Living in the "KNOW"

I love living in the now, the present. How about living in the KNOW? There is a difference between the 2. A beautiful difference. Living in the now, is about looking at TODAY and not looking to your past or your future. Living in the now helps us to not worry about future or dwell on our past, whether victories or failures.
As I was walking with my Lord this morning, He spoke to my heart with these words. "I will never leave you! I AM is with you always." When I choose to trust Him at His word, no matter the situation, good, bad or ugly, I am living in the "know". It is being at a place in your life that you "know" God intimately. You are totally and completely depending on Him daily.
Is this hard when life throws you a curve ball? You bet. When my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, all I knew was to trust God at His Word. I knew He was not going to leave me alone during that very difficult time in my life. I knew if I asked Him for wisdom, He would answer so that I could minister to my mom during her last days. I knew if I asked Him to carry me, He would. He says,"My Yoke is easy and my burden is light." These are all in the Bible, which are hidden in my heart for the purpose of living in the KNOW!

I am loving living in the "Know"! How about you?

Keep that fire burning!

Today as I was doing my daily devotion, a picture/thought ran through my mind.....
I saw a fireplace with a blazing fire, the colors were magnificent to look at. I could see the yellows, oranges, and reddish glow of the fire brightly dancing over the logs. I thought about how the fire keeps its intensity by someone poking and prodding, and throwing more logs on it. Once the person attending the fire decides the fire is no longer needed, they can simply stop tending to it and eventually it will die down but until the fire is completely out, you are still able see a amber glow coming from the logs, an internal glow. The fire is still there just without the flames.....
I say all this because the Lord spoke to my heart saying,"When you are sharing an intimate relationship with Me, the fire in your heart will burn with intensity. I AM the "fire starter" now you are responsible to keep it ablaze." I thought about how God has given this gift to us and we our obligated to keep the fire going.
When we have a thriving relationship with God, we are poking and prodding the fire. Each believer must choose to keep "throwing logs" on the fire, by confessing sin, praying, studying His Word, and having fellowship with other believers. All this will keep the fire in us burning bright. This Light/Fire cannot be hidden however it can die down.
So if your fire has started to die out and only a slight glow is seen, start poking and prodding, stirring up the flames and then throw on a log or two to keep the fire burning bright!

Heavy Heart

My heart is heavy today. A dear friend of mine just past away after having bleeding on the brain. This is a shock to all who love and know her! Because of this, I am reminded that life is just a breath away. At any moment anything can can happen and our life as we know it on earth is over. Death is promised to all living things."What man can live and shall not see death" Psalm 89:48
My dear friend Jeanette lived her life knowing that life on earth is temporary and her real home is in Heaven. Everyday she loved Jesus, loved people, loved life. She had an eternal purpose and she served Jesus well. She was my mentor, my spiritual "mom", my friend, my sister in Christ.
She has impacted so many people! I am sure when she stepped up to Heaven's Gates, hand in hand with Jesus, He said,"Well done good and faithful servant."
I love you Jeanette and you are missed!

"Holier-than-Thou"

1 Peter 1:13-16,"Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;  for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Why is it when people see others striving to be Christlike, they think you are trying to be "perfect" or trying to convince others you "got it all together"? I have been called "holier-than-thou" and I have to admit that I used to take offense to it until I understood the truth in the above scriptures. I want to make a few things clear, perfection is an impossible task and no one has it all together! However, with God's wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit's indwelling, we can choose to live a life pleasing to Christ which our Father has called us to. I know, it's shocking that the One who is Holy desires us to conduct ourselves in a manner that identifies us with Himself but it's true read 1 Peter.

I want you to imagine standing before a judge who just pardoned you from a death penalty. In your excitement you say, "Honorable judge, whatever you ask I will do for I am indebted to you." There were terms and condition which led to your freedom and one is having a court ordered witness following you wherever you go, to make sure you live according to the agreement. At first you're grateful and overwhelmed with joy, not minding this witness following you around. But eventually you get tired of him watching your every move and you try to escape his presence. You want to honor the judge who set you free but you begin thinking maybe going back to prison on death row would be easier than living up to the judges expectations....

In the same sense, God has pardoned our sins and freed us from an eternal death penalty. He has sent the Holy Spirit to live in His children to help us live a life that is honorable and moral, showing our allegiance to God. It's hard to live up to His standards but it is possible because He lives in His people.

Honestly, I am tired of "Christians" looking down on those of us who are striving to live a life according to God's standards. Saying things like, "Stop judging me and acting like you're all holier-than-thou. This is my life and God is my judge." I have news for you, if you have been bought by the blood of Jesus, the Bible says, "You are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If you truly believe that God is your Judge, then why would you live as though He is not. We will all stand before Him and give an account for the way we live our lives (Hebrews 4:13). So let's stop passing judgment and start encouraging one another to live as Christ. You say don't judge all the while you are pointing your judgmental finger at me, and when we do this to one another, are we not doing it to Christ who is in us?

Lord, help me to live my life in a way that is worthy of the Gospel. Help me where I fail and help me to not fall into Satan's traps. "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my ways. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way." Forgive me of all my wrongs.
Lord, my desire is to know You and be known by You. I desire to share Your love and forgiveness with the world that so desperately needs You. I pray, as the Body of Christ, we will live out the desires of Your heart which is; to Love You, with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and secondly, to love our neighbor as our selves. When we follow Your path, it brings GLORY to Your Name! Thank You, Jesus for ALL You went through so that we can be in an intimate relationship with our Father in heaven! All to you, I owe! You alone are worthy of our "holier-than-thou" life!
I love You, Jesus. My Savior. My King, My God! You alone are worthy of my life!

Do You Love Him?

Our relationship with God is of the upmost importance, atleast it should be. Have you ever went a day without thinking about your spouse or children, you know those closest to you? I am positive I have never went a whole 24 hours without thinking about those I love the most. So why is it that God gets left out of our daily living?

Mark 12:30 "So love the Lord God with all your passion, prayer, intelligence and energy." The Message Bible

If I LOVE God the way I'm supposed to with All my passion(heart),prayer(soul),intelligence(mind),energy(strength), there wouldn't be a day that goes by without me thinking on Him in some way. As Jesus says in Mark we are to always be mindful of him. We are to LOVE Him with everything in us!

I am truly thankful to Jesus for all He has shown me, for the love He has given me, and for the future He has for me. I do beleive I am in a stage of my Christian life that I do NOT go a day without thinking on Him, praying to Him, praising Him, Loving Him! I DO LOVE YOU JESUS!

How will they know you are His disciple?

Do I resemble Christ? Do people see Jesus in me? That is my deepest desire! How about you? Are you a disciple of Christ? I say that I am, but I am sure I do not always resemble Him. Just ask my husband and kids, lol. I am not talking about perfectionism here either. I am talking about the desire to be like Christ. Did you know, as a disciple we are to take on the character of Christ in all areas of our lives?

I just wonder how often we pray to have Christ's character in our everyday lives? I think we try to atleast on Sunday. I mean, we go to church, greet one another with smiles on our faces, hands lifted in worship, maybe sing in the choir or the ensemble. We say a hardy "amen" as the Pastor preaches about loving one another, treat others how you want to be treated. We tear up when we hear of the orphanage in need, or when we hear of the lost people of this world dying.

I guess my question is do we truly want Christ's character in our everyday lives? If we had his character, it would show up Monday-Sunday! What Character traits do you desire more of? Compassion, love, humility, passion for the lost, patience, kindness, gentleness, etc. My daily prayer is that I would be emptied out of self, and filled with the Holy Spirit that I may be used by Him and that others will see Christ in me. Would you pray that for me and if you desire the same kind of character, let me know and I will pray for you! If we have His character,the world will KNOW we are His disciples! Amen!

She Touched His Hem, He Touched Her Soul

“SHE TOUCHED HIS HEM, HE TOUCHED HER SOUL”

I have been waiting for Him to enter our town. I heard of the miracles; turning water to wine, healing the paralytic, driving out demons, and bringing the dead back to life! I have not seen the miracles or this Jesus; however the ones who have speak of Him with such amazement. Their eyes brightly shining like emeralds in sunlight as they shared their stories about Him. They inspired me to see this Jesus for myself.

“Could this be my chance for healing? Is it silly for me to believe this Teacher, Prophet, Healer may be my only hope?” The Doctors have given up hope in finding a cure for my rare blood disease and I have no more money for another doctor.” I thought.

As Jesus passed through town, the people were desperate to be near Him. The crowd was becoming out of control. They started to close in on Him as if to crush Him. I knew this would be my only chance. I am so weak but I have to squeeze my way through the multitude so I can get close to Him. I caught a glimpse of Him through a small opening in the crowd. Suddenly a strength I had not known for twelve years came over me. “I must get through. If I can just touch Him, I know He can heal me!I have never spoken like this before. Is this faith I have within me? I believe He can heal me! I know if I just touch Him, He can heal me if He chooses," my mind raced with excitement.

With determination to touch Him, I reached through the sea of people as I was about to touch Him, I fell but I managed to touch the hem of His garment as He passed by. I felt a surge of energy rush through my body as His cloak brushed my feeble hand. Instantly the bleeding stopped! As I lay on the road, no one noticed me, I heard Jesus speaking to His followers. “Who just touched Me?” “There are people all around you, many are touching you,” said Peter. “This was different, I felt power leave me.” Jesus replied.

“I am the one who touched You, Lord,” I said trembling in awe at what just took place. As I was speaking, He grabbed my hands and helped me to my feet. I told Him the whole story. For the first time in years, I felt heard...As He lifted my chin with His strong, warm, calloused hands and looking into my eyes ever so tenderly He said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace with no more suffering.”

As others were desperate to have His full attention, He smiled at me with the most endearing smile and went on His way. My mission was to touch Him but in return, He touched me. He touched my very soul! My strength has been restored and now I must tell others what He has done for me. My Savior, my Healer, my Redeemer has come!

When we read this familiar story from a new perspective, I pray we are reminded of our first encounter with Jesus, when He touched our very soul and healed our “blood disorder”. One aspect of this story that I absolutely love, is that Jesus did not allow this woman to go unnoticed. He knew who touched Him, for He is God. He just wanted her to not be ashamed. He wanted her to proclaim the healing, so that others would know Him. If you have encountered Jesus and He has healed you, set you free from your sin, you are to proclaim that Healing to the world watching! If you have not had this encounter, start out on your mission to touch Him. He is waiting to touch your soul right where you are. Just call on Him and He will answer.

Sweet Jesus, because of your great sacrifice on the cross we no longer have a “blood disorder”! Thank you! Help us to come out of the shadows of the crowd and share your grace and healing with those around us. May we be found faithful until we see You face to face, fully clothed in Your righteousness. In Jesus Name, Amen

Mark 5:25-34

“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched me?” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”