Open your Bible and Open your Mouth!

Posted on by

1

Bible heart

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us…” 1 John 4:4-6

Know in your heart today that you are not of the world because you are a new creation when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  The world/ everything that is not of God does not hear you…but they do hear Him! 

“…because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. 7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” 8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.”  Mark 9:6-8 

 ” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1      

” For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12 

When we open our mouths with the Word of God the world hears, the Devil hears and our spirit responds.  We stop seeing our life as limited and useless and purposeless no matter the circumstances that haunt us.  When we let the Word of God, who is Jesus, transform our mouths with His words, He transforms our lives.   Then we become the nightmare to the Devil that he has tried to be to us!

Need a breakthrough? Stop using your words and start using His.  He gave us His Word so that we would come to His fullness.  Open your Bible and Open your Mouth!  Begin to proclaim God’s word over your life and the lives of others.  His words are healing and victory and power and peace.  Watch Him lead you through into His breakthrough!

Start by declaring the books of the Psalm out loud each morning!  No, you won’t feel like it when you start, but your spirit will respond and you will begin to feel your heart respond, then your emotions and so on.  Read the word of God out loud and you will Hear Him!  Then when you look around at your life you will see none of it anymore, but only Jesus!!  His limitless, life-giving, loving self and you will say to yourself and everyone else, with Jesus all things are possible! 

Beloved, He is the Well, let’s partake of Him together!

Mel

 

 

Time to Re-align!

Posted on by

 

“But far be it from me to glory [in anything or anyone] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) through Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!” Galatians 6:14 (Amp)

If you are born again, it is time to get excited and glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus! Get excited that you have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you and He never leaves…never!

Time to allow Him to arise within you, resist the world, the devil and all of their devises! You are His, you are not the worlds. You can’t find your identity there, your peace, your friendships nor your passions…you have been crucified to it and it to you. That connection no longer exists.

Time to shake off that weariness, worry, apathy, rejection and pain. Time to forgive and give of yourself to those who need what you have.

Time to realign!! Time to spend time with Him! Time to read your Bible every day! Time to pull out all of the dreams He has given you and believe again! Time to remind yourself and the world whose you are!!

The Well is within you! You are a one of a kind expression of Jesus in this world. Uniquely, the only you that we will ever see or know. What we will miss if you never draw your portion from Him!

Of course it is scary! It is for us all! But, if you are reading this, then I know you have a desire for more and that is where He will meet you, because there is more…so much more! Time to re-align your heart to His! It is your time!

Mel

The Blessing!

Posted on by

This is my little doggy and her name is Zoe!  She is our little bundle of life and energy!! 

One of our mainstays in training her is using treats.  When she goes outside to potty she gets a treat.  When she comes back in she will follow you everywhere expecting her treat… right behind your heels…everywhere!  She never forgets until you get the message that she wants her blessing.  Sounds similar to another story I know…

“And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;  for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel:  “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”; ”  Gen. 32:22-30

Our friend Jacob was in trouble, I mean it kind of seemed to follow him.  In the natural,  he had been given a name that meant, “Supplanter (substitute) or Deceiver” and apparently had lived up to that meaning.  He had deceived his dad in blessing him rather than his brother Esau and Esau in turn hated him and wanted to kill him.  Now some 20 years later God was speaking to Jacob and telling him to return to his family of birth because God wanted to deal well with him.  I’m sure he was thinking, well?  After what I have done?

At the same time Jacob is pondering his presumed demise, you see this scenario unfolding where Jacob’s men have just given him a report that Esau is coming near with a force of 400 men (vs. 6).  Jacob is shaking in his boots with fear and dread.  He has his wife and whole family that he has invested years to have and to build and adore.  Now, this thing he did 20 years ago is coming back to potentially take everything from him the same way he took everything from his brother?  What a dilemma!  So, he continues reasoning and scheming to justify in his own mind how things could possibly go “well” with him and how he might, “help” God along.  He tries to win Esau’s favor with stuff, tradition, intimidation and his preferred method…deceit.  That night with his future uncertain and looming before him he has this encounter with what Hosea says is an angel of the Lord. 

We know that Jacob is quite a tenacious man and he knows a thing or two about blessing.  He deceived Esau out of his and then worked for Laban for years for a blessing from him. It seems fitting that he would go after it since it is such familiar territory! But, as with all things concerning God, mans tactics may work on man for a season, but they don’t work on Jesus.  He sees straight through them and straight through us; right to our heart.  He knows that Jacob has learned bad behaviors and has never understood who he is and that will not work for the ultimate blessing God wants to give him.  He doesn’t mess around, He understands how Jacob sees himself and He doesn’t want to give him the opportunity to rely on his past methods.  He jumps right in there in his face and wrestles him!!  I love this!!

  You can rest in knowing that God sees you. He will not allow you to operate in your learned behaviors when it concerns Him!  He will not be manipulated or controlled!  He loves you too much!  He knows the only way for the blessing to come is by complete encounter with Him!!!  Complete encounter brings complete transformation!!   This transformation brought Jacob a new name, Israel.  Israel means “Prince with God”!!  All of these years Jacob saw himself as a deceiver and a substitute and God wanted him to know how He saw him…as Prince!

Jacob was destined for encounter.  He was destined for blessing, that is why he was so drawn towards it his whole life.  He just had to learn that he didn’t have to trick for it, work for it or any other human method.  You simply receive God’s blessing through encounter. Then when he saw who he was in God’s eyes He longed to know who this was who had loved him so…

Do you ever find yourself like Jacob.  God has given you a promise but the circumstances are the exact opposite of that promise and those circumstances are producing a dread in your heart, strategizing in your mind and anxiety in your soul?  Well one thing you can trust is that God knows how to find you and there is nothing in all creation that will ever separate you from His love!!  He will do what He needs to have a vibrant encounter with you.  Call out to Him today in response to His love, grace and favor on your life. Jesus has made a way for you to have great relationship with him! He is the blessing! And that relationship is what will guide you through your distresses. He wants you to know how He sees you and what name He has for you so you don’t fall back into your old patterns and reasonings. So, when face to face with Him, you like Jacob will understand all He died to give  and when you really see that love, you will not let Him go either until you receive Him as your blessing in Jesus Name!!

Happy Endings Believe in You

Posted on by

1

Imagehttp://youtu.be/IoezWBPGRAc  (Check out this amazing song, too!)

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love.” 1 Peter 1:3-8a

I love a good movie.  But, an absolute requirement for me is that it must have a happy ending.  I am okay with the character(s) going through great difficulties, but I will not entertain a story teller who does not have the foresight to tell the redemption of the hardship.  Why sell yourself short?  Unless of course you don’t believe in happy endings…but I must tell you…

Even if you don’t believe in happy endings, Happy Endings Believe in You!!!  

I can understand, to a degree, why you personally might not be a believer of a happy ending given the way your story has played out so far…

  • Your setting may be a home filled with alcoholism, abuse, mental instability, raging, negligence, pain, sickness, poverty, perfection, rejection, abandonment and grief.
  • Your characters have been introduced one by one and we can just imagine the variety and complexity here…
  • And your theme has been layed out.  That is, the underlying idea of who you are, what you are about, why you are here, where you are going, and to think these messages have bombarded you since conception…

It is no wonder why a happy ending is not too high on the priority list or gone completely from your horizon.  For some, it is just a miracle that you have even made it this far to live to tell.

But, even in the midst of these lifelong great and overwhelming messages, we have an even greater message of hope that I would like to share with you today.  A living hope that can completely dominate the landscape of a life devastated, cheated and defeated.  A hope that is alive.  A hope that cannot die. It cannot be separated from us.  It cannot be lost.  It cannot be corrupted or defiled or fade away.  This hope is kept alive by the power of God Himself. This living hope is Jesus Christ and it came through His resurrection from the dead.  Christians know this to be Easter Sunday’s meaning.  Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

Above, verses 6 and 7 say, you may have been grieved by (my word-unimaginable) trials and tested by fire.  Their importance to our landscape, is to reveal a genuineness of faith.  This means to me, that He will/has shown you what is really important in this life and what is not important in this life so that you never get the two confused again; a means to hold on to peace against all odds.  Verse 7 concludes, “may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

And this my friends is the turning point to any amazing story, the revelation of Jesus.  This will meet you wherever you find yourself today.  If you have never heard of Him before, just recently heard of Him or have known Him all your life, the revelation of Jesus Christ hinges the door of all living hope.   He alone is your happy ending.  Relationship with Him is the great reward and you can have that now on this Earth while we await the saving of our souls eternally.  Call out to Him today for His salvation. 

How else could Peter write verse 8 if he had not seen this revelation work out in other’s lives, “whom having not seen you love.”  How can you love someone you have never seen?  You love because when He is revealed to you, you get this amazing understanding that He loves you and no matter what setting you have been given, His love is greater.  No matter what characters speak into your life, His love speaks louder.  And no matter what theme has been presented, His message for you is stronger.  His love never fails, it never disappoints and it is alive!  Your circumstances may or may not change, your setting can change, the characters in your life will come and go, but the revelation of a love that never fails, never disappoints, never abandons you, never forsakes or rejects you no matter what will never ever change.  He is the greatest love story ever known!  The happiest of all endings is Jesus!  For this we rejoice today at His revelation and at His resurrection from ALL THINGS DEAD!!

So Father, in the mighty name of the Risen Lord Jesus, I declare hope to spring forth today to all weary souls.  I call forth lives to be restored to a living hope by the power of God.  I declare that the revelation of Jesus is greater than the revelation of all circumstances.  And that no sin and no circumstance can have greater power than Your love.  I believe in you as my happy ending to all things…all things present and things to come.  I re-engage where I have fallen into self pity and hopelessness and I take up my shield of faith and sword of the Spirit.  I believe in you Jesus.  I believe in your resurrection power to empower my dead bones to live again!  I will not give up this power any longer. I assert that my grief is not my defeat!  I thank you that I am your child and that I was bought at a high price and that you live evermore to save me and give me a living hope!  I give you glory, honor and praise ahead of time for all that you are and all that you are going to do!!  In Jesus Name!  Amen

Pray with Me for Connecticut

Posted on by

 

December 14th, yesterday, would have been our daughter, Eden’s, 6th birthday.   When we lost her nothing could have ever helped my heart in this world if Jesus had not come to my rescue and helped me tangibly feel His love and presence.

As I came home from school last night, I was greeted at the door with the news of the atrocious murders of the children and school staff in Connecticut.  I just sank.  This is incomprehensible…

…and it always will be.

As we fall to our knees with our brothers and sisters and our entire world in their time of grief, shock and dismay, let us pray together to the only true and lasting Comforter.  Let us wait upon His rescuing hand and let us believe in His ability to hold us and lead us even in our darkest hour…

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we are prisoners to Your mercy.  These precious friends have nowhere to go right now.  They have no place of comfort.  They have been ripped in two.  Outside of You, they have no hope of comfort.  Capture them with Your grace.  Reach for them, grab them and embrace them like they have never been in their lives.  Draw them supernaturally to Your Presence.  Release Your healing balm to flow to them as a river of peace and help in their desperate time of need.  Embrace each family member where they are and help them know that they are not alone.  Protect their marriages as they walk this path.  Protect their hearts from the enemies lies while they are vulnerable.  Embrace each sibling and bring Your refuge, Your security and Your strength to them as their world is now shattered.  Bring financial support so they can grieve without fear of job loss or financial destruction.  Draw them together and help them feel unified rather than isolated.  We believe in Your Word that you draw close to the brokenhearted…we are trusting in Your Word and in Your heart of love.  Help them lift their eyes to You.  Help them.  Help them.  Help them.

Help us.  We need you Jesus to come to our rescue, where else can we go.  There is no other name by which we can be saved, capture us with your grace and we will follow you…  We wait on You… we turn our eyes to You… we put our trust in You.  We declare today that You are our source, You are our strength, and that You are our only hope.  You are Almighty and You will have the final word!  Help us silence the Whys right now?   Help us walk forward in love and help us see You… and only You.

Much love to you today and always,

Mel

Smile at the Trial

Posted on by

This year God has really been speaking to me about trials.  He has gone out of His way to bring me teaching after teaching on them and this new understanding is leading me to a higher place of peace in Him.  In order to change my view of trials, He is showing me His view of trials.  I want to share with you a few of the puzzle pieces I have gotten and my hope is that you see just how “for you” He is and possibly complete more of your picture of His love for you.

This summer I was listening to a very special teacher, Graham Cooke, teach on trials in his series, “The Art of Thinking Brilliantly”.  He began to share that as believers, we need to begin to think about the trials we go through differently.  Trials usually leave us feeling like someone or God is trying to take something from us.  But what would happen if we stopped thinking about them that way and began to think about them brilliantly, in the light of Jesus?  What if we began to think of them in the light of God trying to give us something we couldn’t get any other way…  Giving us something for our good so that we would be lacking nothing…

This past week I attended a friend’s women’s ministry and the revelation I received has given me a great action plan for my future and furthered my year of understanding.  A lovely lady spoke of her personal life encounter with Jesus through the trials of her life.  I love the light in which she painted her view of God’s love to her through hardship.  She spoke of the trials she went through as a personal invitation to ask Him for something.  Seeing her needs in this world as an opportunity to draw close to Him and lean on Him.  I love the word choice, “invitation” that she used!  It totally shuts down the previous, “rejection”  most are accustomed to when going through a trial.  Instead, seeing that He is inviting me to something special.  He is inviting me to Himself.  He is inviting me to COME!!  He is inviting me to COME TO HIM!

James 1:2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing“, has taken on new meaning to me.  Because of this year and His teaching, I now understand that when the above scripture speaks of joy and trial in the same sentence, He wants me to be able to smile with anticipation and not cry, raise a cynical eyebrow, or pout with dread!  Why?  Because He is preparing to give me the key to a door of blessing reserved for me in Christ, in which I had NO previous knowledge or understanding of before the specific trial.  I can smile because I know that He is loading me up with all kinds of GOOD stuff.  He promises that He is my supply and I will lack nothing!  I can smile because I know that hard times are not punishment and good times are not reward.  I can smile because I know He is up to something good and is making his plan known to me!  You see friends, He sees trials from His view, not our limited humanly view.  You are in His most capable hands, He is perfectly secure, perfectly confident and in complete knowledge of your future.  He sees your beginning from your end and His will is that you can rest and trust in His abiding love, leading and plan for your life.

If you are facing a trial today, no matter how big or how small, know that you are not alone.  He does not make light of your trial, He died so that your trials could release a meaningful outcome.  He promises that ALL things work together for good (Rom. 8:28).  Instead of the original curse, they now release blessing through Christ.  Open your eyes today and see that truth.  God has made a way for the redemption of everything through Jesus.   Embrace this opportunity to ask your Father for exactly what you want and need.  Lonely?  Cry out to Him for true fellowship and His strategy for good, Godly friends.  Exhausted?  Ask Him for His rest and a strategy to reduce your load.  Sick?  Call out to the Great Physician, deliverer and healer.  Broke?  Cry out to the Great Provider, Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who Provides.  Whatever the need, cry out to Him and then wait and listen for Him.  He is for you.

There is an amazing Well within you my friend.  He is living water!  Partake with me today!

Love Mel

Not What-If…WITH

Posted on by

“Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”  John 14:22-24

The word manifest here comes from the Greek word, emphanidzo.  A combination of “in” and “to cause to shine”.  It is Jesus revealing Himself to you.  I have talked on here many times how in the Old Testament God showed Himself to people by visiting them and giving them an assignment.  When Jesus came, died, resurrected and ascended into Heaven, God was changing His personal accessibility to us.  So much so, that when you accept/believe what Christ did for you on the cross, the way is opened for Him to emphanidzo Himself to you.  To dwell in and to cause to shine.  He makes His home in you, not around you or visits you like a neighbor in time of trouble or to sit and visit and then leave again until the next encounter.  No! He is no longer your neighbor or a far-off God.  He is IN you, in your own home, in your own skin, shining through.

What a comfort that is.  I don’t have to perform well to earn His company, I don’t have to coerce or beg or manipulate Him to come and see me.  He is in me.  He is in me.  He is in me.

I was recently going through a time when I needed to make a tough decision.  This decision affected my entire family.  As I was in the throes of it all I kept hearing all of the “what-ifs” being thrown at me.  What-if this happens?  What-if that happens?  What-if the worst happens?  What-if the best happens?  What-if I make the wrong decision?  What-if I miss God?  What-if He has something there for me and I say no?  What-if He doesn’t want me there and I say yes?  You know the scenario…it was maddening.  In the middle of the madness I heard my loving Father speak to me…”not What-If, but WITH.”

I have learned that I cannot control the what-ifs of life.  That means I cannot count on them and I cannot be afraid of them.  What I can count on, hope in and know is that He is always WITH me.  So, when that What-If mess screams at you, you roar back with all authority, WITH, WITH, WITH!!

AND remind that trespasser,

  • God said it, “ For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Heb 13:5
  • Jesus said it,”I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:20
  • The Holy Spirit is it,”If you love Me, keep  My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”  John 14

As you go about your day today and forward through your life remember…”not What-If, but WITH.”  When you see that He is with you, you know that you can face the past because He never left you, you can face the future because He is already there and you can face today because He is with you, He is in you and you face all things together.

When our daughter, Eden, died, I cannot tell you how many people said to me I don’t know how you did it.  I could never lose a child…  And yes, it is the complete nightmare that you think it would be, but I always tell people, the grace of God to handle any given situation meets you in the moment.  It does not meet you in the what-ifs of life, because He does not live in the What-Ifs.  He lives in you.  What-ifs are vain imaginations.  God is real.  He is in the moment.  He is With you.  That is how you make it through every nightmare that presents itself and live to tell about it.  It is With Him alone.

There is an amazing Well within you my friend.  He is living water!  Partake with me today!

Mel

A Mary Heart in a Martha World

Posted on by

*Okay, this is the cheesiest video ever!  Please bear with it to the end as you listen to this anointed song and receive what He has for you today!

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus  answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:38-42

When the Ninja was pre-school aged I was overwhelmed with everything I needed to do to take care of him and also keep a house that was in order.  I was constantly torn with spending time with my baby and also giving much-needed attention to housework. So, I spent a lot of days feeling guilty, overwhelmed and unfulfilled.  Not to mention how it affected him when he didn’t have quality time!  Most days he just followed me around crying and wanting me to hold him which allowed me to get absolutely nothing done…blah!  I remember countless times crying out to the Lord for revelation and help as dishes piled, clothes mounted, kid screaming and feeling paralyzed to get any of it in order.

His solution came one need at a time.  First, I began to see that he needed one on one time just being with me in his world.  We would sing, talk, play games like “peek-a-boo” or just learn something new together.  This I called “face time“.  We did this every day, and I could see him responding to it, but still needing more.  Next, I saw that if I spent additional time with him on the floor his world would light up in a totally different way.  We would play with toys, crawl around, rough house and just be rowdy!  We called this “floor time“.  The changes I saw in his disposition once we were spending quality “face and floor” time together were remarkable!  I noticed after his need was met that he would play on his own, alongside me or even help me with such a happy heart!

I can really see this story parallel my walk with the Lord.  My relationships with people and my outlook on the world change after spending time with Jesus.  My FACE time just sitting with him, reading His Word, taking walks, talking about life and just listening to Him puts my life in perspective and brings me peace.  Then being with him on the FLOOR of life through work, working out, chores, errands and just doing the messy things that this life requires brings a whole other feeling of His abiding presence.  So much so that my “face and floor” time with Him has become seemless and never-ending.  I am reassured to know that He is always with me and that His love is constant.

The above passage shows that Martha did spend time with the Lord sitting at His feet, but this time she was “distracted with much serving” and  her attitude changed …I love His gentle instruction, “Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but ONE thing is needed…”  Was serving someone when they came to your home so bad?  What good part had Mary chosen that Martha had not?

I believe that Mary chose devotion and Martha chose distraction.  Devotion always trumps distraction. 

Having a Mary heart in a Martha world is having a devoted heart in a distracted world.

  • Devotion is defined by dictionary.com as profound dedication; consecration, earnest attachment to.
  • Distracted is defined by dictionary.com as to draw away from, divert, separate or divide, to disturb or trouble greatly.

Distracted as defined by me is taking your mind and heart off of Jesus and His perfect supply of everything you need for this life and putting your mind and heart on an inferior supply, demanding it to meet your needs.  Instead of looking to Jesus to feed her, Martha, felt a demand placed upon her, was distracted, and then attempted to bring Mary to her side. She took her eyes off of Jesus as her perfect supply and looked to herself and her sister as supplies.  In our relationship with Jesus let’s not get our roles reversed.  He did not need anything from Martha nor Mary when going to their home. And He needs nothing from us.  We see that Mary got that and I am sure Martha got it after that amazing encounter!!  Ask yourself if you get that?

All of this makes me think of another story involving a Samaritan woman in which Jesus said to her, “”If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

God is not a frustrated, imperfect parent.  He is longsuffering.  He does not weary by our need of Him.  Unlike us, He never looks at the world and thinks how much He could get done if He just didn’t have those screaming kids following Him demanding quality time!  He never needs a human strategy.  He doesn’t require His time with us to be broken into “face and floor” just to feel productive.  That is a human need (and I think a legitimate one for us)  not a God need.  God is energized by our need of Him!  He desires to supply you with anything this world demands of you.  You don’t have to entertain or perform for Him.  You just have to sit at His feet and hear Him.  When is the last time you did that?

Not Merit…INHERIT

Posted on by

“Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.  For so the Lord has commanded us:  ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ “Acts 13:46-47

Like the Jews in this passage, how many of God’s promises in Christ have we rejected because we have deemed ourselves unworthy of them?  When Jesus died so that we could have them!!

Many times we reject God and disqualify ourselves because we have this undeserving mindset.  We reason that because we did not merit it, we don’t deserve it.  My friends, that is a Pharisaical way of looking at life.  He is so much bigger than that!!  Jesus has removed all of our merit at the cross and replaced it with a new way…Inherit it through Him!!

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.”  Romans 3:21-22

He has taken away the old and replaced it with a new and better way.  No longer do we work to be in right standing with God, we receive it for free.  Do not be as the Pharisees who rejected and judged themselves as unworthy!  Of course in and of ourselves, we are unworthy, but Jesus died to change that and He says we are worth it all so why do we continue to disqualify ourselves from everything that is His?

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. 7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.”  Galatians 5:1-8

Time to wake up!!  Stop trying to merit His salvation, His favor and right standing with God!  It is yours for free!  Inherit all that he has for you!  Pray with boldness from your position as His son in the kingdom!  Don’t let the enemy hinder you or entangle you with a false yoke of bondage that makes you continue to work for proper position in the kingdom.  What He did for you has made you free!  Stand in your Jesus earned place and shine!  He died so that you could inherit all things!  Surrender every part of yourself to Him and receive all that He is in return!  My rules, I work for it, I deserve it!  His rules, He worked for it, I inherit it, I do not deserve it!  Not my rules, His rules!!  What He did on Calvary by spilling His precious blood and allowing His body to be broken for us, has deemed Him worthy…rejecting this eternal offering is like saying to God, “Your rules are not good enough for me, my way is better and I say that what Jesus did for me is not possibly good enough to make me worthy!”  What?  The greatest compliment and praise you can give God in this life is to ACCEPT  what Jesus did for you!  RECEIVE it as worthy!  SURRENDER to His rules, His way!!  This is how you WALK worthy of Him…with your head held high, knowing who you are in Him, and knowing what He did for you…qualifying yourself as worthy because of His sacrifice.  (Eph 4:1, Col 1:10,  1 Thess 2:12)  Now that makes your Papa proud!!

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born  of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of  God through Christ.”  Gal. 4:4-7 

We do not merit!  Friends, We inherit! 

Jesus, I receive everything you died to give me.  I am in good standing with God.  I am okay with Him!  I have his favor with me and I know that it is for free!  I stand before you today and receive your sonship.  I want to call you Daddy!  I want to know you as Daddy instead of judge!  Where I have rejected You and deemed myself unworthy, because I was looking at myself instead of you, I turn.  I look upward from where my help comes!  I stand before you as your beloved today and will walk accordingly.  Thank you Jesus for your free gift!  It is the gift that keeps on giving!  You are my eternal supply, You are my worth, You are my way, You are my truth and You are my life!  Every place within me that does not know of my sonship I surrender it to you.  Help me to receive all that you are, so that I truly may walk in your worth all the days of my life.  In Jesus Name!

22 Reasons/Ways I Press Toward the Goal for the Prize

Posted on by

“7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:7-14  

1″I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel  of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.”

10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.

14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.

16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

Psalm 34