Just watched the Passion of Christ again. We watch it every Easter. It is always so hard to watch the beatings, the horrible treatment that Jesus endured through the capture, the trials, and the crucifixion. All the evil that took place. The tears flow and once again I shout, "Lord I am not worthy of your love. I Thank You for all that your endured for our sins."
While watching the movie I ask how people can be so evil. How could one or more get such satisfaction out of torturing another being. How when obviously one is near death the beatings continue on. The laughter that took place, the happiness received from such devastation.
And yet these things continue on today. You hear of people being beaten to death. A person is knocked to the ground, beaten, kicked in the head, spit on. Have we not learned yet. It is sad how easy it is to be of the flesh, of the world. Humans, meager mortals.
There is another way that we beat people down and that is with our tongues. Once again I'm reminded of the destruction we can cause with a simple slip of the tongue. Gossip, talking poorly of another, speaking out in anger, etc. Guilty of that very thing, my heart hurts asking, "Why? Why do I continue to do these things?" My heart belongs to the Lord, yet I still will slander another out of anger and hurt.
Some of us try hard to curb our tongues and not talk of others. There is a difference between discussing problems in the family and trying to come together to work the problems out or with a friend. But it turns to slander when we put that person(s) down and talk badly of them because we don't like what they are doing.
We must be a repentant soul, on our knees asking for forgiveness and working ever so hard on having the heart of the Lord, to love one another and yes, especially our enemies, for they do not know and need help. It is our place to walk in the ways of the Lord and help those in need.
Matthew 16:24-27 NKJV
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole word, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchanger for his soul?
27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works."
A trip with my grand kids and friends one day. The youngest girl, "Easter is all about candy and egg hunts." One of the boys that does not believe, (a friend of theirs) says, "No it isn't, it's about the Resurrection of Christ." Be still my heart. I was so elated to hear that. I then told her, he's right. It's not about candy and egg hunts, it's about the crucifixion of Christ for he died for our sins and then rose again. Silence, pure silence. The children sitting there letting it soak in. Then, "Oh wow, really Omah?" Yes sweety, that is what Easter is all about. We are to give thanks for His great sacrifice that He made up there on that cross for us.
Will you pick up your cross and carry it. Come join me in cleansing our souls, washing our hands of all the filth that we allow to cross our paths, giving up ourselves and carrying our cross following our Lord and Savior, giving thanks to the Lord our God!
I wish you all a Blessed and Happy Easter. Be thankful for all you have and do not fret over the little things, worrying about what you want, but rather dwelling on what you have to give.
Showing posts with label following. Show all posts
Showing posts with label following. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Obey His Commands
I have to share this one with you all. I was reading Prime Time With God on a message titled: "Strange Instructions." What a great message this is.
First off, how many of you would respond to God telling you to do something entirely out of the ordinary. For instance, if you were instructed to get up and leave your house in the middle of the night immediately, would you listen? Or as Pastor Connie had done for the women of our church. She had a chance to attend the National Prayer Breakfast today, but instead obeyed and stayed behind to lead our group. That my friends is true obedience. We all know what a sacrifice that was for her and felt very blessed.
Do you have enough faith and trust in the Lord to listen to, and to follow His commands? I have to admit, there may be circumstances that would make me wonder. But after reading this message today, I realize how important--not that I ever doubted Him--it is to listen to EVERY command He delivers to us.
The story was of "A distinguished Indian evangelist named Sadhu Chellappa was on a mission trip to a village north of Madras." In the middle of the night, the Father called to him and told him to get up and leave at once. Chellappa thought it was a rather odd command, but being a faithful man, done as he was told. He came to an open field with a tree. He stopped under the tree for a moment when he heard God speak to him all of a sudden. He was told to stay under the tree and begin preaching. He thought why would I stay here and preach to an empty open field, but done as he was told. When he came to asking of the listeners to give their lives to Jesus, he heard a voice come from the top of the tree. The man crying, gave his life to Jesus. Chellappa asked the man what he was doing up in the tree out in the middle of a field. He admitted that he was about to hang himself.
Wow!!! Is that powerful or what? What a great message. We must always listen to our Heavenly Father, no matter how strange the directions may be. Obey, believe, follow, stand in faith, be strong in the Lord. He never gives us more than we can handle. He never leaves us. He never tells us to do something that is going to put us in harms way. Trust in Him!
First off, how many of you would respond to God telling you to do something entirely out of the ordinary. For instance, if you were instructed to get up and leave your house in the middle of the night immediately, would you listen? Or as Pastor Connie had done for the women of our church. She had a chance to attend the National Prayer Breakfast today, but instead obeyed and stayed behind to lead our group. That my friends is true obedience. We all know what a sacrifice that was for her and felt very blessed.
Do you have enough faith and trust in the Lord to listen to, and to follow His commands? I have to admit, there may be circumstances that would make me wonder. But after reading this message today, I realize how important--not that I ever doubted Him--it is to listen to EVERY command He delivers to us.
The story was of "A distinguished Indian evangelist named Sadhu Chellappa was on a mission trip to a village north of Madras." In the middle of the night, the Father called to him and told him to get up and leave at once. Chellappa thought it was a rather odd command, but being a faithful man, done as he was told. He came to an open field with a tree. He stopped under the tree for a moment when he heard God speak to him all of a sudden. He was told to stay under the tree and begin preaching. He thought why would I stay here and preach to an empty open field, but done as he was told. When he came to asking of the listeners to give their lives to Jesus, he heard a voice come from the top of the tree. The man crying, gave his life to Jesus. Chellappa asked the man what he was doing up in the tree out in the middle of a field. He admitted that he was about to hang himself.
Wow!!! Is that powerful or what? What a great message. We must always listen to our Heavenly Father, no matter how strange the directions may be. Obey, believe, follow, stand in faith, be strong in the Lord. He never gives us more than we can handle. He never leaves us. He never tells us to do something that is going to put us in harms way. Trust in Him!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
God's Miraculous Doings!
So much has been happening lately. Hubby & I have felt that this is going to be a great year and that many good things are going to come of it. Our hearts are overflowing. The Catalyst Conference has really lifted us up. God is moving!
First off, a shout out to our sister-in-law in San Diego. Congratulations sweet sis! We are so proud of you and happy for you. We pray that your hubby was touched and will soon join you. She was baptized today! Praise the Lord!!!! So many have been giving their lives to the Lord. How awesome is that.
That is what is hoped to be gained through this blog is to help people understand the beauty of the Lord and how gracious He is. Hopefully it will lead people to Him. All that I write about God is to Glorify His name. It's through His leadings that I write. All the recognition goes to Him. I'm just thankful to be able to hear His sweet voice and be able to walk in His way! Thank You Lord!
Now to share something that was very profound to me from the service this morning. Our pastor talked about how we should be thanking God before we even ask for anything. We shouldn't just thank Him after He's answered a prayer, but thank Him for answering our requests before He does answer them.
The reason being; God already knows what we need before we even ask. He's already working on the request before we even speak it. Granted, it may not be answered as fast as we want, but remember, it's by His timing, not ours. We must put our full faith in Him and know that He is in control. He is an all loving God who will care for us. We will have our trials and tribulations, but it's all for pulling us closer in to Him.
There are times when the pain is so intense, or we watch a loved one go through a horrific time and wonder how this can be. We don't know, we don't need to know. We just need to keep the faith and trust in Him. It's hard sometimes. But I've learned lately that it is so much easier than worrying and not keeping in the Faith.
So open your hearts, souls, and arms and welcome Him in. Hold on tight. It's a glorious ride no matter what we go through. Thank You Jesus.
Oh, and one more thing. ;) Hee hee. When I go through tough times and start to question, I stop and think of the great sacrifice God and Jesus made for us, and then it all seems so trivial. Our sacrifices are nothing compared to what they endured. God Bless You All Always and Always P.U.S.H. Remember God Loves You Unconditionally!
First off, a shout out to our sister-in-law in San Diego. Congratulations sweet sis! We are so proud of you and happy for you. We pray that your hubby was touched and will soon join you. She was baptized today! Praise the Lord!!!! So many have been giving their lives to the Lord. How awesome is that.
That is what is hoped to be gained through this blog is to help people understand the beauty of the Lord and how gracious He is. Hopefully it will lead people to Him. All that I write about God is to Glorify His name. It's through His leadings that I write. All the recognition goes to Him. I'm just thankful to be able to hear His sweet voice and be able to walk in His way! Thank You Lord!
Now to share something that was very profound to me from the service this morning. Our pastor talked about how we should be thanking God before we even ask for anything. We shouldn't just thank Him after He's answered a prayer, but thank Him for answering our requests before He does answer them.
The reason being; God already knows what we need before we even ask. He's already working on the request before we even speak it. Granted, it may not be answered as fast as we want, but remember, it's by His timing, not ours. We must put our full faith in Him and know that He is in control. He is an all loving God who will care for us. We will have our trials and tribulations, but it's all for pulling us closer in to Him.
There are times when the pain is so intense, or we watch a loved one go through a horrific time and wonder how this can be. We don't know, we don't need to know. We just need to keep the faith and trust in Him. It's hard sometimes. But I've learned lately that it is so much easier than worrying and not keeping in the Faith.
So open your hearts, souls, and arms and welcome Him in. Hold on tight. It's a glorious ride no matter what we go through. Thank You Jesus.
Oh, and one more thing. ;) Hee hee. When I go through tough times and start to question, I stop and think of the great sacrifice God and Jesus made for us, and then it all seems so trivial. Our sacrifices are nothing compared to what they endured. God Bless You All Always and Always P.U.S.H. Remember God Loves You Unconditionally!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Covering
I've been up since 2:30 am. I woke up and thought it was time to get up as I was wide awake and felt rested. The Lord woke me to give me a message. He's been waking me up often to have me read or pray. God is up to something. My husband has been restless as well lately. It's usually between 3-3:30 that we get woken up, but not this morning. When I got up and then looked at the time, I thought what?!!!!
So I went into the computer room and sat and prayed and asked Him what it was He was trying to tell me. That's when I was told to go to Isaiah 4. Here is what it said:
I'm only going to type out v. 5, as that is the verse that I know He meant for me to read.
"then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory wthere will be a covering."
The covering is something we spoke of in our small group. Ever since learning of it, I had been getting up every morning and praying for a covering over every family member (you must name each individual) and the church (which is not the building, but the members which is the church), and the pastors and their families. Well the past 3 mornings I hadn't done so. I allowed myself to become overwhelmed with things going on with my daughter, her kids, and the pain I was dealing with in my neck.
He let me know that I needed to continue to pray for a covering for each member as some were begining to fall into a hole again. Lesson learned. When we are given instructions by the Lord whether it be by Him or by a messenger, we must listen and heed to the messages. I am thankful that He does not give up on us and continues to let us know when we are faltering.
When I first started getting awakened so early in the morning it irritated me. I thought; why can't you tell me when I get up or when I'm praying and meditating waiting on your word. The answer is that when we are woken the enemy is less able to penetrate our thoughts. He has our undivided attention this way. We are less apt to be distracted as we are during the waking hours. I'll tell you what, for those that haven't experienced it, this technique really works. He gets my undivided attention when being woken up in the wee hours of the morning.
I understand more now as well, as the closer my hubby & I come into the Lord, the more the enemy attacks. I've been getting hit hard left and right lately. Satan hates a happy Christian. I can't begin to count the amount of times I've broken out into saying the Lords prayer after shouting stop, leave me alone, you are not welcome here as this is the house of the Lord. He's stubborn, but so am I. :)
God is good, God is faithful. His love for us never falters. All we need to do is be faithful to Him, follow His ways, listen to His words. Pray! "Your strongest power is when you are on your knees."
So I went into the computer room and sat and prayed and asked Him what it was He was trying to tell me. That's when I was told to go to Isaiah 4. Here is what it said:
I'm only going to type out v. 5, as that is the verse that I know He meant for me to read.
"then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory wthere will be a covering."
The covering is something we spoke of in our small group. Ever since learning of it, I had been getting up every morning and praying for a covering over every family member (you must name each individual) and the church (which is not the building, but the members which is the church), and the pastors and their families. Well the past 3 mornings I hadn't done so. I allowed myself to become overwhelmed with things going on with my daughter, her kids, and the pain I was dealing with in my neck.
He let me know that I needed to continue to pray for a covering for each member as some were begining to fall into a hole again. Lesson learned. When we are given instructions by the Lord whether it be by Him or by a messenger, we must listen and heed to the messages. I am thankful that He does not give up on us and continues to let us know when we are faltering.
When I first started getting awakened so early in the morning it irritated me. I thought; why can't you tell me when I get up or when I'm praying and meditating waiting on your word. The answer is that when we are woken the enemy is less able to penetrate our thoughts. He has our undivided attention this way. We are less apt to be distracted as we are during the waking hours. I'll tell you what, for those that haven't experienced it, this technique really works. He gets my undivided attention when being woken up in the wee hours of the morning.
I understand more now as well, as the closer my hubby & I come into the Lord, the more the enemy attacks. I've been getting hit hard left and right lately. Satan hates a happy Christian. I can't begin to count the amount of times I've broken out into saying the Lords prayer after shouting stop, leave me alone, you are not welcome here as this is the house of the Lord. He's stubborn, but so am I. :)
God is good, God is faithful. His love for us never falters. All we need to do is be faithful to Him, follow His ways, listen to His words. Pray! "Your strongest power is when you are on your knees."
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