Have You Turned Off Your Christmas Lights?

Our family took down the Christmas tree on Wednesday afternoon. The ornaments,Christmas balls, beads, and the star tucked away in their appropriate containers. As I began to take down the lights, one strand at a time, I thought about how quickly that special day came and went. Everyone is now putting away their Christmas decorations and the Christmas lights are beginning to get unplugged.
I started to ponder the night the Angels came and told the Shepard boys the news of the savior's birth. How brilliant the night sky must of been! Beams of radiant lights shining forth from the Heavens! My imagination tells me God's face was beaming with joy because of the birth of His One and Only Son, and that is what caused the Heavens to declare His birth!
My mind then went to the fact that once the 25th of December has passed, many remember the Saviors birth no more until the following year. "I wonder what people would think if I left my Christmas lights on the whole year?" I thought to my self. How many of my friends would say,"Angie, you know Christmas is over. Don't you think it's time you take those lights down. They're becoming an eye sore." I am not suggesting that we leave our Christmas lights up all year long. At least not our outdoor lights...
I am suggesting, however, One light we need to keep on at all times. Our inner Christmas Light. The Light of the truth that Jesus came born in a manger, he grew in strength and wisdom and lived a SINLESS life and He became the PERFECT,BLAMELESS, sacrifice that God accepted for our sinful lives! That my friends is the TRUE Christmas Light we must never turn off!

John 8:12, "Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

God Bless us, everyone!

A few weeks ago our family sat down to watch the famous "A Christmas Carol" on television.
It is such a wonderful movie.
I began pondering in my heart the statement that Tiny Tim made,"God Bless us, everyone!" We often go to God in prayer and we ask Him to bless our families, our health, our finances, our friends and so on....
After quite some time I have come to realize, we should be blessing God instead! We should bless Him with our families, our health, our finances, our friends etc...Do you understand what I mean when I say we should bless God?
Giving Him all that we claim to be ours! Giving Him the reign over our lives! Giving Him honor and praise at ALL times!
No matter what we are experiencing in life, nothing is so bad that we can't find a way to bless God in our daily living!
Thank Him for the salvation we have in Christ Jesus! Thank Him for breath today! Thank Him for death of a loved one,a brother or sister in Christ, for they are completely healed and rejoicing in Heaven with our Sweet Jesus! Thank Him for the set backs! Thank Him for your children! Thank Him for your spouse! Thank Him for your home, even if its not the one you've dreamt about! Thank Him for the food He has provided! Thank Him for the clothes on your back! Thank Him for the bed you sleep on each night! Thank Him for the birds of the air, the snow on the trees, the wind as it blows through your hair! Give Him Praise!
There are so many things we can be thankful for! There are SO many ways we can bless God this CHRISTmas season!
Instead of praying for God to bless us, lets pray,"God how can I bless You today?"
How can I put a smile on Your sweet face?
Let today be different! Let's bless our Savior for all He has done! AMEN!

Bless God!

Have You Cried Out to Your Abba?

Galatians 4:6 "And because you are sons/daughters, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,"Abba Father!"

Can you remember the last time you cried out to your Abba Father? Maybe you never have or maybe it happened so long ago, you can't remember when it was.

The phrase,"Abba Father", shows a deep emotional connection with God, through Jesus Christ. Our Abba Father, adopted us through Christ's suffering and ultimate death, when we, by faith, believed in Him. At that appointed time, God sent His Spirit into our hearts and we were able to cry out,"Abba Father!"

In Mark 14:36 Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, on His face weeping before His Father. He cried out,"Abba Father! All things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will but what you will."

I love that God wants to show His children a simple yet profound truth....Jesus, God's flesh and blood, went to His Abba in agony, asking for the cup of His suffering to be taken from Him. Yet His Abba Daddy knew that taking the cup from Jesus was not the best answer. Why? Jesus had to be the sacrifice made once and for ALL, so that we could be adopted into His family and become Heirs of Heaven. We are His children!

Jesus asked His Abba what His flesh desired. Then He said,"not what I will but what you will."

He accepted His Father's will even though His flesh wanted to give up. This tells me, even when my flesh is weak and wants to give up, I need to cry out to my Abba Daddy and ask for His will to be done, not my will.

Often times, as Christians, we let the lies from our enemy drag us down. I mean we will pray and ask specifically for something and when we don't get the answer we were looking for, we take it out on God. Some will even turn their backs on Him all together.

I believe the Spirit of God is teaching us to be as Christ. Out of obedience Christ followed His Abba Father's will, and VICTORY over death came! When we obey the will of our Abba, VICTORY is at hand! Amen!

So what is the Spirit of God saying to you? Maybe you have never cried out,"Abba Father!" out of fear of rejection. His Spirit is saying,"Forget the lies of the enemy! God will never reject the humble!"
Humble yourselves before your Abba Daddy, and let His love fill you with the peace of knowing, you belong to Him. You are His child, the apple of His eye! Nothing and no one can take that away from you!

His arms are wide open, waiting patiently for you to cry out,"ABBA FATHER, I need You!"

May your CHRISTmas be filled with His presence! AND may we Bless His Name this SEASON!

You are the Light of the World!

Matthew 5:14
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden."

As I was driving along the country side on my way to work this morning, I started thinking about the sun and how beautiful it looks coming through the trees. The rays were bursting forth, with brilliant power, through the slightest opening of tree branches and leaves.

To me the trees resemble my life. Often times His light shines brightly through me and then there are times when my life is consumed with my thoughts, my wants, my ways... and like the big oak tree that tries to "hide" the sun....my sin is TRYING to "hide" the SON OF GOD. Thankfully He can never be hidden completely. Thankfully His Spirit which reminds me that I am not my own. I was bought with a price, a very high price at that.

When a child of God wanders, His loving hand draws us back. Sometimes discipline is necessary but it is always because He loves us too much to leave us in our sin. If we admit our wrongs, He will forgive us!
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

Once the cleansing has occurred, the stains from my sins are completely removed and the SON OF GOD is visible in my life once again. I want to be a vessel that God can shine forth His light, so that others can see and know the SON OF GOD. I want others to experience His grace, His mercy, His love and shine forth His LIGHT! Help me Lord to be Your light wherever I go and whatever I do. Continue revealing my sins to me so that I may call on You for daily cleansing. I never want to hide Your Son! AMEN

Why, O Why Do We Go Astray

Why, O why do we go astray from the One who's blood washed our sins away?

Why, O why do we turn away from the One who's love will never fade?

Why, O why do we run away from the One who died for all to be saved?

Why, O why do we go astray?

The Lord laid this on my heart this morning and as I was saying it out loud, I thought about the love He freely gives. The unconditional love that we set out to find in the world, yet come up empty handed each time. We look for that special love in a special someone, so that the longing can be satisfied, only to find ourselves disappointed time and time again.

Why? Because there is only ONE that can satisfy this desire. He created us to LOVE Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. However, when we buy into the lie, that a human can fulfill the longings of our heart, we end up hurt. We end up on a path to destruction. We end up settling, yet longing for TRUE LOVE.

Our True Love is Jesus! He is the ONLY One who will show unconditional love to us! He is the ONLY One that will fulfill all our hearts desires, through having a relationship with Him!
The One who deserves all our devotion and love is Jesus!

Why, O why do I go astray? Jesus help me to never stray away, Amen!

You are a walking "BILLBOARD"

Just the other day I was chatting with a friend who was very upset because she heard that atheist were going to put up billboards along some highways. "They are going to get people to say God doesn't exist. Atheist don't want people to believe in God," she said frantically. "What can I do to stop it?" she asked.

I simply said," We are not fighting flesh and blood. This is spiritual warfare and we have to fight with His Tools. Prayer is our #1 tool! We need to pray that people will not even pay attention to the billboards."

As I went to bed, I started praising God for His many blessings. I prayed about the billboard situation and then fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up with this thought, "We are to be God's walking "billboards". So, what is a billboard or I should say what is the purpose of a Billboard? Dictionary.com says:
as a verb (used with object)
"to place, advertise, proclaim, etc., on or as if on a billboard"
According to the dictionary, it is something that proclaims or testifies....

As I was driving to work, I felt the Lord speak to me saying,"Look at the trees, they are pointing up to Me. When you look at the stars at night, they also point up to Me. Just look around, I have placed "billboards" all over the universe to proclaim I AM GOD! I created all living things for the purpose of praise, and praise is a testimony of who I AM. It's to be vertical, UPWARD, between Myself and My creation for the purpose of drawing people to Me."

I am in awe of God and the way he speaks to my heart! He has designed this whole universe to draw people to Himself. Daily He proclaims or advertises, "I AM GOD", and His children's responsibility is to proclaim He is our Lord! I am to live my life as a walking "billboard" for Jesus!

What is your "billboard" testifying or proclaiming??

1 Chronicles 16:8
"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done."


Psalm 97:6
"The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees His glory."

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?