The deep heart of Jesus longed for His Father and to bring Him the praises of all people. He said His food was to do the will of His Father. Such a sweet heart He had because He knew how special His Father’s love was and how much it would bless all who would know Him!!! Oh when you know the love of our Creator who IS love, a person is never the same!!! They become a new creation as this song says here:
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” Psalm 42:1 👅
Sooo precious of a story Sam Samy shares here:
Jesus was and is all about rescue!!! He works through people by His Holy Spirit that they receive upon faith in Him to help others neglected by people and pursued by the enemy of this world!!! As He tells us in His Word, the Bible:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Oh He gives us breath for life…what we choose to do with it can sure make a divine difference in this world!!! You can make a difference in this world!!! Staying close to Jesus and going into life for His kingdom, too!!! ☝️🔥👁❤️👑💪🙏 I like this song here:
As I sit by the warmth of the fire here in Idaho listening to my Father’s heart, He speaks to me amidst the snap, crackle and pop of the logs bursting as the fire dances all around them. I sooo love that as it reminds me of the Holy Spirit ablaze with me!!!
Father speaks to my heart that while there is a future time coming when He will return to gives us a new life with the fullness of heaven with us without the enemy of this world present, even now we have the blessing of having the love of Jesus with us and His heart of care for us!!! PRAISE JESUS!!! Oh and as I write, He takes me to the passage in His Word of the two that hung on the cross beside Him. One had a heart for Him and saw in Him His divinity and one ridiculed Him. The one who believed in Him asked Jesus to remember him and Jesus, even though dealing with His own struggles on the cross, loved the man and reassured him that “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
Because we, too believe in Jesus and His divinity and the work that He did on the cross as the enemy ridiculed Him so that we can be seated in heavenly places with Him in the future, He has put His Holy Spirit within our hearts to comfort us, give us peace, recall to us the things He tells us, to counsel us and guide us in truth away from sin, to empower us and assure us that we are His children. He has not left us alone on this earth, but rather His Spirit is present with us so that even now, we have heaven with us as we journey the road of earth where we have victory over the enemy, too!!!
I smile as I think about the man on the cross who had the assurance of Jesus’ love and victory for him. I think about how he must have felt inside with such a sigh of relief that said to his soul–I’m going to be alright!!! Now I can’t imagine how hanging on a cross could be heavenly by itself, but I can just imagine that after that reassurance of Jesus to that man, he experienced of heaven right then and there as he thought Jesus has me in His love and paradise victory forever with Him!!! I’ve got it made with Jesus here with me – got heaven on earth even now!!! It must have given that man encouragement to persevere with Jesus, knowing that Jesus sympathized with him and understood what he was going thru.
Oh the love of Jesus is so sweet to us and sure can ignite a Holy Spirit fire in our souls that says I’m gonna be alright and I can do this with Jesus with me who loves me and gives me strength and victory!!! HOOORRRAAAHHH!!! RUH, RUH, RUH!!! POWER ON IN LOVE FOR FATHER!!! YYYEEESSS WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THRU CHRIST WHO GIVES US STRENGTH!!! (Philippians 4:13) I think of how Jesus’ words to the man on the cross must have been similar to the message of this song here. This man at that point in time needed to know who he was to Christ and he learned that he was special, loved, accepted and worth the sacrifice of Jesus’ life to give him all the glorious riches that were of Jesus’ kingdom!!!
Wherever you are today, my prayer for you is that you may hear Jesus’ understanding heart for you as His beloved of faith saying to you, you’re alright and I’ve got ya victorious forever with me, so hang in there!!! (Sorry, no pun intended.)
You are safe with Jesus thru your faith in Him and YOU are loved by Him, dear saint. Me, too!!! Oh that just makes me smile!!! Have a sigh of relief in Jesus right where you are right now and have a good rest of today!!! YOU have a good heavenly life future, even now with Jesus!!!
Perhaps you can be somebody’s assurance where you’re hanging out today by sharing about Jesus’ love and victory for them thru faith, too??? 🙂 Proud of you for doing so!!!
Hi, dear family of faith!!! I want to tell you that I am very excited about the new year and I am praising our Father for all that our Father has done in our lives to bring heaven to earth for us in 2016!!!
Hindsight is 20/20 as I reflect on the past year and see the many ways our Father has worked to put me where I am today and has protected me from the evil one, I am rejoicing with ya’s!!! It is good to realize that when some things part from our lives, God works through it to bring us heavenly victory and deliverance!!!
One such example we read about is the story of Joseph whom the enemy sought to destroy thru changes in circumstances. To the devil, he thought if circumstances are made difficult enough that Joseph just might despair and give up on God, however Joseph kept faith in His all victorious God thru all circumstances and God raised him up to be the victory and heaven’s provision to take care of Joseph’s family and all the people of Egypt!!! It was for just an opportunity as the famine in the land that God used what the evil one intended for destruction to bring our Father’s glory of heavenly provision!!!
The moral of the story is never give in to the devil’s pushing to destroy your faith!!! Always hold to faith in Christ Jesus and we will always come out on top with heaven’s victory!!! Where is Father asking you to keep stepping forward in faith??? Where is Father calling you to trust Him in the letting go of the past in divine ways??? How is Father calling you to trust the past to result in heavenly victory??? Proud of you for doing so!!! The new year holds nothing but victory in Christ Jesus as we keep our eyes fixed on Him as this song says here!!! Much love and celebration of our forever victory life in Christ Jesus in the now, in 2017 and on forever as His forever kingdom family of faith!!! Heaven always wins for us as we keep the faith in our Father!!!
Genesis 37-50
Purposeful day it is for everybody, ya’ll here!!! No matter who we are in life, we each have a divine reason for being and whether we volunteer our time or are employed by someone or we are an employer of others, we each can in someway bring contribution to what our Father is wanting to accomplish here in bringing heaven on earth!!! Now how awesome is that for everyone to be included in the purpose of life together with Jesus!!! Oh it just makes me smile!!!
As I continue in sharing about the different generalized areas of ministry that each of us individually will typically step in and out of in the course of our lives, I want to share these thoughts today about being an employee and an employer. Our Father will speak to each of us as we have need to hear His voice. Even if we volunteer in life for someone or for our Father in heaven, some of these same principles can apply to all of us:
“If you are a hired employee, God desires for you to “obey your earthly masters (in righteousness) and do it not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:22-24). God sees it all (Proverbs 15:3) – He sees faithfulness and hard work that can sometimes go unnoticed by employers and He says He will reward you for that, so you can rest in that if that is your case. He sees the way we treat our coworkers with love and kindness, praying for them and our employers, seeking their good and success. He also sees the ways someone may mistreat their employer such as using an employer’s time for personal matters and wasting an employer’s resources. For example: When your employer sends you to make purchases, do you use your employer’s money to buy you the more expensive when lesser would do and you would buy lesser if it was your own money? Do you steal from your employer? Are you lazy and fail to carry out his or her instructions for your work. God forgives, but it is good to confess (agree about) sin to Him (1 John 1 8-10), and He desires us to repent and make restitution (Exodus 22:3b) if we need to. From that day forward, we can seek to do our work to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31) and work as we would want someone to work for us if we were an employer (Matthew 22:39). Let us be thankful (Colossians 3:15) for God’s provision of someone to hire us and provide for us financially. We can ask God to help us be a good employee. Here is a photo of some employees and employers working together doing some work on a home I recently purchased. Here they are working on steps, a walkway and a gate. I greatly appreciate their efforts for me in life as I could not do all this work without their help and expertise with the other things that I do as a self-employed person and a volunteer as our Father has called me to be in life!!!
Where are you in life??? An employee, an employer, self-employed, a volunteer??? This you can know of our Father:
“God is not unjust; He will not forget your hard work and the love that you show Him as you help His people and continue to help them.”
Hebrews 6:10
If you are an employer, here are some thoughts from God’s Word to ponder in doing your work for our Father. God asks employers in Colossians 4:1 to provide your employees with what is right and fair, because you know you have a Master in heaven (the Lord). The Lord sees everything (Proverbs 15:3). Even if your employees don’t seem to appreciate what you do for them, God sees it and He appreciates it. He will reward you for it. Be considerate of your employees. Do you value each of your employees? Are you friendly to them and treat them respectfully? Do you show favoritism? Are you more concerned with using available resources to make yourself comfortable and promote your image while employees go without the tools and training they need to do their jobs more efficiently and successfully. Do you pray for your employees? Do you ask your employees to do things that are ungodly? Do you cheat your employees out of pay and benefits? If you haven’t been a good employer, it is not too late to change. Confess your sin (1 John 1:8-10), repent and make restitution (Exodus 22:3b) if you need. We need to treat our employees the way that we would want to be treated if we were someone’s employee, as in fact we are (the Lord’s). Oh let us be thankful for the help God has given to us in the employees who work hard to make us successful. We can ask God to make us a good employer if we are called to that purpose, for “God works in us to will and act according to His purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)
Wherever and whoever we are, we can each make a heavenly divine difference in raising up glory to our Father as this song says here and to that I say “WOOOHOOO, LET THE GLORY OF JESUS RISE WITH ALL OUR HEARTS INTO IT!!!” FATHER WILL BLESS YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS, DEAR ONES!!! WE REAP WHAT WE SOW INTO LIFE!!! PROUD OF YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR JESUS AND TO BLESS OTHERS!!! MAY FATHER RAISE UP PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO HELP YOU AS YOU HAVE NEED OF HELP IN YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE AS HE HAS ME, TOO!!! BLESSED AND HAPPY IN LIFE WITH YA’S AND KEEPING GOING FOR JESUS!!!
Hi, there YOU from ME!!! 🙂 Oh isn’t it sooo interesting how we are each sooo personally unique and different?!! It just makes life interesting and fun that we are each one different!!! Have you ever p0ndered that??? How we are unique and different makes a difference in finding our best niche in life. For example:
Nobody has your exact personality. You are definitely YOU and despite what anyone might tell you, YOU and I do have a personality! We all have our own personality strengths and weaknesses. Personality is defined as the distinction of personal and social traits. There are many types of personalities. God gave the world variety, which is a good thing. Can you imagine what it would be like if we were all the same personality.
What would life be like if we were all “quiet as a mouse?” or what if we were all “monotone, non-stop talkers?” It would be hard to find a listening ear! God is so wise! The type of personality that we have can make a difference in how we minister to people. For example, a quiet and reserved person would choose a different approach to evangelism compared to a very hyper, talkative person. A quiet and reserved person would probably not excel as a street-corner sales person and a hyper, talkative person would probably not be your best candidate for a deer-hunting guide. Our personalities suit us for the way God wants to use us in the world and God wants to use all of us! If you are not sure how our Father wants to work thru you, you can talk to a ministry leader to see where your personality would best fit in the area of your interest within a particular ministry (example: working with children).
It is interesting that for people seeking to find a place to fit in, that they may want to consider taking the personality test available on the Internet through the Church Growth Institute that provides personalized results that can be printed instantly. This test is offered after you finish the Spiritual Gifts Analysis website that I mentioned in my previous blog about “Spiritual Gifts.”
If access to the Internet is not available, a booklet test can be ordered for a small fee from the Church Growth Institute by calling 1-800-553-GROW (4769).
Another test that the Church Growth Institute offers is a Leadership/Management Inventory that helps a person to understand their leadership/management style. It can be found through the same website.
Once a person has taken the Spiritual Gifts Analysis, Personality Inventory, and Leadership/Management Style evaluations, a “Personal Ministry Finder” can be generated for a small fee that is personalized for you as an individual. It provides suggestions for ministry areas you may want to consider given the unique gift of you! It is automatically offered through the website you utilize for the Spiritual Gifts Analysis. A Summary of Results personalized for you can then be generated if you so desire. Again, these are things to consider in addition to trying other things and asking God to reveal your uniqueness through evaluated experience.
Oh it is just sooo interesting pondering the uniqueness of YOU, precious one!!! Father has a special place for each one of us in this world where the real YOU and ME can shine thru in divine ways!!! That thought all just makes me smile!!! 🙂 This is true of each one of us – our Father made us to celebrate life with Him as this song says here, so celebrate life just as Father has created YOU to do in your own special way to shine heaven on earth thru YOU!!! I’m a gal seeking to do so with ya’s!!! 🙂
God gives every believer spiritual gifts to be used in ministry to gift others (Romans 12:6-8). There are different gifts for different believers (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). They are gifted by the Holy Spirit, thus only to believers (1 Corinthians 12:7). Each one of us is a different part of the church body. It is important that we not expect all believers to be the same part as us. However, just because we do not have a particular gift does not mean that there will not be times when God does desire you to carry out a particular task, for example: you may not have the gift of evangelism, but we all have the responsibility for the Great Commission. It may not be your gift, or an activity that you love, but somebody has to change the diapers on the babies in the nursery! It is important that we remember that none of us are the complete body by ourselves. It is also important that we not think more of ourselves than we ought to (Romans 12:3). Spiritual gifts are chosen by God (1 Corinthians 12:14-20). They are equally important so jealousy towards another person’s gifts is foolish (1 Corinthians 12:21-27). You can have more than one gift and they can change or be flamed into action more at one time than another. God is our enabler who gives us what we need to accomplish what He wants to accomplish through us and when (1 Corinthians 12:6, Philippians 2:13). HOOORRRAAAHHH!!! Powerful saints we are with Him at work in us!!!
Discovering your spiritual gifts takes time. Experience that comes from stepping out and trying some different areas of ministry is necessary to affirm our true gifts. When you are using your gift(s), you will enjoy it and when people are saying or showing that what you are doing is bearing fruit in their lives or saying that you are good at doing something in particular, these are indicators that you are working in your area(s) of giftedness. You will not learn this apart from trying. Try your hand at doing some things where you think you might be gifted and ask God to reveal the reality of your giftedness in that area. Try serving in several different ways, not just in the areas that assessment tests suggest (I’ll talk more about that later). Don’t worry about finding the perfect fit right away. Allow yourself to learn as you experiment. Consider one-time serving to try out different ministry areas. After each serving, ask yourself:
1) Was the work meaningful to you?
2) Was your emotional energy higher or lower after you served? Were you energized or drained? Connecting your spiritual gift with an area of passion is the key to ultimate effectiveness and fulfillment in serving. It is also one of the keys to maintaining energy in serving.
3) Do you enjoy serving with the people involved?
4) Does it fit well with your schedule and time frame for the serving opportunity? You may discover that one part of a serving opportunity feels great while another part doesn’t, so use what you learn, both positive and negative to inform your next experiment. Don’t wait to be asked. Just step out! Whether your first step reveals your ideal serving spot or begins a slow process of self-discovery, it will provide invaluable opportunity to invite God to reveal your calling, your gifts and your passion.
There are assessment tools available to help give you a hint at what you may be gifted at doing, but do not consider the results all-inclusive or an absolute indicator. As I just mentioned, experience will be the true test. DO NOT BE PIGEONHOLED BY TESTS! Assessment tools can give you some areas to think about and pray about. If you take the tests, it is important to be honest in your answers as to how you really are and not how you think you should be. The only should is that you should be yourself – how God made you! A Spiritual Gifts Analysis that you can consider that offers personalized and instant results is available through the Internet by typing into the search engine:
Church Growth Institute
You need to select FREE Spiritual Gifts Analysis – Church Growth.
If you do not have access to the Internet, you can also order a booklet test by calling the Church Growth Institute at 1-800-553-GROW (4769).
There are many assessment tools available through the internet and in book form to assist you in determining “Spiritual Gifts.” They vary in what they include, in that they may test for some or all of the “Spiritual Gifts” that the Bible refers to in Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-14, but they may add other abilities and talents found throughout the Bible as well.
There are also different opinions as to what a “Spiritual Gift” is – some will say that they are limited to select gifts while others say a spiritual gift is anything that a person can do supernaturally well.
The “Spiritual Gifts” referred to in the “Running Your Road of Purpose” Bible study are the “gifts” referred to in Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-14. They are listed below:
Romans 12:6-8 Ephesians 4:11 1 Corinthians 12:1-14
Prophecy Apostleship Wisdom
Serving Prophecy Knowledge
Teaching Evangelism Distinguishing spirits
Exhortation/Encouraging Pastoring Speaking in tongues
Giving Teaching Interpretation of
Tongues
Leading Prophecy
Showing mercy Faith
Miraculous Powers
Healing
Some believe that the operation of some of these gifts is limited to early Christianity – a time when people did not have the written Bible and they looked for miracles to determine if someone was truly of God. According to some Protestant denominations, some of the spiritual gifts, for example: speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues were enjoyed only for a short time and were suited to the Church’s infancy, not to later times. This view is known as “cessationism.” While many churches hold to this view, others do not. One opinion is sure, God cannot be put into a box and have it be said of Him that He would not equip a believer to utilize a particular gift to carry out a purpose if that was His desire for that person to do so.
Don’t get hung up in these issues. The point to remember is that all believers are gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve in a way(s) that builds the church. Assessment tools can be used to give you a hint at how you may be gifted, but they are not absolute or all inclusive as God gives us other abilities and talents as well through which He works His purpose for our lives. Experience is the key to truly understanding our uniqueness that God has given to each one of us for serving Him. Each one of us is specially equipped and none of us are indispensable to the body. To that I say, WOOOHOOO!!! LET’S GO IN THE GIFTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHINE FORTH THE LOVE AND LIGHT AND VICTORY OF JESUS INTO THE WORLD WHEREVER HE HAS US AS HIS ENERGY WORKS SOOO POWERFULLY IN US AS THIS SONG SAYS HERE. I AM PROUD OF YOU FOR DOING SO, DEAR ONES!!!
Heavenly day greetings, dear family of faith!!! How blessed we are to have Jesus in our lives as the voice to be heard above all others in this world!!! He tells us this about Himself and His heart for us as His people:
In John 10, He describes Himself as “the good Shepherd” and that His sheep (us of faith in Him) will listen to His voice. They will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run away from that one because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. The longer you run with God, the more you get to know, understand and recognize His voice and see Him working in your life so that where He goes, you can follow.
People say that sheep are among the dumbest animals there are. If we were to compare our thinking to our Father, this is what He says of the difference between our wisdom and His:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:9
Truly when we look around at creation and the marvel over how our own bodies work, there is no contest between our ability to think like God. He is above us and that is ok. His heart for us is to not see ourselves as incompetent, but competent as His family of faith because His grace is sufficient for us and His Spirit lives within us to lead and guide us in triumphant procession thru this life!!! Not only that, but He has created each one of us as a royal Masterpiece, His workmanship created in advance for carrying our good works of individual purpose into this world. He has confidence in us to do so with He working in us thru His sufficiency as an enabler:
“For it is God who works in us to will and act according to His purpose.”
Philippians 2:13
Therefore, believe in YOU and JESUS team as mighty and powerful for going into this world to make a beautiful divine difference as only you two together can!!! Oh if YOU are not YOU then the world will forever miss out on the divine YOU and JESUS team, created and destined to leave a heavenly mark upon this world that will matter for all of eternity!!! Ruh, ruh, ruh!!! That is an arabic word for “Spirit, Spirit, Spirit.” Father tells us that our success in this world is “not by our might or by our strength, but by His Spirit” at work in us, thru us and all around us!!! (Zechariah 4:6)
Hearing our Father’s voice is important and so over the next few days, I will be sharing more here about how we can hear God’s voice in our lives!!! For now – it is important that we see ourselves with as He says “sober judgment” – highly qualified by the Most High for awesome deeds that matter!!! WOOOHOOO!!! Let’s move into life as Father’s Holy Spirit fire moves us in heart as this song says here. I am sooo proud of you for being YOU and JESUS team where He has YOU, dear ones!!! 🙂 Going with Jesus with ya’s as He guides me, too!!! It’s sooo fun and divinely adventureous!!! It just makes me smile to travel with Jesus where He wants to take us each one oh sooo special for such a time as this!!! 🙂
Fill ‘er up, please!!! Oh that is a phrase I heard spoken to gas station attendants often as a little girl when I was with my parents in their car out of fuel. It is something that in some places you still hear today depending on if the law allows a person to fill their own fuel tank or if a hired hand is requested to do so. That ole E for empty is not something you like to see when you are out on a roadway with a long ways to go to the next city!!! I remember a time when I was traveling with others to an event that put us on the road for home late into the night and as we were riding along, the driver said “I should have filled up with gas before we left. Oh I hope the gas station in the next town has pumps working at 3:00am in the morning!!!” YIKES I SAID TO MYSELF!!! PRAYER TO JESUS WAS MY RESPONSE!!! I was praying and we were driving on fumes I am sure as we pulled into the station. The next question was will they take a credit card and sure enough, they did and we were able to get the empty tank filled up and we made it home to see the sun rise and the birds singing!!! NOW THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT TO SEE FOR SURE FROM HOME AND NOT STRANDED OUT ON THE ROADWAY!!! It was not the first time of being delivered thru prayer to Jesus, either!!! PRAISE JESUS!!! 🙂
As I ponder this memory, Father puts it upon my heart that every person has a fuel tank that can be empty and in need of a “fill up.” In fact, each one has a couple – one being the stomach that can at times seem like a bottomless pit when real empty or hungry physically and the second is the human heart and our Father tells us in His Word it is always in a state of needing divine spiritual fuel due to being empty with these voids:
The antidote to all of these ill-feeling conditions is Jesus!!! He is the One who:
Let me ask you today as I ask myself, dear saint…how is your heart today??? Whatever our need, let us cast our cares on our Father, for He cares for us!!! He has many ways of providing just what we need as we turn to Him and trust in Him. I am doing divinely well today, but I appreciate the message of this song here that speaks of our need to always turn to Jesus when we need help filling the hole in our hearts and being reminded of who we are in Christ Jesus’ love and powerful energy!!! Let us look to Him to fill our hearts and pour out of His Spirit’s love to keep telling others of the source of their being filled with the fruit of Jesus’ Spirit within them thru faith, too. If someone has a sickness of heart, would we not want to help them??? Even beyond that, we can save them from death, giving them eternal life and all the fullness of the glorious riches of Christ’s love in His kingdom!!! All hearts need the good news of Jesus and Jesus can work thru anyone to help another!!! Let us as our Father tells us:
“…As I have loved you, so love one another.” (John 13:34)
How can you help add divine fuel to fill a heart needing filled up with Jesus where you are today??? Father has us where we are for divine reasons – “to help fill up” others with the good news that Jesus longs to pour into every heart to get them over the road of life to home safely and happy with the fullness of blessings in Him!!! 🙂 Happy travels to ya wherever you are!!! Let us seek not to leave those stranded with an empty heart tank that we see along our life’s way!!! All need the divine filling of Jesus as abundant heart fuel to keep going!!! When our hearts are full of Jesus, our heart motors are gonna be roaring for the going for Jesus with divine performance and energy!!! Have you ever heard the phrase of having a”tiger in your tank!!!” 🙂 Exxon used it as a corporate logo in years past.
Jesus is even greater than a tiger in yer tank; He just makes ya smile – He puts the smile in tigers, too!!! 🙂 See:
Making regular pit stops of quiet time with Jesus for refueling and He’ll keep us fueled up for moving with divine performance and energy along the road to our eternal destiny for sure!!! So let us be filled with Jesus and go rescue those stranded with empty tanks along the way of life!!! We can give them the premium fuel – the supreme fuel of Jesus!!! WOOOHOOO!!! ANOTHER WAY TO SAY THIS IS “GO GET ‘EM TIGER!!!” 🙂 ROARING OUT FOR JESUS WITH YA’S AND HAPPY MOTORING IN DOING SO!!!
writingsofsheila 