...there look like there was no way out and Peter was going to be put to death.  But an angel of the Lord came and freed Peter. Notice the people prayed earnestly... earnestly is defined as "Marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness" another definition of earnestly is :With a purposeful or sincere intent" and one more is "Serious; determined." These peoples "earnest" prayers were answered by God.  If God were going to save Peter without the prayers would they have been mentioned? I wonder how often we feel our prayers have not been answered when we just sent a quick "would you do this for me" kind of prayer up to God. How often do we not get answered because we don't consider something important enough to ask earnestly? Do you think that God wants us to ask earnestly because it is important that we know that God is who took care of our problem...when we ask earnestly we are more aware of God's power... are more aware that God is working in us, around us, through others on our behalf?  When we ask earnestly and God answers we are aware that it was God and we are more likely to give God the credit that is due God? There are days I pray in earnest...there are days I pray quickly...more out of habit. It is good to have the habit of praying ... but we need to have the habit of praying earnestly. In all three definations of earnest a form of serious is mentioned.  If we don't treat our request as serious, should God?  Do you have a prayer that has not been answered?... Did you pray earnestly? There are many things I have prayed about in a passing way... now I need to go back and pray about them earnestly.

6.14.11

Acts 9:31 The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee,, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.

My Thoughts

Remember fear of the Lord is defined as wonder and awe. The church had wonder and awe for God...and loved God.  Because they loved God they were able to know when the Holy Spirit was encouraging them...guiding them to do what was right... guiding them to love one God and to love one another. Because the church loved God and had wonder and awe for God it became stronger.  How simple is that!.. We can become stronger as individuals, as a church, as a family, and a city, as a state, as a country by loving God because we are in awe of Him...because we see Him with great wonder.

The more I know about God the more I am in awe... the more I wonder at all He has done in the world...the more I am aware of what He does for me.  The more I call on God the more he does for me.  The closer I get to God the more I am able to know when the Holy Spirit is guiding me and the stronger I become as a person.  I use to get anxiety all the time... I didn't like new things... I didn't like putting myself in new and different situations.... the tiniest bit of disapproval from a complete stranger gave me anxiety.  (Thank goodness I felt safe within my family) I could ware myself out trying to please people... the more I couldn't the more I retreated inside the safe walls of my home and in the safe presence of my family.  I knew God.... I loved God, because we are suppose to love God.  Then I really got to know God...as I read my Bible I understood more and more about God's great love for me... and I learned to please God instead of trying to please people...if I please God, God will take care of my relationships with people...and how can you go wrong by doing what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.  I have become so much stronger... I rarely have anxiety any more.  I have had a few setback along the way...but when I get my eye on God...when I spend time with God...when I talk to God and take time to listen to God talk to me...I become stronger and stronger and stronger. It is not just a feeling I have inside me...people that know me have seen the difference in me. I am living proof that when you fear the Lord you become stronger.  I have experienced the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.  I pray that God continues to grow me into what He would have me be.  I feel so blessed to be a child of God.  I still have a long way to go... but if God grows me as much in the future as he has in the last couple of years...I can't what to see what I can be!

6.13.11

Acts 9:15 But the Lord said, "Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings.

My Thoughts

This was a man who killed many, many, many Christians for loving Jesus. This is also the man who later became know as Paul and started churches, and lead so many people to Jesus.  In fact his words still lead people to Jesus today.  We should never choose who we think deserves the word of God.  No one would have ever thought that Saul deserved the word of God but Saul became a great witness for Jesus.  Saul became a most effective witness........ Saul reached people that others would have never been able to reach. Jesus didn't decide that Saul was too "bad" to use.... Jesus took this person that put all his energy into being "bad" and turned all that energy into being good.  Our lives can never be so bad that Jesus can't use us for good!  We can never have done anything so bad that God can't forgive us and turn our lives in a something wonderfully useful for Him. We should never give  up on others....and we should never give up on ourselves. God never gives up on us!

6.11.11

Acts 7:59-60 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He fell to his knees, shouting,, "Lord don't charge them with this sin!" And with that he died.

My Thoughts

Has there every been somebody that you just didn't think you could forgive?  They say something about you...they wrong you in some way that is really hurtful. Sometimes we just have trouble forgiving. But Jesus tells us to forgive, to pray for our enemies.  Stephen was telling the truth, telling all that God had done.  The people didn't want to hear it and were stoning him.  All Stephen had done was spoken a truth that the people didn't want to hear the truth. These people were killing Stephen in a brutal way... Yet Stephen did as Jesus asked... he forgave these people and ask God to forgive them.  They were taking Stephen's life... not hurting his feeling, not attacking his character, the weren't forgetting a lunch date or trying for the same job...... they were taking his life and Stephen was able to forgive them. Forgiveness is huge, God commands that we forgive others.... we want others to forgive us. We want God to forgive us.  We need to expect from ourselves what we expect from others. If we don't practice forgiveness in the small things would we be able to do what Stephen did and give forgiveness in the mist of death?  No matter what somebody has done to us we need to be forgiving. We would want others to do the same for us. 

7.8.10

Acts 26:20 (Paul said) I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God--and prove they have changed by the good things they do.

My Thoughts

Being a Christan is more than believing Jesus is the Son of God, and asking him into your heart... that is a must... that will get us to heaven...but God does ask that we prove that we have changed by the good things we do... we must go about doing good, being good, speaking good ... it is important to show God that we have changed... to reap the rewards of being a Child of God both here and in heaven we must do the things God ask of us...and God only ask that we do what is good and just and loving and kind... prove today that you have changed by doing good things!