Jesus does certainly love you. Sometimes we use this so much that it can sound trite. We need to remember how true it is and how important this simple statement is. Let's look at John 3:17: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He just wants to show us to the Father because the Father loves us so much. Is there really much more to say? Get it into your spirit today that JESUS LOVES YOU.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Walking with My Father
We enter a new season in September. My favorite of them all: autumn. Up north the leaves will already be changing to brilliant orange, red, gold. It means winter is coming, but winter also means cuddling up in a warm place. These are places to cherish, just like in the arms of our Heavenly Father.
Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. When we have Jesus Christ living in our hearts, being Lord of our lives, our minds, our wills, our emotions, then we can truly come to the Father through His perfect will.
The arms of the Father is a safe place to be. A comforting place to be. A wholesome place to be. A quiet place to be. He is not caught up in the rat race of society. He is calm, peaceful, and trusting. He is made of Love. He knows all, is all, and has always been. Why don't we trust Him more?
Let's trust Him more through this new and wonderful autumn season. Let's trust Him even more as the winter season approaches. Let's walk with our Father, hand in hand, and experience His gentle breezes, His arms of Love.
God bless you.
Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. When we have Jesus Christ living in our hearts, being Lord of our lives, our minds, our wills, our emotions, then we can truly come to the Father through His perfect will.
The arms of the Father is a safe place to be. A comforting place to be. A wholesome place to be. A quiet place to be. He is not caught up in the rat race of society. He is calm, peaceful, and trusting. He is made of Love. He knows all, is all, and has always been. Why don't we trust Him more?
Let's trust Him more through this new and wonderful autumn season. Let's trust Him even more as the winter season approaches. Let's walk with our Father, hand in hand, and experience His gentle breezes, His arms of Love.
God bless you.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The Envelope, Please
This blog entry is not about Hollywood and its glamor of winning an earthly reward. It is about boundaries. Allow me to explain.
In technical terms, and envelope is a limit within which an aircraft or electronic system may be safely operated. To push the envelope is to stretch the established limits or boundaries.
We all need boundaries, envelopes, in our lives to "envelope" us for our own protection. Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Part of that guarding experience is to set healthy boundaries around ourselves, be they emotional, physical or otherwise.
We must set such boundaries at the prison ministry with the men and women we write to. For example, today I received a letter from a man who thought I had sprayed his "I AM FREE" letter with perfume. I did not, but I can see (we probably all can) how the enemy can come in and plant false assumptions in our minds and make us think that one thing is something that it is not. Therefore, let us use the envelope technique and safely operate within the limits of God's word.
In technical terms, and envelope is a limit within which an aircraft or electronic system may be safely operated. To push the envelope is to stretch the established limits or boundaries.
We all need boundaries, envelopes, in our lives to "envelope" us for our own protection. Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Part of that guarding experience is to set healthy boundaries around ourselves, be they emotional, physical or otherwise.
We must set such boundaries at the prison ministry with the men and women we write to. For example, today I received a letter from a man who thought I had sprayed his "I AM FREE" letter with perfume. I did not, but I can see (we probably all can) how the enemy can come in and plant false assumptions in our minds and make us think that one thing is something that it is not. Therefore, let us use the envelope technique and safely operate within the limits of God's word.
Friday, September 10, 2010
A New Day
Greetings! Jesus said, "Behold, I make all things new" in Revelation 21:5. This is a new day, a new time, a new thought, a new blog, a new emotion, a new stroke of the keys, a new font size. Everything is new. His mercies are new every morning. He gives a new measure of faith and new vision to those who seek Him in spirit and in truth.
New can be defined as: of recent origin; of a kind now existing or appearing for the first time; having but lately or but now come into knowledge; unfamiliar or strange; accustomed; fresh or unused.
That's quite a list. It should make us think. When the unfamiliar creeps into our lives as God raises us to a new level in Him, it might feel strange and unaccustomed. It will most certainly be uncomfortable. But it is oh so necessary. If we want to grow, we must experience the new.
Please pray for our prison pen pals as they both experience the new and resist the new. Some of them sit in solitary cells for 23 hours a day. They need the new to change their thought patterns, their habits. They need the new to believe that a new day has dawned and that Jesus always did, still does, and always will love them.
We need the new here in the office to experience necessary changes, learn about budgeting, and communication skills. We need new challenges and new ways of expression that bring a fresh spirit of God's eternal joy.
Bless us, Father, as we go through the new. It may hurt, but it will advance us into the next level with our precious Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who is dwelling within us.
Can I get an amen?!
New can be defined as: of recent origin; of a kind now existing or appearing for the first time; having but lately or but now come into knowledge; unfamiliar or strange; accustomed; fresh or unused.
That's quite a list. It should make us think. When the unfamiliar creeps into our lives as God raises us to a new level in Him, it might feel strange and unaccustomed. It will most certainly be uncomfortable. But it is oh so necessary. If we want to grow, we must experience the new.
Please pray for our prison pen pals as they both experience the new and resist the new. Some of them sit in solitary cells for 23 hours a day. They need the new to change their thought patterns, their habits. They need the new to believe that a new day has dawned and that Jesus always did, still does, and always will love them.
We need the new here in the office to experience necessary changes, learn about budgeting, and communication skills. We need new challenges and new ways of expression that bring a fresh spirit of God's eternal joy.
Bless us, Father, as we go through the new. It may hurt, but it will advance us into the next level with our precious Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who is dwelling within us.
Can I get an amen?!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Count It All Joy
Remember that no matter what you may be going through, GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD. He is faithful even when we are faithless because He cannot deny Himself. You are in good hands with our Heavenly Father. Jesus loves you too much to leave you the way your are. He is always looking to change us: our desires, our hearts. Praise Him when you are going through the white hot fire because He is going through it with you.
2 Peter 1:2 says, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and in Jesus our Lord." Grace is something that we don't deserve but receive anyway. Dictionary.com says peace is a freedom of mind; it is also the normal state of a nation not at war. We can have all of this, even in times of stress and turmoil.
God is good. God is faithful. God never changes. The same God that was with Moses is with You.
Bless you in the Name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Pray for those in prison, for those being released from prison who may have nowhere to go, or are going back to their old connections, and pray for us as we minister the Word of God to them.
2 Peter 1:2 says, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and in Jesus our Lord." Grace is something that we don't deserve but receive anyway. Dictionary.com says peace is a freedom of mind; it is also the normal state of a nation not at war. We can have all of this, even in times of stress and turmoil.
God is good. God is faithful. God never changes. The same God that was with Moses is with You.
Bless you in the Name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Pray for those in prison, for those being released from prison who may have nowhere to go, or are going back to their old connections, and pray for us as we minister the Word of God to them.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Stormy Wednesday
I sit at the right hand side of "I AM FREE" Prison Ministry director Mark Soto. He tried to do it without me, but . . . . (Oh, sorry, Mark, you read this too.) The great experience of this job is that not only do we take joy in ministering to souls in prison, but they minister right back to us as well. We enjoy reading their letters and discovering their voice--that they crave freedom and their daily bread, but mostly they need Jesus to transform their lives. We ALL need Jesus to transform our lives! (Am I the only one?) Okay, so I'm stealing Mark's words with that one, but it is true that what you and I need is the same as those who sit in their cells facing their own thoughts. We all end up in the same place: face to face with Jesus Christ.
Bless Everyone who reads this blog and grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, remembering always that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Bless Everyone who reads this blog and grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, remembering always that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)