Captivated By Love

Ladies!!! Oh an interesting cause to check out for sure in this video here that Sam Samy shares:

I find it interesting that the lion wants to stay where it finds love in relationship rather than step out into the world all alone. As you know, Sam, a person is never alone because Jesus is always with us as His people of faith!!! Oh that just makes me smile!!! As you also know, Sam, Father created us for relationship!!! I am reminded that it is always good news wherever He opens and closes doors in our lives to put us in the divine place for us to be together with divine purpose with Him working in us as His people of faith!!! 🙂 Lots to ponder about this video!!! I am reminded of this song here about being a new creation in faith in Jesus and the specialness of His love:

https://g.co/kgs/b6vCDq

Thank you for the pondering again today, Sam!!! I’m sharing it!!!

Drawn Divinely

This Sam Samy video speaks volumes here!!!

Oh when you have a man in your life, his heart is your first priority, dear ladies of mine!!! It is good when the man makes himself very attractive, alluring and hard to resist in manly ways, too!!! Tell him what you find attractive for him to implement!!! Ask him what would be attractive to him for you to do, too!!!

The Sparkle of YOU

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!!!

Bacon Saved

Hee, hee, hee!!! I chuckle this day as our Father speaks to my heart about a group of brothers that found themselves in a bit of a predicament!!! It all started with a little brother named Joseph who had been given our Father’s grace in a very special unique way that was different from his brothers, his father’s other sons. Young Joseph was also said to be more loved by his earthly father than the other brothers because Joseph was his son of his old age and his father made him a colored tunic.

Because of this and also the divine revelation given to their little brother thru dreams about the future, Joseph’s brothers were jealous and hated him. One day when the father sent Joseph to go check on his brothers who were pasturing the flock for him, the jealous brothers saw Joseph approaching from afar and schemed to kill him, throw him in a pit and tell their father that a wild beast ate him. One of the older brothers of Joseph spoke against his murder, so they ended up stripping him of the colored tunic that their father had made Joseph, throwing him into a pit and when a group of Ishmaelites were passing by, they sold Joseph to them. The Ishmaelites took him to Egypt and sold him to an Egyptian officer of the Pharaoh.

Because the Lord was with Joseph in his circumstances, he became a successful man, a ruler of Egypt and was ultimately set over all the land of Egypt!!! Shazam!!! Talk about a divine Father at miracle work for His kid of faith thru prayer – well, our Father did one in this story!!! WOOOHOOO!!! GO FATHER!!! 🙂

Now our Father works in mysterious and amazing ways and this new divine God-given position came in quite handy when it came famine time and Joseph was able to be a dream come true to his brothers when they found themselves in a place of need, having to go to Egypt and ask for food. Guess who they had to ask for it from??? Yep, none other than their little brother Joseph whom they had sold out of their hearts and lives moved by jealousy towards him!!! Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him, so after dealing with his emotions, having them go thru some divinely discerned steps to test and teach his brothers’ hearts about honesty and at the same time accomplish the needed steps to deal rightly with the situation, he provided for their needs abundantly and moved them to Egypt to be near him and to care for them all well with the glorious riches of the Lord’s provision for them!!! Oh, have you ever heard of God’s grace moving in a heart??? It did thru Joseph!!!

After being reunited together again as family, their father passed away and the brothers out of fear of not knowing how Joseph would act towards them now that their father was dead, the brothers put words into a sent message to Joseph written in the personage of their dead father saying: “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of God of your father.” Joseph wept when he heard those words. His brothers stepped forward and bowed down before him just as the dream given to Joseph as a boy had revealed and they said to Joseph “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph seeing their worried hearts over their sin, Joseph spoke words of grace to them again, saying:

“Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:19-21

Oh our Father’s sweet loving grace is sooo beautiful in life to us as His kids of faith!!! Joseph’s words had to have been much to all their relief in more ways than one to see that the Lord had saved their bacon, so to speak – that means to save someone’s skin or neck or hide!!! Oh now that thought just makes me smile!!! 🙂

Oh they all came out smelling like a divine rose full of the fragrance of our Father’s love, power, grace and purpose!!!

That is what our sweet Jesus does for us as His kids as we look to him to help us in life!!!

What does our Father speak to your hearts as you reflect upon this story, sweet family??? In our life relationships, we are all human and we are in the midst of a spiritual battle between Satan and our Father. Satan is always seeking to destroy families and relationships and our Father is always working to save them and bring into them forgiveness, love, peace, purpose and His forever blessings.

As I reflect upon this story, these questions I reflect upon: Where do we need to trust our Father in difficult circumstances to “save our bacon”??? Where do we need to extend grace to bless others around us??? Where do we need to ask for forgiveness??? Where do we need to work together to bring about our Father’s will, His plan and His purpose??? Much love to you all wherever you are!!! I always say that everyday is like Christmas with Jesus with us as our Savior and this story of sweet reunion and reconciliation sure has a familiar ring to it as I think about how our sweet Father sent His One and only son into the world to save us, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life with Him in His eternal kingdom with us all as His beloved children of faith!!! Now if that don’t just wag the tail on the end of a puppy, I don’t know what will do so!!! 🙂

I love happy endings and all the in between, too – being in our good loving Father’s care always as we experience life together as His kids of faith!!! Father’s grace – it always finds us to save our bacon as this song says here!!! YYYIIIPPPEEE!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS SPIRIT TO YOU DEAR SAINTS!!!

YOU ARE ALL AWESOME AND WITH GOD WITH US, WE ARE ALL POWERFUL BY HIS DESIGN!!!

 

Delighting in the Glorious

It has been a busy day today as our Father has given me opportunity to be with several special people throughout the day and the thing that stands out to me today is that each one of them is sooo gloriously and divinely created and special in their very awesome own unique ways!!! I smile in great appreciation and respect for our Father as I think about His creation – it is all good!!! Have you ever looked upon animals and observed all of the very unique qualities and the divine distinct differences that each one has??? So it is with people, too!!!

Can you imagine if a lion looked upon a mouse and said I want to be like that and no longer liked itself as a lion, saw itself as less than the divine it was created to be, inadequate, or lacking in ability to do what it was supposed to do in life because it saw itself through trying to be a mouse or imagine perhaps a giraffe that said I want to be a turtle instead of how God made me!!! Why who would harvest of the high-up produce Father gave to the giraffe if there was no giraffe??? Who would eat the divinely provided produce to be harvested next to the ground if there were no turtles doing their part to eat what is theirs?!! There would be lack where our Father desired to have orchestrated completion to His creation and its purposes!!! Two things would be as a result upon the discontent, wishful mindset:

• They would miss out on the unique greatness of what they could be and do differently from any other given to them by the grace of God!!! There would not be the divine them to be and do what they were created to be, so the world would forever miss out on what God wanted to offer to the world thru them!!!
• In their discontent wishful thinking, they would also spend their life preoccupied with not being able to do things that is not for them to focus on in life, seeking at the being of a clone of God’s design rather than a special Masterpiece of their own. Being themselves, they would be focusing on what they were purposed to do and having the divine joy that comes from knowing they are representing God’s good creation thru them and it is not falling by the wayside of discontentment.

As our Father’s kids, we should not let the enemy, flesh or world drag oneself down with discontent of being what we are not instead of enjoying the exhilarating opportunity to be divine YOU and me with all our Father’s fine unique embellishments of how He created YOU and me to be!!! Amen?!!

We can admire and appreciate God’s grace in others without letting it take away from His grace in ourselves is what Father speaks to my heart today!!! There is a fine line between admiration, envy and jealousy in our relationships.  Each of them can be defined in these ways:

Admiration:

Admiration is to personally feel respect or approval for someone or something about a person. It is to look at something or someone with enjoyment or delight as King David wrote in Psalm 16:2-3 “I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.  As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.” Our Father admires us and “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) Every good and perfect gift is coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.”  (James 1:17)

Admiration of what our Father has created is good – what would change it from a good thing to a bad thing is to act upon the admiration in an ungodly way, a selfish way or to look upon it with distress when it shouldn’t distract from one’s own good. To view it with distraction from one’s own good would be called envy.”How can we praise our Father’s divine that we see in others to build them up in good ways and speak truth to ourselves, too???” Envy is different from admiration of what God has created.

Envy:

Envy differs from godly admiration in that it always has the attachment to it of an ungodly sense. Envy is a two-part relationship. It is seeing our self as inferior to another because the standard we use to see our self is not the true worth or quality of who we are created to be in Christ. Rather than resting in Christ’s truths, we compare ourselves with that of others based on our own way or the world’s way of thinking instead of our Father’s.  For example, I know there have been times I have thought with distress that I wish I had legs like that girl, thinking my own were inadequately created compared to hers, yet other people have seen the divine in my legs and complimented me on my own legs for being different from the divine way our Father made mine longer than theirs!!! lol Another example could be to distress wishing that I am sometimes male instead of a female!!! I have to repent of that in not appreciating my own uniqueness and His special creativity in me – in that it is to put down my Father’s perfect divine goodness and wisdom that He created into me for His purposes on earth for me, knowing that He has the best plan of good for me, my life, my purpose, my mindset and for others He places in my life.  He has a completely different setup for someone else’s divine creation!!! Both are divine Masterpieces and our Father’s heart for us when we see His divine in others is to rejoice when others rejoice!!! 🙂 Envy aims at wishing or rejoicing in the destruction of another’s good to better one’s own good in their own eyes. Our Father’s heart is to also mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)

Our Father’s Spirit made to dwell in us was not given that we should be given to envy. Questions to consider: “Do we perceive we are lacking in worth or qualities that we see in another that we want for ourself???” “What does our Father say about that???” Envy differs from jealousy in ways, too:

Jealousy:

Jealousy is a three-part relationship. It is to desire to have the same as another for oneself and in relationships, it includes a subject, a rival and a beloved. For example: In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain was moved by jealousy and killed his brother Abel because of jealousy for his beloved God’s approval. Our Father told Cain, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7) There was room in God’s love for both of them had Cain chose correctly. We know that in choosing our Father’s finished work on the cross for our sins, that we are forever accepted by our Father and our sacrifices for acceptance are no longer necessary!!! Bless Him!!! Religious leaders in the days of Jesus and His disciples were jealous of wanting the people’s approval and they moved with their envy to kill and persecute Jesus and His disciples. Had they chosen correctly, they could’ve had a love relationship with Jesus, His disciples and the people, too. Our Father is said to be jealous of us over any other relationship in our lives!!! He wants to be our first love as He should be!!! His is a righteous jealousy and he actively moves out of jealousy in good ways for our best interest!!! Jealousy is to be moved to seek or desire eagerly, to burn with jealousy!!! Jealousy could be an unhappy or angry feeling caused by the belief that someone  you love (such as your husband or wife) likes or is liked by someone else. If that feeling moves us energetically to act in sinful ways because of that, it would be to move in sinful jealousy without godly reason. Our Father calls us to love one another as He has loved us. Liking someone or being liked by someone is not sin so long as godly boundaries are not crossed. If godly boundaries are crossed, that is a different story. For example: If I have been jealous to want to have a brother, sister, family and ministry team that I like in my life because I like them and enjoy working with them, there is no sin in that if that is what my Father desires for me. If I continue to strive for that in an ungodly way, in that it is where my Father is saying no and those people are saying no and closing a door, I am in sin to continue to pursue that which is not of my Father. Our Father gives us the passion of heart and creates circumstances for us to be where He desires us to be. That is not wrong to have that divine heart passion for what He desires for us!!! For us to have the heart passion for ministry is sometimes a process for our Father to take us thru. Sometimes He has to completely close all doors on relationships before our heart finally is moved in agreement with our Father that the answer is no or He can keep open or reopen doors to bring about that which matches our heart desire.  Perhaps our heart isn’t desiring to go, but our Father’s voice is sooo loud for us to go, we can’t not go even though we may be afraid and need to step out in trusting Him!!! For me, if I wanted to partner with those relationships for any purpose other than what is for our Father’s divine heart for me, I would be moving in sinful jealousy to have relationships that belong to my Father for myself!!! I sense my heart is right in my heart towards relationships before my Father at this point in time and seek to keep my heart open to His voice and godly counsel as He leads!!! Bless Him for His heart to help us all in life as we seek Him!!!

Oh this is lots of food for thought and I hope this helps in some divine way as Father has laid it upon my heart to share as it has helped me to understand the differences between admiration, envy and jealousy. It has to do with our heart and only our Father can reveal our hearts to us each individually and what is the right to do in our interactions with people that He puts into our lives. “God works in us to will and act according to His purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) Our lives are a learning and growing process!!! Above all of our relationships, our sweet Jesus is the One in all the universe to be greatly admired and adored this Christmas and we can all have His peace and rest in heart knowing that He loves us all with unfailing, unconditional love and never will He leave us nor forsake us!!! YAY!!! Know that you are divinely loved forever and we are all His forever kingdom family!!!

The power of our Father’s perfect love for us helps us to be able to see Him, ourselves and others in healthy godly loving ways!!! This song talks of the power of our Father’s love here. Let us draw near to Him to hear His beautiful heart that delights in each of us and can help us each to delight in the glorious of our Father in each of us!!! It is what will bring us the right heart – the divine heart that will bring with it divine peace that just makes us smile!!! 🙂

 

 

The Divine in Numbers

It’s a day in which we can see it as a holy joyful day, dear family of saints, for our Father sees us all as His holy kids of faith as we look to His finished work on the cross for us to rescue us from the wages of sin, reconcile us into a perfect love relationship with Him, indwell us to empower us and guide us divinely to be His love and light into the world and bless us with forever life in His victorious heavenly kingdom!!! YYYIIIPPPEEEE!!! Jesus said His heart for us as His kids is “that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) Jesus also told us that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses into in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Jesus gives us the power of Him in us thru our faith in Him, not so that we can promote ourselves in this life, but so that we can promote Him into this world.

Oh He is sooo awesome and “perfect/purrfect” for all the world to see!!!

Given this roaring Holy Spirit power of the Lion of the tribe of Judah as Jesus is referenced in the Bible (Revelation 5:5), our Father’s heart wants us to understand that while His power in us can enable us to do all things that He calls us to do as an individual, our Father has never desired that we choose to see our self as the complete church in our self.

To see our self as the complete church in oneself, could look like having an outlook that “one person hears from God and nobody else does.” That is certainly not of our Father because He calls us to be family and to love each other, help each other, to seek godly counsel from each other, to strengthen and encourage each other and all the more as we see the day of His return to earth approaching!!! His Word tells us:

“…so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Romans 12:5

In Christ, we have one mind, one heart and one Spirit in common as His divine family of saints – His divine eyesight!!! His sight is the best!!!

When we hear the heart of others, we should not dismiss what they share with us as not being from God, dear ones, but to take what is shared before our Father and ask Him for His heart in it for us as His kids. He tells us that He works good through all things and therefore, there can be a nugget of gold in all things that are put before us. It may be that something shared is something that is true of us, that is true to our circumstance, a warning of caution that something that could be or become, a motive check or test of our heart in a situation or something perhaps our Father wants us to see that maybe doesn’t pertain to our own life, but in seeing it, it could help someone else should our Father want to speak it to them thru us as He guides us!!! Now how exciting is all of that to hear to consider for us all as family to help us see the divine as Father reveals it!!! The point of all of this is, that no person is an island by themselves on the ocean of our Father’s grace flowing upon the shores of our hearts as His kids of faith. It is His living waters that saturate the holy ground of our hearts for His divine purposes!!!

When we see each other as a gift from our Father into our lives, we can appreciate the power of His grace in each one of us. It doesn’t matter how young or old one is or how long they have walked with Christ, our Father’s Spirit of power can speak and work through any of His kids in sufficient ways to get His will accomplished through each one of us!!! Is there power in one with the holy One Jesus – the answer is yes!!!

Oh with the gift of His Spirit with each one of us individually at work, it is just like Christmas everyday – evergreen thriving life with everlasting life blessings for us each one!!! 🙂

Is there power in all of our Father’s kids together – the answer is yes!!! Is it all from Jesus’ grace – yes!!! Therefore, there is divine in all numbers of our Father’s family of saints and that includes you and me, sweet family!!! We need our Father and each other always!!! Apart from Jesus, none of us could do anything, neither would we be anything or have anything!!! Who is that mighty powerful ONE – none other than JESUS!!! 🙂 Oh I am sooo thankful we have Him and that our Father has created us to be His forever family!!! Together we are a powerful family to make a divine difference in this world for our heavenly kingdom home!!! Oh now that all just makes me smile!!!

As we whom Father has put here consider these thoughts, we can know that each one of us is oh sooo special and we each shine Jesus in our own unique way that we and the whole world needs!!! YYYEEESSS WE CAN!!! Shine on as the you and Jesus team Christmas gift to the whole world as only you can!!! If the gift of you is never opened up and shared in the world, the world will forever miss out on the divineness of you and Father team!!! Oh I am sooo excited to see and hear the gift of the power of God in you and thru you!!! Let us behold  all the good our Father has for us with Him in us!!!

Much love to you precious saints!!!

Oh fire us up with your power, Lord Jesus as this song says here!!! WOOOHOOO!!! Oh that all makes me feel so warmed by Father’s powerful love and grace upon us all each one together – our forever family heavenly home fires burning within us bright!!! RRROOOAAARRR STRONG AND COURAGEOUS WITH HIS SPIRIT AFLAME IN YOU!!!! 🙂

 

The Savior

Our sweet Father has risen up light in the sky to help us to see as we journey thru life today. Bless Him!!! The darkness of the night has passed and I am raised up rested in the love of my Father for me as I begin this day!!! Off to a divine start, I am and because I know that Jesus is with me, I know it is going to be a divine day all day long until Father lowers the sun and raises up the moon as His children seek sleep again.  I smile as I think about it like it is just one of our Father’s many ways of love for me as this Idaho kid!!! How do you see His divine love revealed to you where you are???

Oh our Father shows us His love and faithfulness to us in sooo many ways!!! In the Christmas story, our Father did a similar thing with light to lead the three wise men to where Jesus was born so that they could make connection with Him, worship Him and give to Him their gift offerings of love to Him!!! Because they had a heart for Jesus and His kingdom, they had connection with Him and His divine guidance and the blessings of doing life with the King of kings and Lord of lords. A heart that seeks after the kingdom of Jesus to bless Him thru worship and sharing our gifts with Him in life makes a difference and we see that example in the story of the three wise men!!!

In this story of the three wise men seeking the kingdom of Jesus, there was an example of what the opposite of what it looks like on a life to not seek after the kingdom of Jesus!!! YIKES!!! An earthly king by the name of Herod who had his heart set on building his own kingdom chose to work against Jesus. His mindset of wanting to protect his own kingship and kingdom was that “I can’t be hurt if I’m in control” and when he learned there was a new King born that the three wise men sought his counsel on, Herod became intent on destroying Jesus. Therefore, he tried to manipulate the three wise men into telling him where Jesus was when they found him.

When the three wise men didn’t do so because our Father had given them insight into Herod’s evil scheme, Herod became furious and sought out to have every boy two and under destroyed in hopes of also destroying Jesus!!! How sad for sooo many that lost loved ones over one person who was not willing to let Jesus love him and help him be a divine earthly king with the help of the God of the universe guiding him. If he had only chosen to unite in relationship with Jesus and team with the three wise men with a heart to also worship and gift Jesus, his life could’ve been eternally different. His plan for control so that  he wouldn’t be hurt forever backed fired on him. Our Father never intended any one person to work without Him or without the others our Father has put around us to help us in life!!! Our Father said of the first man – it is not good for man to be alone, so He made him a suitable helper. Do you seek Jesus and the godly counsel of others in your life, dear ones or are you seeking to do life all alone??? Where do you need help in finding Jesus??? Who has our Father put before you that can assist you in that???

Well, the good news is that Joseph, Mary and Jesus escaped king Herod’s efforts to destroy Jesus and that is why we celebrate Christmas today!!! WOOOHOOO!!! I love our Father’s victory for us as His kids!!! Jesus always has the triumph and He always leads us as His children of faith in triumphant procession as we seek Him!!! Oh I’m sooo thankful that the presence of Jesus has been revealed by our Father’s light to each of us and that we have His indwelling presence with us to guide us by His holy light through all of this earthly life into His forever kingdom of forever Christmas bliss!!! Oh now that just makes me forever smiling!!! Enjoy His presence with you, precious saints and let us worship Him and bless Him with our gifts of love, not because we have to, but because we get to!!! Oh what a privilege and honor it is to be invited to join Him in forever life!!! Blessed kids are we!!! Much love to you wherever you travel with Jesus guiding you today!!! I am sooo thankful our Father has put you in my life with me so that we can work together to go where Jesus is leading us to be with Him where He is wanting us!!! Loving Jesus and loving one another – it’s how our Father intended it as this song says here.

Is Jesus your Savior for all of life??? Are you for His Kingdom???

Drawing Close to the King

New day greetings, precious family!!! Many years ago, a King was born into this world and while He was from a royal family, He chose to present Himself into the world in a humble appearance by being born in a lowly manger. While He was the King of  kings and the Lord of lords, He left His heavenly throne to come into this earth to love and save people from the work of the enemy Satan who enticed God’s people into sin as they sought to live out their lives on earth. Because they fell into Satan’s scheming to act contrary to our Father’s heart for them, they were thus separated forever from our Father who created us and desires to have us as His beloved family forever. Father’s solution was to Himself come into the world to take upon Himself the wages of sin which was death – death on a cross!!! He ascended into the pit of hell, took back the keys to open up the door to our forever freedom from sin’s eternal consequences so that we could be forgiven, be reconciled to our Father and have eternal life in His paradise Kingdom of heaven coming soon!!! There will be no more problems with the enemy of this world there!!! WOOOHOOO!!! GLORY!!! THANK YOU FATHER FOR RESCUING US THRU FAITH AS YOU SAY:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life in Him.”

John 3:16

Upon faith, we each have been drawn close into a reconciled relationship to our Father the King and He has given us eternal position as His royal children, heirs to all of the glorious riches of His Kingdom with Christ!!! Now “see what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” (1 John 3:1) Oh I love that thought that we are our Father’s beloved children to let Father reveal Himself thru us to the world – it just makes me smile to think of the whole world knowing our sweet Father who is all that is all wise, good, right, true, of our rescue, power and love!!! 🙂

As our Father’s children, upon faith in Him, us being drawn into close relationship with Him as King, His Spirit indwells our hearts and gives us each one unique spiritual gifts and abilities to be in the position to be earthly vessels of His love and His light in this world as He enables us to be. When we see His glory manifested through people, we can know that it is our Father and His gift of grace that is enabling them to do what they do in life and not the person themselves. We may idolize our Father’s gifting of grace thru them, but not the person themselves. Our Father tells us in His Word that apart from Him, none of us can do anything, nor would we be anything or have anything. We ourselves are not the King and not worthy of praise and adoration in ourselves. We can however, encourage and love one another, spurring each other on to love and good deeds and remind each other of our love and standing in Christ Jesus in this world!!! Our Father tells us to and that His Word is useful to do so:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

2 Timothy 3:16

To draw near to someone thinking that a person can give us position, power or fame is to put our hopes in what is false, dear family!!! We may have people in our lives that we enjoy working with and we appreciate their giftedness and heart of divine purpose that our Father puts us with, but only our Father can put us in life where He wants us and them to be and it is His favor and purpose for us that always prevails. I am sooo thankful Father has us in His grip in life!!! He can raise people up to certain positions and He can pull them down as He desires to put us all where we are supposed to be for His divine purposes. His place for us in life is always divine and oh, that is sure where we need to be for the divine to happen – amen, sweet saints?!!

King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible is an example to learn from, in that he by God’s favor had been given an earthly king position who accomplished much with the Lord’s help and when he started to take credit for the accomplishments as of himself, he found himself in the state of madness for a period of 7 years in the desert until he acknowledged that the source of his accomplishment was because of God at work thru him. The lesson we as our Father’s people can learn from this story is that we ourselves cannot be successful in seeking our own position in life – only our Father can bring about His fruitfulness into the world thru His people as we draw close to Him as our King of Glory!!! He chose the disciples to be in the position of being with Him when He walked the earth and He calls each one of us to be His disciples as well to walk with Him in close relationship to Him and to those He calls us to and enables us to do life with.

Wise people like the wise men in the Christmas story still seek to draw close to the King – the King Jesus and in so doing, they find the divine position of being able to experience doing life in the presence of He who is with us always!!! Never will He leave us nor forsake us and nothing can ever separate us from His love and presence that is forever ours through our faith in Him as our King and Savior!!!

Enjoy His presence with you, guiding you wherever He has placed you in life, dear ones and know that it is for a divine purpose where you are!!! I am sooo proud of you for seeking close relationship with Jesus and for being a vessel willing to let Him work thru you to carry out His will, plan and purpose in this world!!! Oh you and Jesus team make a difference together like nobody else in this world!!! Rock on with Jesus and know that you are loved forever as sons and daughters of the all victorious King!!! Here is a song that we can reflect upon today as His kids about drawing close to Jesus!!! Merry Christmas Spirit be with you all wherever you are!!!

Stand for Jesus

Have you ever had a favorite preacher before??? A church that you choose to attend or partake of because you are able to relate well to the light of our Father by that particular person’s unique style the Holy Spirit manifests through them??? It can be the way the whole church family works together and manifests the light of Christ together that makes a difference in your spiritual walk with Christ.  Perhaps it is their youth group ministry that draws you because you have a heart for ministry to youth and you are in agreement with the style of ministry a particular church puts forth to that particular group of people.

It is very common for people to say I want to attend this church or I want to be part of this group or read this person’s writing or I want to listen to this person’s music or I like this person’s cooking, art, photography, unique ministry outreach that is different from anything I have seen before. It blesses you in a good way!!! Finding the right church is something that is spiritually beneficial to you and inspires you in your own heart to reach out for the cause of Christ in the world!!! That’s awesome to find that just right spiritual niche in life where you are spiritually ministered to and where you can also minister to the glory of our King!!! Many people are still searching for it and travel from church to church looking for it!!! Our Father can guide each of us to where the right place for us each is as we seek His wisdom on it!!! Many have found their niche and are happy to be where they are and if you haven’t already, you will find the right place for you as well!!!

People of yesterdays were searching also.  Jesus was a man on this earth filled with the Spirit of our Father in a unique way that made a difference to many!!!  During His mission on earth, He was different from anything the people had ever experienced before. Upon hearing Him and seeing the divine power of our Father working through Him that brought healing and sight to many and set them free from the bondage of the Law in accordance with His love and knowledge of Scripture, many men and women believed in Him and wanted to follow Him to the dismay and jealousy of religious leaders who wanted the people to follow them instead. They ultimately crucified Him on the cross because of His faithfulness to His Father and the love that He had for people to know the Truth and be set free from the Old Testament Law by the Truth.

Jesus told His disciples the same thing would happen to them as His followers, in that there would be people that hated them. He said if they hate you, it is because they hated me first. Whenever there is hate, the question must be asked what is at the heart motive of it. Perhaps there is a truth that when seen, it can make a difference between hating and loving.  That is always a divine hope as our Father doesn’t want any to perish. It can be challenging to be a follower of Jesus where He puts you. Jesus said seeking after Him could even result in split relationships:

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Mark 13:12

In this life there are people who either love Jesus or hate Him. I want to encourage you, dear family to never be ashamed in following, speaking out for or seeking Jesus because in the end it will have made an eternal difference and Jesus will keep us forever safe and forever loved with His unfailing, unconditional love. Jesus is always worth it!!! It delights Jesus when those who fear (reverence) Him hope in His unfailing love. (Psalm 147:11) He also tells us that when persecution comes, “not to worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given to you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”  (Mark 13:11) He also tells us as His children of faith:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

“Whose your Daddy?” I’m a gal standing for Jesus as mine as this song says here. Sooo proud of you for standing for the cause of Jesus, too, precious saints!!! Rock on!!! You are awesome in wanting the best for our Father’s people and His kingdom!!! 🙂

The Strong Anchor Within Us

Hi, dear family!!! I sooo love the connection that we have together as the family of Jesus!!! It is sooo precious to me and I see it as a gift from our Father who loves us!!! He intends us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love one another as ourselves!!! He is all about love because He IS love!!! I love that about our Father!!! 🙂

I have taken a few days away from writing this past week, in part to do some pondering about some subjects my Father was laying upon my heart. I want to share with you today a concept that is very healthy to understand for us as people who have hearts that our Father describes like this:

“What a man (woman) desires is unfailing love.”

Proverbs 19:22 NIV

The unfailing love that all people desire can only be found in Jesus whose Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts upon personal faith in His finished work on the cross for the wages of all people’s sins. Upon our faith in His work there on the cross for each of us as individuals, He is now always with us as He promises: “never will I leave you nor forsake you.”  (Hebrews 13:5) He loves us with unfailing, unconditional love forever!!! As a result of that special relationship, He is always there to hear our hearts and to give us Godly counsel as we seek Him with all our heart. We need to take the time to hear Him in life!!!

I am sooo thankful to have a personal relationship with Jesus, the Creator of all of life as a safe and true anchor for my soul always!!! This is important because no other person in our lives can be this for us!!!

In life, we can have connection with people, but it is very important to always only let Jesus be our “attachment” – our anchor of hope, love and help that holds us attached to Him secure forever. Nothing can separate us from Him as His kids of faith!!! The Apostle Paul shared about how God has worked in the lives of people and He made His promises, His oath to us so that:

“…we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

Hebrews 6:18-19 NIV

The Apostle Paul does not specifically talk about what it is that was fled from in this passage, but in this life where the enemy of the world is always at work to destroy God’s people, there are always matters of life that can wound our hearts. Our Father tells us Satan is the root of all things that are contrary to our Father’s heart of love:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Ephesians 6:12 NIV

The victory in all of our struggles is found in Jesus!!! Often Jesus works through godly counsel, coaches and therapists to inspire us and help us live life best and victoriously!!! Often that can be to help someone replace the harmful inner voice of the enemy that we as people find ourselves seeking help to silence, replacing it with the unfailing love and truth of our Father that we all sooo desperately desire and need!!! When that counsel or help enters into our lives, it is common for a person to want to develop a strong attachment to that source of healing because of the comfort it brings to us. We don’t want to lose that special gift!!! That connection, though, needs to help us find the true anchor of our soul (Jesus) within ourselves in which to heal those deep-seated wounds and frustrations of heart. The role of the counselor, advisor, coach or therapist is to help that personal relationship with the anchor of Christ be developed so that traumas can be transferred to Jesus to transform us successfully into our post-trauma selves that is renewed with an outcome as healed, confident, sure-footed, standing in peace and reliant upon truth rather than living in fear and the discouragement of enemy lies.

Given all of these thoughts, it changes how we see people in life!!! Rather than seeking to hang on for dear life to people as necessities to feed our souls, we can appreciate their help in our lives as a source of help in the process of finding the true anchor Christ’s truth for us as individuals. Ultimately, we need to be able to find the anchor Jesus’ truth on our own with Him leading us, rather than attaching ourselves to or becoming overly dependent on someone long term to always give us answers when our answers need to come from our anchor Jesus personally.  A counselor, advisor, or therapist is a professional relationship and designed to, at some point, end with the individual able to live life successfully independent from them. At the same time of succeeding in living independent from counsel, the individual is now personally attached, dependent, anchored securely in life in personal relationship with Christ!!! Now how awesome is that to be able to be secure in Christ Jesus!!!  There are no guarantees in life that a person will always be there for us. That is why we need to be securely anchored in personal relationship with Christ Jesus and be able to hear His heart for us individually and be capable of living independently with Him guiding us on our own as much as possible!!! (I do understand there are some circumstances where individuals are just not able to take care of themselves. Jesus has provision for and answers for those situations!!!) There are also circumstances where there are long-term coaches such as Pastors of churches and coaches of teams, however, even in those relationships, there are limitations as to how much these can assist individuals. They are to be healthy connections and not people to become attached to in place of Christ in our personal lives. How do you see the healthy difference between having healthy connections in life with people verses being attached to someone overly dependent on them in your life, dear saints???

In light of seeking to have Jesus as our personal anchor in life, what is an issue of heart that you need help with for being anchored secure in His truth and love for you, dear one??? Work with our Father leading you to find the truth in your situation in these ways:

• Pray to Jesus and ask Him to help you with the matter on your heart.
• What does His written Word say about it? You can google His Word on a topic or use a concordance to look up Bible references on the subject. Consider the Word as a whole book and in context.
• Talk to godly counsel, advisors or therapists. Realize God will never lead you contrary to His Word. Godly counsel has training and wisdom from experience to share and that makes them valuable as a helpful resource, but several opinions are good to weigh. Our Father tells us: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22) Sometimes being busy and on the go in life, having people who can focus on life issues to provide summary on topics for you is a huge blessing!!!
• What are life circumstances telling you? Jesus can speak by opening and closing doors to guide us to where we are to be.
• When you have all of this information gathered, go back to Jesus and ask Him for His final guidance in making a decision for victory!!! What is His inner voice saying to you personally??? Make the decision and go with it into life confidently!!! He leads us step by step as we go along and often we do not have all the answers all at once!!! Start where He shows you and then seek Him for the next steps through life!!! He is faithful to us as we seek Him!!! He wants to help us have victory!!!

Oh there is nothing like the power of the love of Jesus in our lives as this song says here. He is always there for us as His kids of faith!!! Now how awesome is that!!! He delights in us!!! You are loved with the everlasting love of Jesus wherever you are, dear saint!!! May you know the anchor of Him in your heart that always holds you close to Him and is there to help you always!!!