Category Archives: Thoughts

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FREE TO BE WHO WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE

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Knowing who God is, is a very important aspect of following Christ. We can learn so much about Him by reading the books of the prophets in the Old Testament.

There is a study help in the Amplified Bible that says:
“One may read the writing of the prophets only as a valuable contribution to History and may become enriched by familiarity with their forecasts of events which have been startlingly fulfilled, thus proclaiming the diving inspiration of the books and the wisdom and power of the God who prompted their writings. BUT, to stop there is by no means to grasp their full and outstanding purpose for today. Though the prophets God is speaking definitively to every individual and nation on earth, right now, demanding that we see ourselves as He sees us!”
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the lord, thought of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

God’s plans and purposes for us have been there forever. Before He formed us in the womb.
Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written everyone of them, the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them.”

He recorded His plans for us in His book. He wrote them down…before He even made time? “Before the days were formed for me.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

We can’t worry about our past. We can’t worry about what others think. Let’s read Jeremiah 1:5-10, The Message Bible.

“Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations— that’s what I had in mind for you.” But I said, “Hold it, Master GOD! Look at me. I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!” GOD told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’ I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there. I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it. Don’t be afraid of a soul. I’ll be right there, looking after you.” GOD’s Decree. GOD reached out, touched my mouth, and said, “Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered! See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do among nations and governments—a red-letter day! Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish, And then start over, building and planting.”

God didn’t listen to his excuses. He doesn’t want to hear ours. He promises to be there, and to look after us. He’s given us a job to do! We have to know who He is and who we are to be able to do what He has asked. To be able to fulfill the plans that He has for us. He had wonderful, awesome things in store for His children-for you-for me! In Philippians 2:13 He says, “It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” We don’t have to do it in our own strength and wisdom!

Ephesians 3:19-21 “and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

What are some of the plans that He has for you?

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Divine Forgetfullness

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I have been reading through the Old Testament. I am constantly amazed at God’s patience and love for people. His own “chosen people” lived in such a way, that He had no choice but to cleanse the evil. Even in all of the wrath that was poured out, The Father consistently mourned over their pain, wept for their condition. I am learning more of who He is and how much He loves me.

In Ezekiel 33 God talks about those who have stopped doing as He asked and those, who once were wicked, beginning to do as he asked. Verse 16 says, “None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.” Even then, before Christ’s work on the cross, forgiveness was in the heart of God. He promised to not only forgive, but to forget! Pretty amazing. God has made it simple. As hard as it was for them to live up to the law then, think about how easy it is for us today. We confess out sin, admit that we are messed up without Him, and He is quick to forgive. He is Faithful and Just and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Sounds pretty easy to me. Unless, of course, you are filled with pride, or self-righteousness… Allow Him to set you free today. Free from the bondages of sin. Free from your past. Free from those wrong thought patterns and actions. Free from what others say or think about you. Total freedom.

“Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.” C.S. Lewis

Ephesians 1:7-10 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

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The Dead Do Not Inherit

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An inheritance is for the living. When you go to hear the reading of the last will and testament of a person who has passed on, the room is not full of corpses. Instead it is full of the living relatives, and beneficiaries of the deceased.
God says that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ, (Romans 8:17). He also says that we are seated in Heaven with Christ, (Ephesians 2:6). God gave Adam everything. Adam gave it over to Satan. Jesus took it back on the cross and went to hell to even get the keys to Satan’s eternal home. At Jesus’ death on the cross-we inherited everything from Him. At His death, a New Testament came into being. We inherited the Kingdom of Heaven, as well as all things on this earth. We don’t have to wait until we die to have Heaven. Heaven isn’t just a place. It’s a Kingdom. Jesus is the King, and we are His royal family. Heaven is ours, now! Salvation and everything that comes with it, is our now, isn’t waiting for us to die. Only the living receive an inheritance.
Jesus didn’t die to bring us to Heaven. If that was His only purpose, we’d be there now. Jesus came to bring Heaven to us, here on earth. His Kingdom needs to be enlarged. That can only happen if we stand in our rightful places as sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have to accept the inheritance, use it, and do what God asks us to do-love Him with all our hearts, and to seek and save the lost. It’s not just for our benefit. We are to heal the sick, raise the dead and set the captives free. That’s our job. We can sit around a pray about it, (and prayer is wonderful!), but God wants us to act on our faith. We are Royalty with authority.
No longer say, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” You were a sinner, and you were saved by grace. But if you have accepted Jesus and his finished work on the cross, you aren’t a sinner any longer. Sin is the nature of another kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. It’s no longer our nature. We have the nature of the King and the Kingdom that we submit ourselves under. God has made us brand new creatures, our old nature is dead, all things are new.
So what’s allowed in heaven? Is guilt, condemnation? Of course not. Then you can’t be guilty or condemned. You are seated in Heaven with Christ. He took our guilt. It’s gone! Now only one is judged, and that is Satan. He is judged guilty. His attacks against born again children of God is unlawful. Jesus followed all the legalities in getting our inheritance for us. Satan can find nothing in us to accuse us of to The Father. The Father only see’s us as righteous. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, yes, so that we can turn back to God, but He also convinces us of righteousness. He constantly reminds us of who God is and who we are in Christ. Jesus redeemed us from the curse and reconciled us back to right standing with The Father.
Does that mean we never sin? No-but if our hearts are given over to a New King, He is quick to forgive and chooses to forget. He doesn’t hold it against us. If we aren’t guilty is that the “ok” to sin. Paul says, “God forbid,” to that. All things are lawful, but all things are not beneficial. The closer we get to Him, the less we will sin. You’ll see that things that once tempted us will no longer pull us away from God. Don’t let Satan, the world, or even your own flesh tell you who you are or what to feel. Only God sees us for who we truly are. He says you are accepted in the beloved. He calls you blessed. He has called us sons and daughters. You aren’t who you once were. God didn’t scrub us clean-He made us brand new. He didn’t remodel or remake, He built you brand new from the foundation to the attic and filled you with good things!

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How Does God See You?

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How does God see you?
First we have to answer a few more questions.
Are you His?
Or do you still belong to the kingdom of darkness?

There is only two kingdoms. God’s Kingdom and Satan’s kingdom (the world’s).
So if you aren’t His, He sees you as the prodigal son. The one He loves with all His heart and He longs for you to come home to Him. He’s not mad at you. He doesn’t hate you. You don’t disgust Him, no matter what anyone else may say. He loves you. But, until you give yourself to Him, you are not His child. He won’t forcibly take you into His family. In fact, He has no legal right to treat you like a son. Like the prodigal son of the Bible, the choice is yours.

Now, if you have surrendered your heart to Him, He sees you as His very own child. Born of heaven, sitting there with Jesus. God sees you as sinless, righteous and holy. Just like Jesus. How can that be? Because Jesus took your place. He paid the price you couldn’t pay. Once and for all. The Father sees you as His “beloved”, “the apple of His eye.” He sees you as an “heir and a joint heir with Christ.” The Father sees you as the “Bride of Christ.” He chose you to marry His Son. He doesn’t remember who you were before He adopted you into His family. He chose to throw your sins into the sea of forgetfulness. The accuser can’t accuse you anymore, not to God anyway. “But I still make mistakes, I sin,” you say. Of course, we aren’t perfected yet. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Repent and move on. Repentance simply put, is changing your thoughts, and turning to God. Build a strong relationship with God and you will find those mistakes come fewer and farther between. Find out who He is, and how He sees you.

Now, the important question is:
“How do I see myself?”

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Reviews for Savage Love

4 star-“Savage Love, the story of an ailing rock star and a recently widowed woman, pulled me in right from the start. Samantha is reeling from recent discoveries about her deceased husband and is trying to reconcile her feelings about her previous marriage with the new information she has received. Daffyd is very angry with how certain events have turned out in his life and is antagonistic about any discussions regarding God or faith.”-Brittany on Goodreads

5 star-“I really enjoyed this book. I read it in less than a day!”-Brenda on Goodreads.

5 star-“Without previous reviews I would never have ordered this book. The title did not reflect my interest. What a treasure I would have missed had I not read this touching story. It has everything: A mother daughter connection that is wonderful; sadness at the recent loss of loved ones; godly people who care about others; a near death ‘rock and roll’ giant; hope in a life that had no hope; love when genuine love had never been experienced and finally, a touch of suspense… The topper, it is wholesome, a word we seldom hear anymore. Still, there were some past events in the characters lives that were hard lessons. It deserves my highest praise with a rating of 5 stars. “-robpew on Amazon