Speaking of Grace

I so look up to our brother Paul and his heart that desires to speak out about grace. He is a man that had a first-hand experience with the God of the Universe who called him on how he persecuted Jesus, but after their heart to heart talk, Paul realized the error of his ways, turned his life around and Jesus extended to him His love, grace and forgiveness and empowerment to begin a journey through life with Him to share the message of His love and grace with the whole world of which I am a blessed recipient! I am so thankful that Paul got Jesus and moved on in life with Him to change the world. Unless they encounter Jesus, people will not have an opportunity to make that choice.  Hence, we who have had the grace of Jesus revealed to us must keep sharing Him with the world as Paul did so that people have the opportunity to be set free from the yoke of sin and death. Life with Jesus is the only way to have freedom from sin and death! I am so thankful for all of those who were faithful to point Jesus out to me so that I could do the rest of my life with and for Him.  I’m a gal speaking out about His grace for Him today! Who is around you that you can reveal the grace of Jesus to or support so that they can go and share the good news message of Jesus? So many need you to share what you have received! Like Paul, Jesus lives in you and has now empowered you to make a difference. Keep going for Him!

Acts 9

On the Level

“The path of the righteous is level:

O upright One, you make the way

of the righteous smooth.”

Isaiah 26:7

When you place your trust in our Father, He has a way of making things of life work out in just the right way!  In other words, He levels the path before us! As we follow Him, He will bring us down from off the too high places where pride can be a danger and brings us up from the too low places that can also be a disabling threat to our best walking. We are on the best level as we trust in Him and keep our focus on Him. It is amazing how He does that and it is often beyond anything I can ever imagine in how He does it, but He does.  He humbles us and esteems us through His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all to make us perfectly righteous through Him, then as we walk with Him, He leads us along level paths for our feet that keeps us moving along in just the right way! Not only does He keep our paths level, but He makes them straight, too! All the makings of a perfect walk with our Father and maker – the author and perfector of our faith who is always there for us and cares about us, wanting us to cast our cares on Him and promising to work all things for our good! I’m a gal enjoying the walk through life with Him with ya today and that is on the straight level path with Him! In doing so, we will get there in the very best way and oh I so like that thought of partnering with our Father along the way! On the level with ya’s, seeking Him, fixing my eyes upon Him and following Him for all the journey ahead because our Father is so flat out smooth!  He just makes me smile!

Isaiah 26:7; 42:16; 45:13; Romans 12:1-3; Proverbs 3:6; Hebrews 12:2

Surround Sound

A surround sound system is a great way to improve the quality of sound in a room while listening to music, watching television or playing video games.  It just adds a degree of excellence above the normal or less than adequate sound of low quality sound systems. My Father lays this comparison on my heart with regard to hearing His voice in life over the less or poor quality voices of the flesh and the enemy the devil.  When we hear our Father’s excellent voice above all the others, it is a sound that is beyond compare and well worth putting the extra into just to hear Him.  The Psalmist understood what I am talking about when he wrote:

“Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the man who trusts in Him.”

Psalm 32:10

He understood that what the Lord offered to surround Him with verses what the world had to offer was far the best! There is nothing like being surrounded with the sound of our Father’s voice speaking His unfailing love to us!  Nothing compares to it once you have heard it.  It is the best and I’m a gal investing what it takes to hear Him all around me in life.  How about you?

Covered

Our Father has us covered! This is the blessed thought that He has spoken to me this morning and I am so thankful for His plan for our lives. Sometimes people can get very caught up in performance and feel that they must live perfectly. Sometimes this mindset can keep people caught in one of two dilemmas 1) either they are fearful of failing so they never step out to do what could be a great thing if we just trust in God’s grace to enable us and also cover us or have our back for not being what we see as 100% pure perfect or 2) they step out with such a degree or focus of having to get it perfect that they fall apart when one thing goes less than how we or someone else thinks it should go. Yikes and Yikes again! The one we need to please in all of life is not ourselves or even someone else – it needs to be seeking to please our Father. But how do you please a God who is so perfect in every way and who has such a mindset of perfection that shows in everything He does? This is the secret to it – God is so perfect that He IS love and He is FULL of grace!  WOW! What a combination and He revealed it to the world when He Himself came to the earth as Jesus, a sacrifice on the cross to satisfy the righteous holy standard of a perfect God so that we through faith in Him could reap His perfect love and grace and have a forever relationship with Him, free from the wages of sin and death! Not only that, but through our faith in Jesus, He sees us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation!  Now does He rock or does He rock? I say He rocks!!! Did I mention He rocks? With all of this said, what should our attitude towards ourselves be? 1) It is to recognize that it is impossible for man or woman to save themselves based on performance – “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” 2) It is to step out in faith and claim that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” and that “therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” and 3) we are to go into the world, sharing the good news of Jesus and making disciples to keep going in love with the good news to bless others with the gift of everlasting life with our Father, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey what He has commanded – why?  Not because we have to, but because He is a smart cookie and He knows what is for our best for a successful life. In it all, though, as we step out in faith to live life His best, we can have rest and peace knowing that no matter what happens, our Father has us covered with His love and grace and He is with us, helping us always and He just says pick up again when ya fall down. Let’s keep going for the best, but claim His love, grace and peace! Oh, that just makes me smile! I so love this song – if you have the time, listen here.

John 3:16, Romans 8:1; Matthew 28:16-20; Ephesians 2:8-10; Jeremiah 29:11-13

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (NLT Romans 3:20-22)

Making Light of the Day

It’s a new day of opportunity for each of us! A gift to be celebrated! I love these words as I move my sleepy head out of bed:

Everything exposed by the light becomes visible,

for it is light that makes everything visible.  That is why it is said:

“Wake up, O sleeper,

rise from the dead

and Christ will shine on you.”

and in Isaiah He says

“Arise, shine, for your light has come.”

Our Father has plans for you today, saint!  He wants to work with you, shine through you to make a difference in this worldl!  Now that is worth getting out of bed for! Amen? Have an awesome day of walking through the gift of this day with our Father, Sonshines!  It’s going to be a day of light that turns darkness to light so that the steps of life are made visible for the safe traveling of those who sojourn through this world with you! Many need ya to shine, shine, shine for our Father! Oh, all these thoughts just make me smile! Enjoying the gift of a light life with ya all! It’s a good thing going!

Ephesians 5:13-14; Isaiah 60:1

The Gift of Freedom

Today is Memorial Day in America. It is a day when reflection is given upon those who have sacrificed their lives in war to give us the freedoms that we enjoy in life. Jesus is among those! He has not asked anything of us that He did not go through Himself. He gave His all on the cross to love us and give us freedom from the wages of sin and death and also to give us the gift of eternal life with Him in His Kingdom to come after life here on earth! What a trooper and saint was He and is He! Upon believing in Him, He also brought the gift of His Holy Spirit that now dwells in our hearts and leads us and guides us in ways of freedom, reminding us of all His Word has taught us about how to have true freedom! There is great freedom found in our lives as we reflect upon His Word and walk through life with Him. Nothing in all the world compares to His leading that brings such peace and blessing and enablement to go into the world in victorious ways! What a delight, privilege and honor it is to walk with Him through life! Each of us has purpose in this life and He so wants to partner with us to carry out great things.  One great example of someone doing this very thing is a man by the name of Todd Pierce.  God has given Him a very unique way with horses and a special message about freedom in our Father and how it can be such a blessing to a life.  I would like to share the video of Him stepping out in the freedom our Father has given to Him to bring freedom to others through this very special gifting the Holy Spirit has given to him.  Share this with someone that you love today and help them to find freedom in Him!  Freedom is such a beautiful thing! Enjoy your gift of freedom in Him wherever you are in life today! Be free in knowing that you are greatly loved and accepted and forgiven and gifted by the God of the Universe to do amazing things with Him! Oh, He so delights me! Check out this video here.

“I will walk about in freedom,

for I have sought out your precepts.”

Psalm 119:45

A Double Whopper Life

The proper diet in life can make a big difference in your quality of life and this is not just in a physical sense, but spiritually as well.  The world is full of many foods to take in to our bodies and also many teachings in the world that can be good or harmful to us.  Our Father makes this point in His word and gives us His loving advice for our best life possible when He says “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.  It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods.”  Christianity is the only faith in the world that is not based on legalism – the ceremonial or “have to” approach to getting to heaven.  This was the approach to life that those who crucified Jesus took, that one must do certain things perfectly in order to be accepted into heaven. Yikes and impossible to live perfect according to God’s perfect standard and no value in it because it is futile and can’t be done! Good news is that is why Christ died on the cross so that all can be forgiven for our sins and receive the free gift of eternal life with Him in His Kingdom.  Now is that yummy tasting and delightful to cleansing the palate or not?   Why not accept the free gift of grace that Jesus offers to all who believe in Him?  Makes sense to this gal!  Living out your life in the state of grace given you by Him is trusting Him that we are forgiven, accepted by the God of the Universe and empowered with His Holy Spirit in us to be equipped to make a difference in this world until such time as we all dine at the wedding feast of Jesus in His Kingdom as His forever bride! On that day, those who believe in Him will be given garments of fine linen, bright and clean to wear which are our righteous acts of believing in Him – the gift of His grace that sees us as holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation! Now that works up my appetite to dine with Him and serve Him in all of life because I get to and not because I have to. How fun it is when that buffet of opportunity is set before ya! “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” He is a God of love and grace! Let’s indulge in the greatness of Him in all of life – it is a spiritual diet in which you can eat up as much as possible and it will just make you healthier, stronger and physically fit, too, because when you are not worrying and stressed out about performance to be accepted, it nourishes your physical body, too! A “double whopper” if you will! I am choosing to eat up all He has for me today, how about you?

Hebrews 13:9; John 3:16-21; Proverbs 3:1-8; Psalm 34:8; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:21-23; Revelation 19:6-9

The Keeper of Going

My Father so makes me smile!  He always has just the right ways in just the right timing to meet the needs of my heart to bless my heart in ways that keep me inspired and motivated and on the right track in life! He so rocks! I definitely plan to keep my Father all of my life as He is the keeper of my going. He is what gets me out of bed each morning and keeps me going until He blesses me with nighttime sleep and every step in between.  I can so relate to the Psalmist who writes:

“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.”

When I call out to Him, my Father has what it takes to bless me like none other – He truly is a keeper of my lamp burning, in that He keeps the light in me so that I can walk through each day shining light for Him! I guess you could say He really knows how to shine one on! Oh, it’s gonna be a bright, bright, Son shiny day! I hope you have His light with you today as well! God bless!

Psalm 18:28

Deep Waters

It is said that our hearts are our wellspring – deep waters are found within our hearts that is the fountain from all that we speak and act out in life.  Because of this, my Father speaks to my heart this morning about the importance of drawing out of the heart what is there and taking time to examine it.  When we do so, we can identify if there are waters that are unhealthy or unsafe.  Good to know! Wouldn’t you agree?  Hence, I ask you as I ask myself, what are the waters in your heart – are they good waters or troubled waters?  Taking some time and praying to ask our Father to reveal to us where troubled waters are and to provide what is needed to resolve the troubles is the cup of victory I am sure we all would love to drink from.  If you cannot understand it alone with Him, talk with a Godly leader or seek Godly council  as our Father says “the purposes (motives) of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.”  Once you identify the root issues, you can work to resolve the matter so that what is being drawn from your well is pure refreshing “ahhhhhh!”  Nothing like having your thirst in life quenched with the water of the Holy Spirit of God! It is the best tasting and most healthy water you will ever find!  Oh, I so want to drink in all that He has for me in life to be fully satisfied and not thirsty.  Seeking my Father is a priority of my day for purification of my wellspring, today.  How about you?

Proverbs 11:14. 20:5, 27:19; Psalm 16:7; James 1:5

The Secure Hope

Oh, we saints have a dandy of a Father!  He is so wise and when we call upon Him, He answers our prayers in the very best of ways for us – in ways of His righteousness and you know what? When we are dealt with in His righteousness ways, there is no shame in that.  It is all good stuff, authentic purity and love and grace right there that brings us out blooming in beauty!  Now that just has me smiling at life today, knowing that my Father has my back and loves me beyond me to do what is best for me.  He so rocks! I’m a gal building my house on the hope that is in Him today.  He is the sure foundation for all of life for all in the world who believe in Him forever! Forever and ever! Amen?

“You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,

O God our Savior,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest sea.”

Psalm 65:5; Matthew 7:24-29; Ephesians 3:20