Seeing Hearts

My heart relates to the Apostle Paul today when he shares with the Ephesians church that he prayed for them to have our Father’s Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they would know Him better.   He prayed also that their hearts would be enlightened in order that they may know the hope to which the Father had called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparably great power for us who believe.  Paul understood the tremendous joy, peace, hope and blessings that Jesus brought into a life and with all of His heart, He wanted to impart that to all the people of the world.  It was what drove Paul – the thing that got him out of bed everyday – what he poured his whole life into.  There is nothing in this whole world that compares to the impact God’s Spirit can have on a life.  It is the greatest gift in all of life. As Paul knew from the touching of his own heart’s eyes by Jesus on the road to Damascus, new sight in Jesus is a life-changing experience!  I’m a gal praying for myself and others today to know all of Jesus more and more – not wanting to miss one ounce of the greatness of Him.  Oh, to have the eyes of our hearts opened to see Him fully is an opportunity I don’t want to miss,  How about you?  Let’s seek Him in prayer today that He will take us all sight seeing for full revelation of Him where we need!  It can make a HUGE difference in life. Singing this prayer song to my Lord today.  Listen to it here.

 

Ephesians 1:15-23; Acts 9:1-31

Jesus Here

This morning Jesus reveals to me that He is soooo for us!  Even when we cannot always understand exactly why certain things happen in life the way they do, such as was the case in the lives of the disciples after Jesus had been crucified.  While the disciples were talking together, Jesus stood with them.  What a wonderful thought that is that Jesus sees us as we are doing life and longs to be in our midst and have us see Him!  The disciples were startled at first in how Jesus appeared in their midst, but the Words Jesus spoke to them revealed His heart for them.  He wanted them to have peace, not to be troubled and not to doubt Him.  He wanted them to see that His presence was very real, hence He showed them what they needed to see – His hands and His feet that had the nails through them.  He had them touch Him and He even proved His presence with them by eating broiled fish in their presence.  It says that their minds were then opened up to understand the Scriptures and what Jesus had told them. Jesus is all about desiring our peace and He wants us to see Him at work in our midst.  He desires that we know that He is working out life for each of us!  With all of this in mind, I ask you as I ask myself, where in life do we need to trust that He has our backs and is working things out in the best of ways for us? I’m a gal resting my life with Him today, knowing He is faithful! Peace to you as well! Jesus is here and wherever you are, too! Let’s believe!

Luke 24:36-49; Romans 8:28-29

Choosing a Life of Grace

Our Father’s heart longs to bless us as His children. This is what our Father did when He gave His One and only Son as a sacrifice to take away the sins of all those who believe in Him!  What a kind Father we have!  He wants us to live free in His gift to us.  He desires that we have peace and joy in our lives! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free and our Father calls us to stand firm, then, and do not let ourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery to religious law.  The Apostle Paul makes a good point when he told the Jews that if they gave back into having to live under the law of the Old Testament before Christ, that Christ would be of no value to them at all.  He said this because everyone who lets themselves fall back into the mindset of having to live under the law to be accepted by God are setting themselves up to be justified by the law and nobody can live perfectly according to God’s perfect standard.  They fall away from grace in so doing.  Yikes! Don’t want to go there! But by faith in Christ and His work on the cross, we have righteousness in Him! Hallelujah! Rejoice with me!  Our Father sees those in Christ as holy, perfect, without spot or blemish!  He gives us wisdom in His written Word as a guide for our best for living life well, but our motivation should be with that mindset and not that we must live by the law to earn our Father’s acceptance. I encourage you this day to choose His gift of grace for your life.  It makes for a blessed grace-full life!  Give a listen to the words of this song here. Have a great day and know you are dearly loved! Having faith in His grace, moves me to love Him, myself and others today. How about you?

John 3:16; Galatians 5:1-6; Colossians 1:21-23

A Heart to Reveal the Father

I so love the story of Lazarus because it is a story that greatly reveals the heart of compassion that Jesus had for the people in His life and also for His Father.  He was a man who stood in the middle ground between showing love, compassion and wisdom and example of faith to the people before Him and also seeking to reveal our Father’s power and glory so that people would believe in Him as sent by God that they would give the ear to Him so He could lead them to the Father. It was a position that history revealed led Jesus to weep.  It was hard for the people to understand why Jesus had delayed in arriving sooner, but our Father had given Him great wisdom and discernment in how to best deal with the situation and given opportunity before Him.  I guess this story speaks to my heart that until we have walked in somebody else’s sandals or boots, we don’t always know the discernment the Father has given them for why they do as they do.  The people trusted that the Father was with Jesus and they trusted in Him. The people set a great example to us all, in that they sought out Jesus in the midst of what was happening in their lives and Jesus handled it in the very best way for them, even though they didn’t fully understand it all until it had all taken place just the way it was supposed to.  Their key role in it all was to simply present their request to Jesus and Jesus did the rest!  What a blessing is that to have Jesus take the lead to get us where we need to be!  His work is anything but dead!  I’m a gal trusting Him with you to do powerful things as we seek Him!  Glad to be forever alive with Lazarus, you all and with Him and praising our Father for being so awesome! Let’s seek to reveal Him to others today!

John 11

Upward and Onward

Saints of Biblical days were great examples of faith.  They certainly knew struggles and hardships, but this they did in the face of suffering: 1)They acted on the light given to them and they stood their ground.  2) They sympathized with those in prison. 3) They focused more on the better and lasting possessions of their inheritance in the kingdom of God than upon earthly possessions. 4) They did not throw away their confidence, knowing it would be richly rewarded. 5) They persevered in doing the will of God. 6) They believed God’s Words when He said to them:

“For in just a little while,

He who is coming will come and will not delay.

But my righteous one will live by faith.”

7) They did not shrink back.  They kept going. 8) They believed and were saved. 9) They made a difference to many!

So, with all these thoughts in mind, let’s keep going saints – looking upward and onward with ya all, just like saints of old did! Woohoo!

Hebrews 10:32-39, 12:2-3

The Grace-full Heart

I love the heart of Jesus whose heart was for the best interest of the people in His life.  This He did, He prayed for them, He spoke the Father’s Truth to them, He loved them each one, oh so special and He extended them grace.  Why?  He told His Father His heart when He said, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”  Jesus made the most of the time He had in His life to love others and He departed from this earth showing how much He loved each of us – with His arms opened wide.  Truly this man was the Son of God and a lover of people, proving it by His example of sharing prayer, Truth, grace and love. Even now, He sits at the right hand of our Father and intercedes for the best of each of us.  He so desires our joy! How great is His love for us – it finds us wherever we are! How amazing is that!  I so love this song about His great grace, have a listen here and enjoy a grace-full day! Jesus soooo loves us! My heart is singing with Him with ya all!

John 3:16, 17:6-19; Romans 8:26-39

Glory and Honor

My Father encourages my heart today that as we seek Him in prayer and in reading His Word and step out to do as we think He is leading us, that He enables and works through us and for us! How awesome is that!  I’m a gal resting in His Words and giving Him glory today as I read in agreement with Paul’s Words “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His powers that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” “He also says that He works all things out for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.  For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” It is a privilege and honor to go through life with our Father who desires to have us all as His family and for His Son to be the head of us all and held in the highest honor. He desires our best! Let’s give glory and honor to Him who is all-powerful as we seek His best. Thankful to be His family with ya all today! Love to you!

Ephesians 3:20-21; Romans 8:28-29

Feeding the Hungry

Our Father provides great thought today in His Word when He spells out this focus for life as this:

“If you do away with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.”

I also love His thought that “they who refresh others will be refreshed themselves.”  There are lots of hungry people in this world that need the good focus and encouragement of our Father.  Let’s share our Father’s heart and love and make the world a brighter place today!  Who’s hungry around us?  What do they really need?  Sonshine, Sonshine, Sonshine!  Many need the food of Him in more ways than one!  So glad I’m not alone and I have you in the world with me to feed His sheep. So thankful we can join our Father in that!

Is 58:9; Pr 11:25; Mt 5:14-16; 28:16-20

 

Our Father’s Love

Sometimes the world around us can be challenging and my Father shares with me His heart today how it blesses Him when we keep going for Him.  He wants us to know that He sees our efforts for Him and in the right time, He will bestow reward upon us! Bless Him!  He says it this way “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”  Our Father is compassionate and He is always there for us!  Never will He leave us and never will He forsake us!   He is our defense, our hope, encouragement and our righteousness, so never give up!  He loves us with unfailing love and sets a crown upon our heads as His special chosen one.  How kind is He! I’m a gal so blessed by the love of my Father.  His unfailing love brings me peace and comfort and keeps me going for Him! May you know the presence of unfailing love and peace to you, wherever you are and whatever you might be going through today, as well!  I love this song here and I sing it to our Father, in peace with you.

James 1:12; Hebrew 6:10, 13:5-6; Revelation 22:12-13

Dancing Through Life

When our eyes are focused on our Father, it makes a huge difference in a heart.  I can relate to the Psalmist when he wrote of the difference our Father made in his life.  He said of Him:

You turned my wailing into dancing;

You removed my sackcloth and

clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not

be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give you

thanks forever.

Psalm 30:10-12

I’m a gal seeking to dance through life today with my eyes fixed on Jesus!  In doing so, I know He will lead in a way that makes for a beautiful waltz!