6.30.12

1 Peter 3:11 (Amplified Bible)  Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]

My Thoughts

To be at peace with God and others we must love them... we must forgive them their mistakes... we must look for the good in the and overlook their mistakes.  Look at the last line here... it also includes us being peaceful with ourselves... and to be peaceful with ourselves we must love our-self, forgive ourselves our mistakes... look for and find the good in what we do!!  We must pursue harmony and peaceful relationships... we must pursue to love ourselves. Until we totally love ourselves... take time to see ourselves through God's eyes and know that we are worth loving we will have a hard time loving others. 

Love yourself today!!!... Look in that mirror and know that God loves you so much that He gave Jesus to die for you sins... that is how much God loves you... God forgives you.. He throws your mistakes, your sins as far as the east is from the west!!  Take time to notice the good things in yourself..that is what God sees!!!  He loves the good things in us... God nourishes the good!!.. When the devil tries to remind you of what you did wrong... just tell him "God forgave me and I forgive me... and here is a list of what I do right __________, _____________, ___________ and _____________! So just be on your Way!"

God is love.. pure loves comes straight from God!! God makes sure that we know in his word...right here that we are to pursue a peaceful relationship with ourselves!!  Try it!! It is live changing!!

6.29.12

Proverbs 18:4 Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook.

My Thoughts

I love this... this is my third time through the Bible... each time I find more!!  It makes me think of the ocean... you look out at it... you see it's power... you see how vast it is.  Just looking at it is almost overwhelming when you stop to take it all in.  That is just the part you can see.  But if you go deep, deep into the ocean there is such peace... there is such beauty... it is calm underneath.. it is powerful underneath the ocean...but a calm power filled with peace and beauty beyond what we can even imagine.

The Bible as a book is like that... you look at it...there are so many pages... you know those pages are powerful... but just looking out on it you can feel overwhelmed.  But if we just pick it and explore its pages... seek after the wisdom found in the words... we become a part of its power...we are surrounded by its amazing strength and calmness...we are captured and entertained by its beauty... our lives become a part of the strength, the joy, the peace, the beauty... we just have to push forward past the surface to be captured up in its strength.

6.28.12

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

My Thoughts

God gives us free will...He gives us the choice to choose blessing... or we can choose curses.  All that we have to do to have the blessings of God is to obey Him...commit ourselves to Him. Loving God is our key to life.

The more I read God's word...the more it settles down into my heart.. the more I understand just how much God loves me.  What is amazing is that if we obey God our life will just be better... God only wants the best for us!!... But God does not stop at our lives being better... He rewards us for our good behavior!! 

God tells us all the time how to have a good life!!... He tells us if we give to others, He will give back to us pressed down and overflowing.  My visual on that is this... Take a glass and fill it with cotton balls... just put them in there to the top... that is what God ask us to give....now take that same glass... fill it with cotton balls and press them down... keep adding ... press some more...now let go and see how many more cotton balls you have... that is how much God give back...just because we give!! 

If God honors our giving so generously how much more will he honor our loving?!?! 

God is waiting to bless us... He is up in Heaven rooting us on!!  Cheering us on!!... Jesus is constantly praying on our behalf.... God even puts the Holy Spirit inside us to tell us what to do...He gives us His word...and He tells us that if we seek wisdom that wisdom will find us. We don't have to be smart about it...we just have to seek after it.  He puts all this in place for us...then He promises us blessings to go along with being good... It is a privilege just to get to love God...and if we do He is going to add blessing to it!! 

When I was 9 and asked Jesus into my heart... when I believed that He was the Son of God...I got my place in heaven... but my life changed in the most amazing ways when I picked up my Bible and started seeking after God two and a half years ago.   I learned how to truly love God...I have learned how much God truly loves me!  My body actually tingles with joy!...My face glows.... I have peace that I never knew could exist!... Do I have bad days...sure I do ...I am living on this earth where evil is at every corner...and sometimes I get lost in the wrong things...but as soon as I turn my eyes, my heart back to God, his blessing start pouring down from heaven and all is good again!!  And each time I see that change ... I get better and better and going to God sooner when I mess up!  I tell myself you can be miserable or you can praise God!.. Praising God works every time! 

If you are reading this wondering if this really works... imagine me sitting in front of you with your sweet face in my hands... I am looking at you with loving eyes...with tears of joy and a deep sense of wanting you to understand what I am saying!  I am saying "God loves YOU, YOU so much!  He wants nothing but the very best for you!!  There is nothing that God will ask you to do that will not make your life better...even when the world does not see what you have done, God does and He stores up blessing for you!!  God cares! God will make your life better!!  Just pick up that Bible and start reading it!! You may not understand it at first, I didn't!!  But if you seek after God, He will make sure that it comes...He will make sure that you feel His love, that you feel joy, that you feel peace... He will walk with you and be beside you! Choose blessing!!" 

6.27.12

1 Peter 3:1-5 In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands.

My Thoughts

Verse 7 does go on to say... Husband treat your wives good... take care of them... it even says to be sure and be great husbands so your prayers will get through to heaven!!

I love how this verse tells us that we win people over by our actions... by being pure and reverent... it says you do what is right...you do what is good and your actions, your kindness, your love, your love of God will work... you don't need words to change people...there doesn't have to be screaming... or making your point... you just have to go about being loving!!  Think about it...when somebody loves you with all their heart...when they make you feel special just because you walk into a room...when you know that they love you and care about you...there is nothing that you wouldn't do for them!!  If we make our husbands feel like kings...if we love them with all our hearts...if we light up when they walk into a room... if we agree with them..everyone likes somebody to see their side!!  Then they will not be able to help themselves when we have a need or a want...they will want to make sure we are taken care of ...they will want to give us our hearts desire!!  If our face...our actions say to our spouse "Oh there you are!!..I am so excited you came into this room!! I am so glad that you are in my life!" It won't matter if you just woke up...or if you have spent 2 hours getting beautiful...that love in your eyes for him... that total love that comes from the deepest part of you will make you glow! Love makes everything glow!!  If I think about it...if somebody ask me to do something with that love in their eyes...I can't say no!...but if they ask me with selfishness or with that "you better do this for me" attitude I don't want to do it.  Love, pure love glows...it is sweet and understanding... it is unselfish...it wins the hearts of the toughest people...it has the power to move mountains.  Love honors God and is honored by God in our lives.

6.26.12

2 Chronicles 7:14  I am one of God's chosen people.  I am called by His name. If I humble myself, pray, seek, crave and require of necessity the face of God and turn from my wicked ways, then will God hear from heaven, forgive my sin and heal my land.

My Thoughts

So often we feel powerless... we think, "There is nothing I can do.. our country is going down, down, down." But here, we are told in God's word that there is something we can do!!  We can humble ourselves, pray, seek, crave and require the necessity of the face of God and turn from our wicked ways...then God will hear from heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land.  We have a part...we can make a difference...we can seek after and love God...we can love our neighbor...we can walk in love...then God will take care of the rest.  God has the power to change our circumstance ... God has the power to change the hearts of kings and of presidents. We can go around and complain... we can go around grumbling...we can put our leaders down.. which we are not supposed to do!! Or we can seek after God... do good... turn from sin.... live within our means... watch our words... love each other... be kind to each other... help each other... then God will take over and forgive us and heal our land. He will change the hearts of the people in charge.. God can and will make a difference in our land...but we as children of the Most High God have to do our part!! 

If there had been 10 in Sodom ...just 10 God would have spared Sodom.. Genesis 18:32.  What if all America needs is 10 people that love God?  What if there is only 9? Our actions, our love for God and for others make a difference...not only for us...but for the people around us.... our actions, our love for God, our love for others, can save a nation.  Have you ever wanted to be a hero?  Love 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.

6.24.12

2 Kings 6:21-22 When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, "My father, should I kill then? Should I kill them."   "Of course not!" Elisha replied. " Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and sent them home again to their master."

My Thoughts

These men had come to kill Elisha... Elisha had ask God to strike them with blindness... so he to them to the King of Israel. Elisha had the power to order their death... to have anything done to them he wanted.  But Elisha, a man of God, had them treated fairly and sent them back home.

We are so often hurt by others... so often we are the ones who hurt others.  When others hurt us... we need to remember their actions are actions cause in a time of war.  The war the devil has waged against God and all his goodness.  When people do hurtful things... evil things... they have become ensnared by the devil himself.  We have been used by the devil for a second in time to tear down.  We need to realize when somebody else does hurtful things... the devil has taken them captive... maybe for just a brief moment in time... Instead of taking revenge we need to act in love... feed those people with hope and love and forgiveness and send them home again.  When we act in any other way we have just stepped into a trap set by the devil...and we have been caught...when we act in love...we have stepped right over that trap and won one more battle against the evil of Satin himself.