We all have things that we are dealing with. Some of those things are small and then some of them are large. But those struggles can be a little easier when we just stop and take some simple steps. I would like to say that I discovered these a couple of weeks ago, but the truth is that the bible points out time and again these are steps that we should be taking.
You say WHAT there are steps that can help in the struggles of life? Yes there are steps that can bring peace and comfort in the middle of the struggle. I am in the middle of a struggle to get guardianship of my Mother that has Alzheimer's but I have had roadblock, after roadblock because of her boyfriend. Just to understand he has been living with her for 15 years for free, so he is afraid he will lose a place to live. So because of his fear he has not been willing to work with my sister and I on appointments that we needed our Mother to go to.
My Mother is at a point where she is very confused and does not understand things, so someone has to make appointments and take her to all of them. It took 2 months before I was able to get her to a lawyer appointment, but I really just want you to understand some of the ongoing struggle. Two weeks ago my husband so kindly called to talk to her boyfriend and to see if he had made a doctor appointment for her that we needed, so that we could go to court for Guardianship. He said No, and she is not ready for that, and I am not going to do that to help you out.
When my husband got off the phone he looked at me and said he is not going to do anything to help you in this process. I looked at my husband and said we need to pray. He looked at me and said yes, like OK we will later on tonight. I again looked at him and said we need to stop and pray. My husband looks at me and said "Oh you mean now". I said yes NOW, God knows our hearts and God knows the situation. This is something that we are unable to change, but God can change this situation. I said this needs to be Gods will not our will, even though we want the best for my Mother.
At that moment we stopped everything we were doing and got down on our knees. I prayed fervently and called out the truths of what God had shown me. But I said I surrender this to you Lord and I trust that you will take care of everything. I said Lord you know our hearts and I know you will do what is best in your plan for this situation.
The next day I was at a Youth Conference and the first speaker has a message about when Jesus walked on the water and Peter stepped out of the boat. Now I have heard these verses discussed in many different ways, but that night it was different. Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and that he would meet them on the other side. Even though he was not in the boat he never said that he would not be with them. Suddenly I had an aha moment. You might say WHAT!!! Jesus had told me to get in the boat on this journey with my Mother, and he said that he had laid my path to walk. But he never said that it was all going to be easy, in fact the BIBLE says we will face trials and tribulations. But that does not mean that Jesus is not walking with us and it surely does not mean that he won't be on the other side of the lake.
The rest of the weekend and into the next week I kept thinking about these things and I would continue to talk to God and reaffirm that I trusted that God had this situation with my Mother taken care of. Then less than 5 days later I get a message from my Mother's boyfriend. He is being driven by fear which I know is not of God, but I know God allows confusion just like what God did with the Egyptians when the Israelite's were fleeing Egypt. Suddenly he has made a doctor appointment for my Mother and he is desperate for me to go to court to get Guardianship for my Mother. In fact he was telling me I needed to go to court as soon as possible.
The hardest thing for many of us to do is to stop and surrender what ever is going on in our life. We want to help our kids find salvation, we want to see our families do better, the struggles of life are many. But what if you stop struggling and stressing about those things, you start getting on your knees and surrendering them to God. God knows your struggles, but if you are anything like me you want to fix things yourself. It can seem really hard to just stop and surrender. But I think that if we would all stop trying to fix things ourselves and instead we would get on our knees and surrender things to God we will see change. Stop trying to make everything our will and instead ask God to interject his will into our struggles. We may start to find peace and comfort. We may start to find out that life is not as much of a struggle. We may really discover what it means to rest in the Lord.
Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog. My life changed in 2008 because I found that there is a difference in being a believer and actually having a relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
It has been through my realtionship with Jesus and God that my life has been transformed and I have found peace and freedom that I never had before. My bible has become a voice from God, as well as the Christian music that I listen to. As my life has been transformed, it has opened my heart to share with others so that they can find the freedom that I found.
When you walk with Christ, you start to change from the inside out. Actually it happens and you might not even see the changes happening, but they are. I was someone that lived life in fear of judgement from others and so I shut myself off from people. I was not a hermit, but I was extremely shy, and I found it hard to trust people. But I am no longer that person, I no longer walk in fear of judgement from the people around me. Now I walk bold and confident because I have discovered a new freedom, and that is when I live my life for God, I don't have to worry about what people think, but I focus on what God would think.
I hope that you find this site as a way to learn more about the Jesus that I have found and love. For Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice to save man kind. Jesus is not just a prophet, or a good person. Jesus was both a son of man and a son of God. Jesus suffered and was sacrificed on the cross so that we can be made righteous by the blood that was shed. Jesus bore all of your sin and my sin, so that we could be seen as righteous in the eyes of God, when we belive in Jesus. Jesus died, but rose on the third day and is now seated at the right hand of God, my Heavenly Father.
We now walk in a new covenant with God, and we have been given direct access to the Father through Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross the veil was torn in the temple that separated the most Heavenly place where God was and opened up a way for us to talk directly with the Father through Jesus Christ. Think about what this really means, it was the hand of God that tore the veil. The veil that hung in the temple was 4 inches thick, and I read that it was 60 ft long, and it tore from the top to the bottom. This helps you to understand the magnitude of what really happened when Jesus died, but he rose 3 days later. Jesus has won the battle and taken the keys away from Satan.
So what does that mean! Well it means that I don't have to talk to a priest, who then talks to God, but rather I can talk directly to Father God. Jesus has given us the ability to talk directly to God. Jesus has made it so that we are washed clean and when God looks at us we are righteous. Not because of things that we do, but because of the realtionship that we have with Jesus. When we believe in Jesus that he was a sacrifice for our sins, that he was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of God, we get freedom.
I hope that you will enjoy my insights to living with God.
I am sure that everyone has at one time or another thought God had abandoned them or that God was against them. But I want to reveal to you what Psalm 46 really says about God. I was reading The Passion Translation and although it is poetic it is so powerful with truth.
Yep when you rest in Gods presence you are wrapped in loving arms, it is like a blanket or a cocoon that shields and protects what is within. There is so much safety and it is a place of refuge from the world that is coming against you. Refuge is that place that someone goes to get away from something terrible that is coming after them. They go to that place that they know they are protected. That is exactly what happens when you rest in the presence of the Lord. You are shielded from the fiery darts of lies for nothing can penetrate the shield that the love of God creates. We are reminded that God is a proven help in times of trouble. I don't know about you, but time and again God has shown up and proven that he is with me fighting my battles. God is a mighty fortress that is built upon the strongest rock Jesus. Just take a moment to close your eyes and picture a fortress built high upon a cliff that is hard to reach. The walls are built of rock and stone, the waves of the oceans below can not reach it and there is a mighty mountain range that must be traversed to even reach this fortress. I can see it sitting high in the heavens, with me safely inside, walking the halls with my beloved Jesus.
I know that is hard to swallow at times, but fear is just a bully that is trying to convince you that he is mightier than Jesus. Well I know that Jesus is the name above all names, and that nothing can conquer the name of Jesus. My friends stand with your hands locked with Jesus and know that fear has no power or authority over you. For you are joint heirs with Jesus and you have power and authority over fear. Stand strong in your fortress that God has provided and yell down at fear "YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME". The reality is that fear is just a small little ant that is going to be crushed by the sea below your mighty fortress. It is our FAITH that keeps us strong when fear tries to stop us in our tracks. In Psalm 46:2-3 says So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you. To me those are some of the most beautiful words. It does not matter how strong and mighty the things in your life are they cannot erode your faith in the Lord.
God has a constantly flowing river whose sparkling streams bring joy and delight to his people.
That is right the living water that comes from God is powerful and it is filled with love, that fills his children with hope, joy and happiness, in the middle of whatever they are struggling with. That living water brings life and a power that is unshakeable for it flows through the city of God Most High and pours out upon us. God sits high in the midst of this city, secure and never shaken. For all God has to do is raise his voice and the earth disintegrates before him. I see a picture of his voice floating out and the mountains are crashing down, the storms are clearing and in its place are lush valleys full of abundance that can only come from God. The dark skies are made light and are shining with the Glory of God as a new day dawns before you. For remember God is the Commander. The mighty Lord of Angel Armies is on our side. The God of Jacob is fighting for you and for me.
I was reflecting last night as I was conversing with God. I was thinking about Gideon who told the angel of the Lord, My clan is the weakest of the whole tribe of Manasseh. But he did not stop there for than he said I am the least of my family. Right there in that moment you have a clear picture of how Gideon sees himself and his clan. Weak and powerless!
Many times as we go through life we may feel that we are the least of our family or the group that we are in. But the truth is that God always uses the least to reveal his Glory. Gideon thought of himself as the lowest person around. He does not sound like he has much confidence in himself.
But when Gideon questions the angel he is told "Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!" See God can always use the least to reveal his Glory. For if God sent the mightiest they would think it was there own power that helped them to succeed. That would end up glorifying themselves instead of glorifying God.
I really like how even though he had doubts, Gideon stepped out in faith. What does he do but fix an offering for the Lord. Then he returns with the offering and presents it to the angel. The angel told him how to place it on the rock and then fire consumed the offering.
Is God calling you to be a warrior for those around you? Maybe people are being bullied at school, or an elderly person is being mistreated. It could be any number of things. Don't miss the moment when God will show up and ask you to step out in faith.
Just as Gideon was used to glorify God, as the people of Israel we're being rescued. God can use you. God will make the weak strong so that the goodness and glory of God can be revealed. Stop focusing on your weaknesses and instead focus on God and what he is asking you to do.
Trust that when God is with you there will be success for we have a God that makes the impossible possible.
Our beloved Jesus paid the ultimate price for our salvation. It is hard for our human minds to truly grasp the magnitude of the love Jesus had for us that he would be sacrificed so that you and I could gain freedom. That freedom was freely given by our beloved Jesus. At any moment Jesus could have called upon the angels and they would have rescued him, but no he kept his eyes focused on the freedom that his sacrifice would bring.
Jesus was a ransom that God paid to save us from the empty life that we inherit here on earth. The price that was paid for us was more valuable than anything of value here on earth. Things such as gold and silver can lose their value over time, but the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God never loses its value. God loves us so much that he chose Jesus to be the ransom long before the world began. Stop for a moment and think of what that really means.
Before creation had even happened God thought of you and I. God knew that we would fall away, but God had a plan to bring his beloved children back to him. The love that God has for us is so vast and immense that you could never fill a vessel with it. That love is greater than the universe.
Think of what Jesus went through so that we could have everlasting life. Jesus suffered mockery, ridicule and torture beyond imagine. Jesus lived that perfect, sinless life listening to Father God to guide him in all things. Jesus was the perfect, first-born, lamb that was led to the slaughter for all our sins. In those days you had to have a lamb that had no imperfections sacrificed during the Passover.
Our wonderful Lord Jesus had a crown of thorns crushed upon his head, drawing blood as the thorns dug into his head and brow. I can see the droplets of blood running into his eyes, but he endured on. He did not lash out in anger, as he was mocked by the guards. He did not take his eyes off the prize even after he was offered up as a sacrifice. It would have been so easy for him to say Father crush my enemies. But no, instead he remained quiet and endured for us.
Even after the mockery from the guards Jesus had to endure being lashed with a leather whip embedded with metal. Historians have recorded that many that were beaten this way never survived. But Jesus our Lord was not a common man and he endured keeping his eyes on us the beloved prize. If only you can imagine being whipped with something that would cut all the way to the bone. It was known to tear through the flesh, ripping a body, revealing internal organs. Yeah, that is what they used on our beloved Jesus. His body was cut and ripped apart by this terrible leather whip. Jesus did not have welts, no he literally was ripped open with every lash of the whip, having flesh tore from his body, cutting deep into his flesh and bone.
As if that was not enough, than Jesus was forced to carry the cross that he would die upon. Picture our Lord Jesus, beaten, bleeding and then struggling to carry that big heavy cross so that we would not have to. All the while he kept his eyes focused on the love he had for us. The love to bring us into salvation and freedom in our faith of knowing Jesus.
Did you know that Jesus was sacrificed on the same day that the Passover lambs were sacrificed? Back in those days the Priests extended the time for killing the lambs that were brought, so that it was from noon until twilight. These hours coincide with when Jesus was on the cross.
I hope that you can see just how much love Jesus and the Father have for us the beloved children. Even in his body that was destroyed he trusted the Father and knew that he had to finish the task at hand to bring freedom and life. The life that we receive when we believe and have faith in Jesus is greater than any life here on earth. The life of salvation is a gift that is freely given to us through grace and mercy that the Father poured down upon us.
What a love that Jesus had for every one of us. That is such a reckless and wild love that endured to win us back. We no longer have to live in the power of sin, for when we walk with Jesus sin loses its power over us. We are no longer enslaved under the power and authority of sin. The blood of Christ has washed us clean, making us righteous in the eyes of the Father.
Father God gave Moses the law but that could not save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. Yes, as humans we have a sinful nature. But God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Romans 8 reveals so much about Gods love for us.
As we are heading toward Palm Sunday and Easter just think about how strong Gods love is for us. Think about how much Jesus loves us that he suffered so that we could be free, that we could be healed. Take time to thank Jesus for the suffering he endured to bring you into the glorious gift of salvation, that was freely given. There is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation and we surely don't deserve salvation, but Jesus has given us salvation through GRACE and MERCY.
Thank you Jesus for the love you have for us that you freely gave your life for us. The love you have for us is greater than anything we can ever imagine. It is an endless love that is never-ending. Jesus you are our hero.