Category: Love

His Workmanship

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“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV

This week was my yearly vacation to Special Touch Camp. Each year people with disabilities, whether cognitive or physical get to go to a Christ centered camp where for five days we get to do great things that we don’t normally get to do. If you have any handicaps and want to go where you are loved unconditionally and get to do many exciting and different things, I highly recommend it. My favorite is soaking in the hot tub and just relaxing. It is not easy getting me in or out, but whatever you want they make it happen. One year I rode a zip line through the trees and landing in the lake. This year a friend of mine went on the screaming swing, where they pull you way up in the air and let you go screaming all the way. We play games, do crafts, sing, hear great messages and eat great food. Everyone there loves God and loves to serve others. This week we talked about how we are made so perfectly and uniquely. God never makes anything poorly and we are perfect. No two people are alike and we are so loved. At one of the services the pastor gave out beautiful flowers, all different and unique. It made me remember one morning as I sat in the patio praying I had a vision, because I was awake but I saw a beautiful field of millions of different flowers . God told me that is how he sees the people he has made. It doesn’t matter if we have handicaps, addictions, or problems. No matter your color, nationality, or difference God sees you just how he made you. Whatever potential he sees in us makes him smile. Of everything he ever created we are his best work. Created just like him to think, reason and to do great things. He knows the beginning from the end. Though I once made big mistakes he saw just what I would become and do for him. We are all a messed up bunch having our own needs and wants. When we stop worrying about ourselves and start worrying about others and their needs, that’s when God can start meeting our needs beyond our expectations. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God put in my DNA everything I would ever need to fulfill his purposes for me. I may be in a wheelchair, unable to walk or stand,and to even care for myself. I can’t speak clearly but he has enabled me to do great things for him. Right where he has placed me he has given me many assignments and let me change lives.

Do you know how perfect and wonderful you are?

Amazing Love

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“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I am awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:17-18 NIV

God delights in us, his love for us will never fail. He made us for greatness on purpose and he thinks about us continually. When you have something like that on your side you have hope. This is a difficult life we live. We need someone who loves us unconditionally that will always be there for us. Even though we won’t always be there for ourselves. We are not perfect like God. We can get mad at ourselves , put ourselves down, and even lie to ourselves. God will not. You can not be happy until you have this unconditional love God gives. I see so much complaining and anger from people. People can be very selfish, thinking first and foremost of themselves. They even expect others to fulfill them and make them happy. Of course they can’t and it only angers people. There is something inside us from the time we are born that is searching for that unconditional love. Even if we find that for a time with a loved one, there will come a day when they will let us down and prove to be imperfect. Someone can love you but it is not their job to make you happy. Only a perfect God can do that. He wants to do that. But we do have to come to him first. Until you are finally loved unconditionally by God and following him. Doing his will, his way, you can not be truly happy. Until you are it is going to be difficult to get along with others, who are like yourself, imperfect. I am a very happy person and care very much about the people I come in contact with and try to be pleasant and helpful. But I wasn’t always that way. Things could easily bother me and upset me. I knew God all of my life but I didn’t really know him. I made it very personal in 2013 when I began to search for the Lord with my whole heart. The more I read my Bible and prayed the better I got to know him and how much he loved me. For the last year I have been reading a daily devotional called, ‘Letters From God’ by Ivan Tait. I love this book because it tells me some of the many thoughts God has for me and it is so empowering. Knowing how God sees you and all he has for you can fill you. The more love I get from God, the more love I have to give others. When you love God and yourself you can’t help but love others. God says to love others as yourself. But what if you cant love yourself? Until you know how unconditionally you are loved you can’t. You will try to earn that love and no one but God can give it.

Do you know just how much God loves you?

Help Comes From The Lord

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“I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from ? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalms 121:1-2 NIV

The Lord is so faithful. On our own we can do nothing, we are just useless sinners. All good comes from the Lord and all bad comes from our enemy the devil. Everyone is created by God in the womb. Our looks, our personalities, our abilities, and our desires. He knows us so very well. He also loves each and every one of us. He promises to help us through our journey on this earth. To make it joyful, happy, fulfilling and useful. He gives us just what we need to know to do everything that he has called us to do. We were separated from this good and loving father at birth by death and sin but he is always drawing us back to himself. There is a whole in each and everyone of us that we will try to fill, it’s a God sized whole that only God can fill. When we find him he brings so much help to satisfy our lives. We are each called to be somebody special. Those that reject him will never know that wonderful peace, contentment, strength and joy that he can bring. The only way to get it is to know the godhead, all three. They each bring so much to our lives. I spend so much time studying scripture and how it relates to our lives. Do you know how much you can learn from just one scripture? Every scripture is important and says so much. I have read the same scriptures over so many times but I always seem to see something new. I was just reading in Exodus about the tabernacle and it was a very beautiful place. But the Lord in his great wisdom wanted it just so for good reasons. He gave special knowledge to certain people to build it perfectly. In just how it would come together. It was also very functional in how it easily came apart to be carried on their journeys in the wilderness. God thinks of every detail. He even chose certain individuals to carry certain parts so nothing was left behind. And no one was left out. It commanded awe and respect when you were inside. Did you know that now our bodies our that temple ? We no longer need to go to the temple to have access to God. We have continual access. We have a direct line. God has a perfect job all planned for us . He also gives us the knowledge we will need to do that job well. He has a perfect place for us in society and in ministry as well. He gives me inspired words of great help to others.

Do you know why you have been called and to what?

So Loved

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“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 NIV

Oh, how God loves us! He could not let one little mistake condemn the world to a dead life and then death. He loved us so much that he wanted to share everything with us and enjoy life together forever. He can not condone sin but he planned a way to do away with that sin so we could be together. He paid a very large price to see that accomplished. He had to watch his own son suffer and die taking on all the sins of the world in our place. He had to turn away from his precious son because of all that sin. Even though he had lived a perfect life. He was so proud of his son, but he carried all that sin so we wouldn’t have to. After three days of torment he was raised to his rightful place in glory at the right hand of his father. Now God sees us just like his son. We are joint heirs to everything that he has and part of his family, brothers and sisters of Jesus, of God. He never wants to be a taskmaster or will he look on us with contempt. He just wants us to take him up on his offer to always love and care for us by just believing that he is who he says he is. He has proved it by fulfilling so many prophecies over thousands of years. He has also shown such great love by helping and meeting the needs of his children over and over again. Miracle after miracle, again and again. I’m just one daughter in billions but after sixty years he has done so much for me and anointed me to make a difference in my world. I feel so small and insignificant at most times. I am in a wheelchair and can’t walk, I do not talk very clearly and have trouble being understood. I have plenty of negatives in my life but he doesn’t care. He wants me to be great. He has enabled me to touch so many lives. I am important in his eyes and he keeps confirming that to me. I have such a hard time accepting that at times but he has shown the (FOG) favor of God in my life. I do not know how people who don’t know him get by. This is a very difficult life we live but I have hope. I accept all the help I get and will do whatever my creator says will help. He knows best and he’s proved it over and over again.

Do you want the FOG over your life?

Truth

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“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us that are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

How can you prove that the Bible is true? I watched a debate about this subject and it is hard to explain. I think a better question would be, “how can you prove that the Bible is not true?” If the Bible is not true than nothing is really true and there is no absolute truth. Scientists have had their theories for many years, but they are just that they are just man’s theories. And we know that no man is perfect. We all make mistakes. I look at this complex world and know with every fiber of my being that something so intricate and amazing did not just happen. A designer is the only thing that makes sense to me. I believe in an all knowing, perfect creator. Because to me the perfection in all life is too elaborate for any other scenario. Random chance seems just ludicrous to me. If there is an all knowing creator then the fact that he knows everything makes sense. It may be relative but I believe that the Holy Bible is a gift from our creator to help us live a perfect life. If we know how life works best than we can learn how to understand life and how to be perfect. We may fall short but we are made in our creator’s image with all it would take to be like him. Who is perfect. He promises to help us, because on our own that is impossible. With him nothing is impossible. He has told us that all truth is his and that he can’t lie. Jesus is the truth. He is the only way to the truth. Men like to think that they know everything. Their pride can blind them and make it impossible to see truth. The true Biblical message in its entirety is a love story so powerful it beats all love stories. If someone really seeks the truth they will find it in Jesus. But those who believe their version of the truth are perishing and will probably never be able to see truth. I believe that if someone really tried to find all the flaws in the Bible they would find Jesus who is the truth and the truth would set them free. I don’t think you can really pick apart all the details of this amazing love letter and not be changed. When you know the truth it will set you free. It is easy to say that the Bible isn’t relative and that those stories just can’t be true. That it is just outdated, which makes no sense if God is the same always, never changing. He is also right and perfect. He would know what we would do back then as well as tomorrow. He can even predict our behaviors perfectly. He knows our every thought and why we would think it.

Do you really think you can prove him wrong?

Gods Word

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“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NIV

It has been the number one best seller for a long time. The most read book out there. It is in more homes throughout the world and is written in many different languages. it is our owner’s manual for living a full and abundant life. When we buy a new car or an appliance they come with an owner’s manual telling you everything you need to know to keep it running at its best. Trouble-shooting tips for every problem. Things you need to do and not to do. Who knows that item better than the one who designed it. I can remember when microwaves first came out. Oh, I had to have one. Just heating up a glass of water was an exciting experience. We tried everything that book said. We read all about this new invention. Learning what to do and what you should not do. We lived by that little book. Well the Bible is alive and active. It gives guidance for our most important possession, our life! It has advice, wisdom, what things to do and not to do. Things to do to get along peaceably with those around us. The more you do what it says the happier you become. It can tell you that it is normal to want what you want when you want it. Our flesh desires many things but not all are good for us. Even if they may satisfy for a moment. From the day you are born you want food when you are hungry, comfort when you are uncomfortable, and pleasure when you are bored. We want whatever will make us happy. There are billions of people living on this earth and we all need to live happily together. We all want to be happy and loved. God has promised each of us that he wants to give us the very best life, full and abundant, but we need to listen to him to know how to have that. He knows each and every one of us. He knows just what can make us truly happy. He can show us when others need help. Living by rules and commandments seems so rigid but it is more than that. It is a loving father wanting the very best for his children. Not wanting to see them hurting or struggling. Wanting the best for them always in this scary and dangerous world. God is A God of perfect love for he invented love. He loves each of us completely no matter who we are or what we have done. He wants to really get to know you and for you to really know him. He has things we should do and not do because he cares and if we just get to know him we will want to do them out of love knowing they are what is best. He has offered a free gift to everyone that will accept it. It is the way to life. Perfect life. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I am learning more every day and happiness is ours for the asking. Power like you have never known. He doesn’t expect us to just obey. On our own we can’t. He promises to help us each step of the way. I have never known a friend so sweet.

Will you get to know him through his words?

Being a Disciple

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“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NIV

What does it take to be a disciple? First you need to know what a disciple means. This is someone who is a pupil or a student learning the principles and disciplines of another. Not just an interested bystander or a follower. You have to become a student. Learning to be just like your teacher. Following all their ways.

Jesus was the only perfect man who ever lived on this earth. Can you think of anyone else worthy to try to be just like? He told us while he was here on earth that he was here for one reason. That was to do all God told him to do and say. Can there be anything more important.

None of us will ever be perfect. We have all sinned. No matter how hard we try we will still make mistakes. God knows that but he still loves us. He just wants us to try. We do not have to do it alone. He has promised to be with us always. Never will he leave us or forsake us. He has promised to send his Holy Spirit to live in us and to help us.

We need to read his words regularly because these are his ways. How can we keep his commandments and what he thinks is important if we do not read what he has said in his written word. What would Jesus do? This is what we need to ask ourselves every day of our lives.

If you want to know in every circumstance this question can direct you back to his words and his ways if you ponder that question. While he was here on earth, Jesus was a living example of what God is like. He showed great love for everyone he ever met. They were very important and so were their problems.

We should act the same way. Loving others more than ourselves and seeking to help others in any way we can. He saw those with sickness and infirmities with great compassion. He never worried that he might get sick or that their problems might rub of on to him. He just wanted to help.

When Lazarus died he knew the outcome of what he was about to do. He was planning to bring him back to life. He still wept when he saw the grief and pain on the faces of his sisters. He had more compassion. The more you follow his words and his ways the easier it becomes and the more you have that same compassion.

I know myself I get emotional over the simplest things when God is involved or someone else is hurting. Being a disciple is not attending church or reading your Bible just so you can check them off your to do list. An obligation done. We do it because we truly love him.

God is Good

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“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. For God did not send his son in to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16&17. NIV

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans’ 6:23. NIV

These passages speak of the love God has for everyone. He soooo loves us not just when we are good or do what he wants. But everyone and all the time. He does not want anyone ever to perish. He wants to save the whole world. He gave us his one and only son to be born just so he would be condemned to die a horrible humiliating death so nobody else would ever have to die.

That is love. He is a perfect and holy God who can not dwell among sin. They made a way for us to live with them in paradise forever. But they also gave us free will to choose what we want. They have made it very clear what they want. They have given us their words written out for all to discover.

Even if something is Gods will, and it is the very best thing for us, he will not force it on us. It is totally our free will to decide on our own. By doing nothing and making no decision we have decided the answer is no. “I do not want your gift God.” Even though saying yes has made me happier than I can ever imagine. At one time in my life I said yes.

They have given us a gift. Just like every gift you have ever been given it is free. You have to do nothing but accept it. It takes faith to accept it because it is not something we can see or feel. We have to believe we have it. With that gift comes the promise of their help. This is not all us but we have help.

Once we believe we need to practice what we believe and turn away from sin. We are no longer a slave to sin and the way to death but are made new. Many people choose to believe the parts of the Bible that they like. It is historically accurate and has been proven to be true. If it is true it is to be believed. All of it.

If we believe all the good things like how much God knows us and loves us. Knowing our every thought and always wanting what is best for us. Then we ought to believe when he tells us what not to do. Sin is not just wrong it is not good for us if it brings our eternal death. He has warned us time and time again. But this is one thing he doesn’t have control over.

We do though. So nobody can say that a righteous God would not send someone to hell. He doesn’t. We do by not believing and obeying. We have the final say over our actions. We can use any excuse we want but not doing his will puts it on us not him. He is a very loving and just God.

He tells us in his word how to be blessed. He tells us how to live a full and abundant life. How to have fullness of joy. Bubbling over in our lives. He wants what every good father wants for his children. The best. Every good parent will do everything they can to see their children happy, healthy, and safe. They will discipline them and at times say no if what they want is not best for them.

They don’t serve ice cream for breakfast and candy for lunch. If we ate like that we wouldn’t live to see our teens. Running free in the streets is not allowed because it’s not safe. We expect those things even though eating our veggies is a drag we want to be healthy. So we do things we dislike.

Shouldn’t we be glad to do things that bring joy, happiness, and blessings. We want a good happy life? Right.

Cast your cares

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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am humble and gentle in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
God tells us to cast all our cares on him because He cares for us. How much he cares for us we will never totally understand. Image the best parents in the whole world. Loving, caring, protective, giving, respectful and all good characteristics. That is only 5%, if that, of what our God is.
He is love and he teaches us to love as we should. There is so much love in him that we will never know, but remember this he gave up his right in heaven, that awesome perfect place to leave it and come to earth.
To be born as a helpless little baby to a poor, struggling, very young and inexperienced, couple, born in a stall with dirty animals, with people against him from the very beggining, just so he could die a horrific death beaten beyond recognition, and nailed to a cross with common criminals.
What love he has for each and everyone of us. That says it all.
With his arms open wide he says “ come”. It is a choice. We have been given free will. One of the very dear things he has given us. It sets us above every creature he has created. He has created us in his own image. Able to think, and reason, to discover great and wonderful things about our world and all he has created.
Look at all the knowledge he has given us to create, great inventors and scholars have taken us so far but that is a tiny amount compared to his all knowing and all powerful greatness. He has everything but the most precious thing to him is relationship with us.
He never meant for us to do life on our own. Actually he knows that we can not, at least not if we want his best. We need his help. Oh but we are a proud, proud people. “ I will do it on my own.,” we say. Stubborn and proud. We are a very messed up bunch of misfits. Why does he put up with us.
He knew in the very beginning Eve would eat that apple and that we would separate ourselves from him. He even had a plan to make it possible for us to be restored to a right relationship with him. Where he sees us as perfect again. And as his perfect heirs he wants to give us everything.
Perfect lives full of joy, peace, love. If we will only come to him.He is more than able to help carry are burdens. Give them all to him he loves you. He is not coming to take away from us, as some people assume, but to make our lives better and more fulfilled.
This Christmas season see all he has for you by trusting that perfect love. Cast all of your cares on him. Let him know just what you need.

Child of God

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“ Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 NIV

“…so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life.” John 3:14 NIV

The great and mighty God. Creator of heaven and earth, everything that ever was or will be wants to be our father. The most perfect dad that ever was has given us the opportunity to be his child. He is a perfect father who will never let us down.

Some people may not have had an earthly father or one that was very dependable. But this father is not limited by Earth. Nothing is impossible for God. His will will be done in your life and you can take that to the bank.

All we have to do is believe that he is. The one who died to set us free and rose from the grave to ascend into heaven to prepare a place for us. Eternal life with him. This is ours and it is free. Nothing we will ever do will make him love us any less or any more.

We can do great things for him and bring others to him. Feed the sick and hungry. Be almost perfect or we can be bad doing all kinds of awful things. He still loves us.

With him he makes the impossible possible to us in our lives.

We need to come to him just like any father. Love him and respect him. Obey him. Share our lives with him. Get to know him personally. He is not just the ‘Man upstairs ‘, he is Daddy. He wants to be there for you, and with you always. Holding your hand.

It wasn’t till I was actually almost fifty that I realized that. I lived my whole life knowing of God. I knew he was there but was doing life pretty much on my own. My way and didn’t think much about him except Sunday’s. What a waste of time.

I can now say I know him intimately and it has made such a difference in my life. I have more joy, I rarely get mad or upset. I have eternal hope. I am full of peace. No fear.

I could not have said that years ago. I still have trials and hard things to deal with in my life but I have someone to always lean on. Someone to help me through them.

I didn’t have to do a thing to get him to love me. I do lots of things now for him just because I love him and love being close to my him, my dad.