Thankful for God's Love

Psalm 13:5But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Psalm 26:3for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.
Psalm 33:22May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 36:5Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

These are just a few verses that talk about God’s love. There are almost 700 verses that talk about love in some format. I daresay that “love” is important to God because “…God is love” found in 1 John 4:8. Over the last two days, I have read several blogs and emails talking about God’s love. It truly is amazing!

Last night at church we did not have our regular bible study. Instead, we had a revival service. You see, the other Sunday we had a guest speaker, Joel Hitchcock. God was moving in such a powerful way that we continued the services through Wednesday. On the next Sunday my husband spoke and God continued to move in such a powerful way. He decided to not have regular bible study but have revival service. Last night was another powerful service. God moved mightily and powerfully.

One lady I talked to had gone up for prayer and the Lord really ministered to her. She sent me an email late last night “…Before I went up tonight, when Pastor was singing I asked God to speak to me tonight. I told God I need to hear from you. I felt God with me tonight Donna.” This is part of my response to her “…God is so good and continues to amaze us every day with His love! … Ain't God good. You said that you wanted to hear from Him last night and you did! … you heard how much God loves you; how much He is with you; how much He cares for you. “

This is just one example of how much God loves us. She needed God to speak to her and He did. He ministered to her in a special way. Because of God’s love for us, He desires to work in our life to help us better become the woman He has created us to be. Now our flesh will fight against it. She had sat in her pew going back and forth whether to go up for prayer or not. She did go up and what a work God did in her! God gently calls us to come to Him and give Him everything, not just some parts of our life. Because of His love for us, He has our best interest in mind. Because of His love for us, He will not do anything to bring us harm. It's all because of His love for us.

Today may you be filled to overflowing with God’s love. May you feel His arms wrap around you and hold you to Himself. May you hear Him say to you “I love you with an everlasting and unfailing love.”

Let’s pray. Father, we thank You that You first loved us. We thank you for your unfailing love. We thank you that You love us so much that You work in our lives to help us better become the woman You created us to be. May each woman reading this feel your love saturate them and fill the room they are in. Thank you Father for your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Blessings,

Follow Me Day 3

On Day 1 we talked about the definition of Follow and read several scriptures where Jesus said “Follow Me”.

On Day 2 we talked about imitating Jesus by doing the Will of the Father. I want to stress again that doing life is not about us but rather it is all about Jesus. We must be willing to throw out our own agenda to heed the voice of God. We must be willing to throw out our own agenda to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We must be willing to throw out our own agenda to touch the lives of people around us. We must be willing.

Today we are going to talk about two other ways to imitate Jesus.

First, we imitate Jesus by being a giver. The other week I was listening to a guy preach on the RAMP. He said something that I had not thought about before. He said God was a giver and was looking for people to be givers. Wow! We know John 3:16 by heart. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God gave to us and we should be willing to give to Him. Give financially as well as our whole self. We should be known as givers.

Secondly, we imitate Jesus by being obedient. In thinking about obedience, I recognize that it coincides with doing the Will of the Father. Lately, I have read several blogs about obedience. Sandy at God Speaks Today did several posts on this topic which were excellent! You can read them here.

Here are a few scriptures on “obey” from the Old and New Testament:

· Psalm 119:57You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words.
· Psalm 119:60I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.
· Luke 11:28He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
· John 14:21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
· John 15:10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
· 1 John 5:3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

Obedience is not always easy. It wars with our flesh, especially when we have our own agenda. It is important to be obedient in all things, even the small things. We see in the scriptures that obeying God’s commandments shows our love for Him. We are blessed if we hear the Word of God and obey it.

As I said above, we must be obedient in all things, even the small things. As we hear the voice of God, He will speak to us about things. It is then our choice whether we obey or not. We cannot have the excuse that we are too busy. We cannot have any excuse. God knows exactly what we are doing at all times. Nothing is hidden from Him.

Recently, I went several days hearing God’s voice to act. The first time I was walking out of the parking garage at my work and walked passed a piece of trash on the ground. I felt the prompting to pick it up. I did not and kept walking passed it. On my way back to my car there was that trash again as well as the prompting to pick it up. This time I did pick it up and threw it away. Several days in a row I felt the prompting to pick up stuff at different places where I was at. I did think it was a bit strange. But the thought also came to me about being obedient in all things, even the small things.

One area we can probably relate to being obedient is sitting in church and get the feeling like we are to do something. For instance, we could get the feeling to go to someone and pray. I hear that a lot and have experienced it. We could get the feeling to go to someone and say something. We could get the feeling to give a certain amount. All the while we are getting these feelings, we are questioning if this is God or not. We need to learn to recognize the voice of God and respond with quick obedience and confidence. When we respond with quick obedience, we are blessed in a great way as well as the other person.

I have heard others say that they felt impressed to give up television or sugar or other things. This could be a week, a month, six months or a year. The main thing is our obedience to what God is asking us to do.

I long to hear His voice and I long to be radically obedient in all things. How about you?

Let’s pray. Father, we thank You that You first gave to us. Help us to be givers of ourselves, givers financially and every other area. Thank you Jesus for being an example of obedience to the Father. Help us to be obedient in all things, to be radically obedient, and to respond with quick obedience. We long to hear Your voice. We long to be radically obedient. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.



Blessings,

Song by Leeland

Check out this video by Leeland. The song is entitled "Follow You". My ears perk up every time I hear it.




Blessings,

Follow Me Day 2

Yesterday we talked about the definitions of “Follow Me” and I gave a few scriptures where Jesus made that statement.

One of the definitions for follow is imitate. That is what I want to talk about today.

Yesterday I also shared a story about me as a child playing church in my parent’s living room. My friend and I were imitating what we seen in church. This week we have been in an unscheduled revival, but it sure was good! Anyways, one night the evangelist prayed for a woman to be healed. He then asked her to walk with him and do what he did, or imitate him. He would walk a bit then run and lift his hands and she would do the same. The woman followed him and imitated what he did. Several years ago I was in a service. I can’t remember what the preacher was preaching, but he had a volunteer following him and imitating what he did. I can still picture it. The preacher would run up an aisle then turn left. He would stop and then walk again. He did this for several minutes with the volunteer following him and imitating everything the preacher did.

There is an old saying that says “don’t do as I do, but do as I say”. We must realize that our actions speak volumes and that people are indeed watching us. I submit to you that our actions are much more important that our words. Words can be meaningless, especially when they do not flow from the heart. They can sound good, but have no depth.

We must be an imitator of Christ. Let’s look at one way we can be imitators of Christ.

Jesus was always about doing the will of the Father.

John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Life is not about us, but rather it’s about God. We are here not for our own gain, but we are here to do the will of God.

John 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

We read in John 4 where Jesus had left Judea and was heading to Galilee. But on the way there, Jesus needed to stop in Samaria. See, there was a woman at a well that needed to meet Jesus.

So many times we have our own agenda. If we hear the voice of God or the gentle nudge and it is not part of our agenda, we ignore God’s voice or the nudge. We say, not today God, I have no time for that. Not today God, I am too tired. Not now God, my favorite program is coming on. Really? Life is not about us. It’s all about Him. When we become imitators of Christ, how can we sincerely respond like that? Now I know we are not perfect. But we must strive daily to be about the Father’s will. We must remember that we have a heavenly Father that we can go to for strength and help when we feel weak in this area.

The other day when I left work I called a friend who was very upset about something and asked me to pray. When I hung up with her, I started praying. It could have been easy to say that and then find someone else to call rather than pray for her. But I thought about what Jesus would do. In the busyness of His day, He would stop and pray for people.

There are times that as I go through my day that someone needs a kind word, affirmation, a hug, encouragement and more. I must be sensitive enough to hear His voice to recognize those times and be willing to stop what I am doing and give out to someone else.

As I imitate Christ, I must be willing to throw away my agenda, and say “yes” to His voice, His nudge. I must remember that it is not all about me but rather it is all about Him and doing His will each day.

Let’s pray. Father, we desire to be imitators of Christ. Help us to remember that it’s not about us but it’s all about Jesus. Help us to be about Your will daily. Thank You Father that we can come to You for strength and help when we struggle in this area. We give You praise for working in our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Blessings,

Follow Me

Noah Webster’s Dictionary defines “follow” as: (1) To copy after; to take as an example; (2) To go or come after; to move behind in the same path or direction; hence, to go with (a leader, guide, etc.); to accompany; to attend.

Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines “follow” as: (1) imitate.

As children, we have all played “Simon Says” and “Follow the Leader.” I can remember as a child going in my parent’s living room and playing church – imitating what I seen in church. My friend Belinda and I would take turns singing and preaching and would run around the room with our hands raised say “woo”. Now that I am a parent, I have seen my children when they were smaller imitating church like I did. They would pray for each other as well as their friends and then they would fall out. My husband is a pastor and I have a picture of my son when he was about three years old with a microphone in one hand and a bible in the other. He was just imitating what he has seen his daddy do.

All through the gospels we read where Jesus says “follow Me”.

Jesus calls His first disciples in Matthew 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Here are a few more verses:

Mark 2:14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
Luke 9:23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
John 8:12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 10:27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
John 12:26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

This phrase “follow Me” has been swirling around in my thoughts. Lysa TerKeurst says that one way to know God is speaking is that it will be verified by other sources. My ears seem to perk up whenever a song comes on the radio about following Christ, whenever I read a passage in scripture, whenever I hear someone speaking, in conversation, reading other blogs. So I know God is speaking to me about following Him.

Now I have been serving Jesus since I was a small child. Following Jesus goes beyond salvation – that is just the beginning.

We will pick back up on this tomorrow.

Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for your gentle nudges, your whispered words, calling us to follow You. May our hearts and spirits be ready to follow You in all that we do and say. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Blessings,

My Shepherd

The Lord is my Shepherd =
That's Relationship!

I shall not want =
That's Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures =
That's Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters =
That's Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul =
That's Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness =
That's Guidance!

For His name sake =
That's Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death =
That's Tribulations!

I will fear no evil =
That's Protection!

For Thou art with me =
That's Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me =
That's Discipline!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies =
That's Hope!

hou anointest my head with oil =
That's Consecration!

My cup runneth over =
That's Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life =
That's Blessing!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord =
That's Security!

Forever =
That's Eternity!




Blessings,

What Would You Have Me to Do?

Acts 9:3-6 (NKJV)
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.[a] It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Saul had thought, had truly believed, he was doing the right thing in persecuting the Christians. In fact, we read in Acts 7 where Saul was there when Stephen was stoned to death.

Acts 9: 1-2 tells us
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Saul was on his way to find people who were of the “Way”. But God interrupted his journey and spoke to him.

Let’s ask ourselves this question today. God, what would you have me to do?

I think most times we get bogged down with asking God what He would have us to do in the big picture, i.e. careers, maybe who we should marry, our gifting, how we can serve Him. But I submit to you that we should ask God what He would have us to do in every situation, every area. We need to position ourselves every day to be able to be used by God. We do that by asking God what He would have us to do. For instance, on my walk during lunch, has God prepared someone for me to talk to? On my trip to the mall, has God prepared someone for me to help? Does the cashier need an encouraging word?

A friend, Pat, has shared with me times when God used her. One time she was walking out of a store and the Lord spoke to her to pray for the lady outside from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. Pat was obedient and asked the lady if she could pray for her. After Pat prayed for her, the lady was deeply touched and told Pat that she just said to herself that she was hurting from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. Wow!

There are people all around us that need us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Are we positioning ourselves to do that by asking God what He would have us do?

In Saul’s situation, he asked God and God responded. In our lives when we ask God what He would have us to do, we need to be fully prepared to say “yes God”, I will do as You have said.

Let’s pray. Father, thank You for Your hand on our lives. We ask what would You have us to do today. Is there someone You have prepared for us to speak to? Is there someone You have prepared to cross our path? Help us to hear Your voice, feel Your nudges, to go in the direction You are leading. We want to be Your hands and feet to the world around us. Thank you Father for using us.

Blessings,

Fasting

Our church started the year off with our annual 21 Days of Fasting. We have now reached the mid way point. This past week during our Bible Study, my husband taught on fasting – the reasons we fast as well as the reasons we do not fast (to lose weight) and Old/New Testament examples. One thing that struck me was an Old Testament word used for fasting – “afflict”. Now we don’t afflict our body by beating it with whips, etc. We do fast to crucify our flesh so that we can retune our ears to the Spirit of God, get the heart of God and walk in the power of God – to name a few. To see the study my husband did on fasting out of Isaiah 58:6-14, Click Here.

One of the reasons listed in fasting was to retune our ears to the Spirit of God. In starting the fast, I was reminded of chapter 2 in Lysa Terkeurst’s book “What Happens When Women Say Yes to God” where she talked about five questions she asks herself when hearing from God. Here we are, starting a new year and beginning a fast. We, I, need to hear from God on some things, plus get directions for the new year. I went back to her book and read again chapter 2 talking about the questions. They really are good questions to ask ourselves.

One question she listed was “Is what I’m hearing being confirmed through other messages?” While reading this book with my ladies at church, this question was one that seemed to relate to all of us. Even though it is something we should all know, it was an “oh yeah” moment. We wrapped up the book shortly after the fast started. One lady later shared that during service that God had spoken to her about things she had been praying about. This particular question was one she used in hearing from God. What God was saying to her had been confirmed through other sources.

During this fast, may my flesh be crucified so that I can hear what the Spirit is speaking to me, may I get the heart of God and may I better walk in the power of God during 2010.


Blessings,

You Are...

Happy Friday!
I came across this and wanted to share with you all. Remember today that you are...! May you walk in the blessings and favor of the Lord today!


You Are...
A Daughter of the King of all kings.
Beautifully and wonderfully made.
Created in the image of the Almighty.
Destined for good works.
Filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the grave.
Loved eternally, completely, and are unconditionally accepted.
Grafted into the family of God through your confession of Jesus Christ.

And You...
Cannot fail because God is with You.

You will...
Accomplish what He has destined for you to accomplish.

Blessings!