Tag Archives: God’s word

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Staying On Course

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Psalm 119:1-8 (Message Bible), “You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by GOD. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, GOD, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me.”

Every one of us can get off course. We get distracted, frustrated, or confused and the next thing you know, you have stepped off the path, or taken a completely different one. Thankfully, God is merciful and we are only ever one step back. His mercies are new every morning. Every day is a clean slate, as long as we have repented of yesterday’s wrong doing. However, there are blessings when we stay on course. God’s plan was never for us to step on and off the path. In His great love, He never leaves us and continues to help us stay on track, but His perfect plan is for us to never step off to begin with.

Remember when you were a child? Then you know there were times when Dad and Mom did “know best”. They tried to warn us, or give us clear instructions, but we did things our own way, only to find out that there were consequences for our, dare I say, stupidity. Maybe you have youngsters around now, even teenagers, who can be some of the most stubborn people on the earth. You may have tried to guide them, but since they are flexing their wings, they still did something their own way and now you have to let them learn the lesson. It isn’t always life and death. The consequences sometimes are little more than being late for an appointment, or some burnt toast, but things could have been easier.

That is God’s plan for us. His way is best. Always. We will miss out on some things if we take our own way. According to Psalm 119 we will miss out on blessings for sure. He didn’t “prescribe” a right way to live just to see if we could obey, or because He loves watching us try to live up. He did it all because He knows what is best for us. Earthly parents may make mistakes. Maybe in some situations they, or we, didn’t know best. God is perfect though, and He can’t make a mistake! It’s impossible. So, His way is perfect.

Just being on God’s path doesn’t keep us from trouble. In fact Jesus promised us we would have some of that stuff.

John 16:33 (NIV), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

There may be some obstacles along the way, but He promises to give us a way around or over each one. He has already overcome, He won. He is the one who declared, “It is finished.” We just have to walk in that victory.

I Corinthians 10:13 (NLT), “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

Not sure how to find that path? Just ask. He’s faithful. His word is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path. It will point you in the right direction. He is there, not just beside you, in front of you, and behind you, but He is in you! Don’t hang your head, walk tall. Go in His strength. Be blessed.

Matthew 28:20b (NIV), “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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Prayer of Exaltation

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Oh, Heavenly Father, Maker of the Universe, Breaker of Bondages, Most Great and Wonderful, Marvelous is Your Name. Holy are You, Lord, Righteous Ruler of Heaven and Earth, how great is Your Mercy and how abundant is Your Grace. Father God, bless me this day, my spouse and my offspring, those we bore and those we adopted, in Jesus Name. Surround us with Your favor, guard us with Your Mighty Host. Dispatch Your angels to work on our behalf and to minister in our lives according to Your perfect will.

Lord, let the world see how You have blessed us and be jealous of those blessings. Let their hearts desire an intimate relationship with You. Let Your goodness, evident in our lives, turn their hearts to repentance. Holy Spirit, brood over their hearts and bring Godly sorrow so that they yearn to be free from all the bondages of sin and death.

Holy Father, You alone are worthy of all praise. You who have formed me and fashioned me according to Your purpose and plans for my life, I exalt You, Lord. Thank You for Your unfailing Love towards me.

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Your Labor is Not in Vain

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I Corinthians 15:58 (AMP), Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose].”

We who are born of Heaven are not working on our own. We are co-laborers with Christ. We have a myriad of angels working on our behalf, ministering in our lives according to God’s perfect will. There is so much going on “behind the scenes” that it would make our heads spin. In the spiritual realm there is no inactivity, no sleeping, it is always moving and things are being accomplished every second. Satan knows that his time is short, so the battle that is being wages is massive. Sometimes I wish that I could be like Elijah’s servant and see “those that are for us” who outnumber those who are against us. Remember only one third of the angels fell, which means there are twice as much for us as are against us. We are at war; we are soldiers of the Most High.

What are we fighting, laboring for?

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT), “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

God handcrafted us as a master artist, to do good works. Every gift and talent that He placed within us is to further His Kingdom, to bring Heaven to earth. He has so much love that He isn’t satisfied with a small family, He wants a huge family. Our job is to bring them in.
I recently read a book about the Andersonville prison camp for northern prisoners of war, in Georgia during the Civil War. The conditions there were horrible; you can google it if you want all the gory details. The general in charge had never stepped inside the walls. The townspeople ignored the smell and the rumors of the men who were rotting alive. Some of the guards who were called “Sentinels” were about the only ones who felt any compassion as they witnessed it firsthand. Those were so overwhelmed by the futility of trying to help over 13,000 prisoners, without the general’s approval that they did nothing. One particular part of this story really moved me… there was an older guard who began bringing a potato, or a lemon and dropping in from his guard tower for a particular soldier to eat. When a younger guard who had become so depressed by what he was seeing that he was losing all faith in God, asked him “what is the point?” This was his answer (paraphrased), “I may not be able to feed them all, but by God I can feed one.”

I got to thinking about that, after I cried for about ten minutes. That’s how I feel sometimes when I see how bad the world around me is, when I feel like there are so many who don’t know God. I have asked myself, “how can we ever reach so many”, or “what can I do, I am just one person?” But, if we all have that same attitude as the older guard, each one reach one, our churches would be full! I am not responsible to save the world. Jesus already did. I just have to take one person at a time and let them know that this war is already one. Tell them, and more importantly show them the love of God. His goodness turns hearts to repentance. Those angels I was talking about are working on them, the Holy Spirit is brooding over their hearts preparing them to receive, and Jesus is wooing them.

Yes, there is work for us to do. Spiritual and physical, we need to witness and clean the toilets. We need to feed the hungry and change diapers. All done for God, all as co-laborers with Him, and it will all glorify Him.

We are not spinning our wheels, if we are led by His Spirit, though it may seem that we aren’t accomplishing much in the natural, our labor is not wasted or futile!

So, keep working. Take one day at a time, but look at each one and each opportunity in the light of eternity. Always remember, there are more for us than against us!

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I Am Not “A Sinner Saved by Grace”

I Am What I Am[1]

If you’ve been around for very long in Christian circles or even if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “I am just a sinner saved by grace,” usually uttered in false humility, true low self-esteem, or full of pride and bravado. The problem with this saying is that if you are saved, it just isn’t true!

Yes, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8, Romans 3:23). However, once we surrender to the loving Creator of the Universe, the God of Mercy and Truth, He makes us brand new!

II Corinthians 5:17 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”

Ezekiel 26:36 (NIV), “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

We aren’t renovated, remodeled, or patched and pieced back together. We are brand new. Not made from old junk, but made of all new material. We are born of heaven now. The Kingdom of God is in us! There are no sinners in the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of God is not in a sinner.

Luke 17:20-21 (ASV), “And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Jesus who was sinless, through the finished work on the cross has made me righteous. I have been brought out of darkness into His light. I have been adopted into his family and am now a son/daughter of God. He was the firstborn of many brethren. I am one of those brethren. Not because I am something special, or because I deserved it, or earned it, just because He loves me. I could have never fixed my life, or made my heart brand new. Only He could, and He did. He said, “It is finished.”

II Corinthians 5:21 (KJB), “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV),” For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

When I was born, I was born into sin, into this world and under the ruler of this world. By no choice of my own, Satan was my “father.” Thankfully, I gave my life willingly to a new and better Father. He rules with Love and Peace, not fear and hate. Once I was born again, or born from Heaven, I received as a gift, the nature of my new adopted Father. I have the nature of God, not the nature of my old father (Satan). I don’t have two natures. Just like a cat can’t have a nature of a dog. There is no place for false humility, and if you are saved you should find an abundant amount of confidence in Him. There is no place for pride, we can’t boast. Pride is sin, plain and simple. When we have the attitude that we are “sinners saved by grace” we want to boast about our sin, how horrible we were. We also want to justify any sin that we still commit. “Of course I sin, I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”

Romans 8:17 (ASB), “Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

I am still alive, in a fallen world, and Satan is still alive and active in this world. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is still weak. So yes, I will sin until I die. However, it doesn’t happen as often, and I don’t let it keep me back. It doesn’t make me a “sinner.” (Using a butter knife to remove a screw does not make it a screw driver.) If there was nothing I could do before I was saved to make me a saint, why would anything I do after I am saved make me a sinner? Now when I mess up I repent and move on. Each day I am getting more and more like Jesus. God forgives and then doesn’t remember the sin ever again. When He looks at me, He doesn’t see my past sins, He sees his son/daughter. He sees a joint heir with Christ, a co-laborer with Him.

David questioned God about being so focused on us, just human beings. Before Jesus died for the sins of the world, before redemption and restoration, God was “mindful” of us. We were in a class just a little beneath the angels. Angels and humans alike are created beings.

Psalm 8:5 (NIV), “You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”

Now that I am accepted in the beloved, adopted into His family, and am the body of Christ and His bride, I am in a different class. Now I am in the same class of Jesus. I am not deity, never will be, but I am still seated in Heaven with Him. Now those same angels are here to serve me. They aid and protect me, and they minister in my life according to the perfect will of God.

Hebrews 1:13-14 (NIV), “To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Emphasis mine)

Now I am a SAINT. You don’t, or can’t earn sainthood. It’s not something that you become once you perform certain tasks and then die, hopefully to have the church recognize you later and label you “saint.” When I accepted Jesus as my personal savior I became a saint. The veil was torn, I now have free access to the Father and He calls me a saint.

Philippians 4:21 (NASB), “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.” (Again emphasis mine)

Greet every saint, every believer, every follower of Christ, every Son of God, every member of the body of Christ, that’s who Paul was talking about. Other versions say, “God’s people”, “God’s holy people”, and “Every one who believes in Christ.”

We need to be sure of who we are! We waste time and energy if we don’t. How can we walk in the power and authority given to us by God if we want to identify ourselves with who we were before we met Him? Does a butterfly fly around saying, “I am just a caterpillar with a fancy set of wings?”

Yes, I was a sinner, but now through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, by His grace, I am now a saint.

Who are you?

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Book Review for “The Shepherd’s Song” – Christian Fiction

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I was given a copy of this book by the authors in exchange for an honest review.
I can’t say enough about how refreshing this book was! “The Shepherd’s Song” takes us through the 23 Psalm, line by line and how each one touches the lives of a different person. This isn’t a cheesy, preachy book. Just stories about characters that are real and who are flawed, messed up, desperate, or despondent that learn or remember that God is the good shepherd. Great for every age, simple short stories that all tie together. No swearing, no sexual content, good inspirational reading. I actually received a hard copy of this book and have offered it to several friends to read, it is so good. I loved it and hope to have more adult reading from these two women. (They both have written children’s books before this). Well done!
I give this book 5+ stars. I loved it!

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Book Review for “Amazing Grace”- Military Christian Fiction

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I am torn about this book. I was unsure about giving it five stars. I do consider it a “Christian Book” as it has a great message and is written about a woman who turns her life around and allows God to use her. However, there is swearing. Not what I would consider the “really bad” words, but the book is about military types and there is some language involved. There is also one sex scene though not explicit, and lot’s of violence. So I wouldn’t consider it “clean” reading. I did love the story though! It may have been gritty, but it was honest. Fast paced action, good versus evil, though the good characters are definitely flawed. I will be reading more by this author. So I have to be true to my feelings, I loved it, and give it five stars. If you prefer your books with no swearing, then be forewarned. I can only recommend for ages 17 and up due to content.