The Bible says that for the JOY set before Him Jesus endured the cross! I was thinking about that scripture this morning and just heard in my heart, "Can you endure the cross that is set before you in order to obtain the joy that is also set before you?"
We all have different crosses to bear, but we all have one in common, "the flesh". We all have to crucify our flesh daily because it is an enemy of our spirit and of the Holy Spirit! Our flesh will always complain and try to stop us from pursuing the things of God.
Can you endure the cross that is set before you in order to obtain the joy? The joy of reward in not only the life to come, but in this life as well? Jesus promises reward here on earth and also our eternal reward.
If it was just the eternal reward alone it would be worth it!!!!!
I want to say that if anyone reading this wants a scripture reference and I haven't given one just ask. You can leave a comment in the comment section or contact me some other way!
Thought for the day - Keep your eyes on the Joy set before you!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Revelation!!!
The last couple weeks have been AMAZING for me! Why, you ask? Well, I got a revelation! Now, I want all of YOU to get a revelation too!
What was my revelation, you ask?
I AM the righteousness of Christ! I am worthy! Worthy means, full of worth! I am valuable to Jesus. I can always approach the throne of God with no hesitation because "There is therefore, NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!!!!"
Well, you might say, haven't you known that for years now? I mean you've been a Christian for years. It's kind of hard to explain but I'll try. Yes, I have known this for years. But it's almost as if I haven't been able to truly receive. I mean, it's been preached to me and preached to me. But for some reason, I have always, deep inside, felt unworthy. Sometimes I would feel that I couldn't worship because I would be worrying about my failures. Sometimes I would feel that I couldn't pray because I haven't been perfect the last 24 hours. I've sinned, I've made some pretty big mistakes. Somewhere deep inside, where I didn't know it, I felt shame, I always felt "less". Does that make sense? I didn't do it consciously but it was always there.
Listen to me friends, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR!!! He will always try to make us feel ashamed and make us feel unworthy.
OK so, how did I get this revelation? Well, to start out with, I prayed and prayed and prayed for it. Then God showed me something. Even though this has been preached to me for years, I needed to get into the Word of God and get this revelation for myself. To me, it means so much more to be reading the Bible and get understanding for yourself because this is something that no one can ever take away from you. You cannot be shaken if your foundation is built on the revelation of the Word of God! Especially those revelations that you have gotten yourself! You will be like a tree planted by the waters, unable to be moved!
I really really love the Amplified Bible. In my opinion it brings out the truest meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew text. It does take longer to read but it is worth it!
So I started reading Romans in the Amplified Bible and low and behold I discovered that God has given me his righteousness as a gift. If I have accepted Him as my Saviour and asked for forgiveness of sin then I am righteous. God just loves me so much that He wants to be with me 24 hours a day, so He made me clean and righteous for His good pleasure! So He can be with me now, all day every day and so He can be with me for all of eternity! Praise God!
Here is an example of a portion of text from the Amplified Bible:
Romans 3:23-25
Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives: All are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,
Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith.
This chapter is so good I encourage you to read it all. Read the whole book of Romans in the Amplified if you can. It is so good to read it again and again and just let the revelation soak in.
So the good news is, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are acceptable to Him. You are not acceptable one minute and then unacceptable the next. You are always acceptable, always welcome in His courts. You are so full of worth. If you don't think so, then take a look at the picture of Jesus on the cross. If you would have been the only person alive on earth, Jesus still would have died for you! Do you know how Jesus endured the cross? By keeping His eyes on the joy set before Him. What is the joy set before Him? Eternity with YOU!
Give God some praise!!!
What was my revelation, you ask?
I AM the righteousness of Christ! I am worthy! Worthy means, full of worth! I am valuable to Jesus. I can always approach the throne of God with no hesitation because "There is therefore, NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!!!!"
Well, you might say, haven't you known that for years now? I mean you've been a Christian for years. It's kind of hard to explain but I'll try. Yes, I have known this for years. But it's almost as if I haven't been able to truly receive. I mean, it's been preached to me and preached to me. But for some reason, I have always, deep inside, felt unworthy. Sometimes I would feel that I couldn't worship because I would be worrying about my failures. Sometimes I would feel that I couldn't pray because I haven't been perfect the last 24 hours. I've sinned, I've made some pretty big mistakes. Somewhere deep inside, where I didn't know it, I felt shame, I always felt "less". Does that make sense? I didn't do it consciously but it was always there.
Listen to me friends, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR!!! He will always try to make us feel ashamed and make us feel unworthy.
OK so, how did I get this revelation? Well, to start out with, I prayed and prayed and prayed for it. Then God showed me something. Even though this has been preached to me for years, I needed to get into the Word of God and get this revelation for myself. To me, it means so much more to be reading the Bible and get understanding for yourself because this is something that no one can ever take away from you. You cannot be shaken if your foundation is built on the revelation of the Word of God! Especially those revelations that you have gotten yourself! You will be like a tree planted by the waters, unable to be moved!
I really really love the Amplified Bible. In my opinion it brings out the truest meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew text. It does take longer to read but it is worth it!
So I started reading Romans in the Amplified Bible and low and behold I discovered that God has given me his righteousness as a gift. If I have accepted Him as my Saviour and asked for forgiveness of sin then I am righteous. God just loves me so much that He wants to be with me 24 hours a day, so He made me clean and righteous for His good pleasure! So He can be with me now, all day every day and so He can be with me for all of eternity! Praise God!
Here is an example of a portion of text from the Amplified Bible:
Romans 3:23-25
Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives: All are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,
Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith.
This chapter is so good I encourage you to read it all. Read the whole book of Romans in the Amplified if you can. It is so good to read it again and again and just let the revelation soak in.
So the good news is, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are acceptable to Him. You are not acceptable one minute and then unacceptable the next. You are always acceptable, always welcome in His courts. You are so full of worth. If you don't think so, then take a look at the picture of Jesus on the cross. If you would have been the only person alive on earth, Jesus still would have died for you! Do you know how Jesus endured the cross? By keeping His eyes on the joy set before Him. What is the joy set before Him? Eternity with YOU!
Give God some praise!!!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Unconditional Love
God gave me this commission two weeks ago and He wanted me to share it with you, (that is anyone who is willing to read this).
You see, God loves each of us unconditionally. While we were still SINNERS, Christ died for us. It can be hard to love unlovable people. People who are mean, rude, uncaring, don't attract our affections. But God loved us, while we were this way, enough that He was willing to die for us so that He could be with us for all of eternity.
God, told me that Sunday a couple of weeks ago, that He wants me to begin to practice this kind of love toward all the people in my life. First my spouse and children. Then my extended family, friends, and acquaintances. And last strangers that I will run across. Unconditional love. What does that mean exactly? To me, the purest definition is love with no strings attached. It means I choose to love you no matter how you act toward me. You may disappoint me, irritate me, or completely fail me and I will still love you. It means actively loving by serving you, praying for you, being compassionate and kind toward you, and by always giving you the benefit of the doubt.
So with the Grace of God and to the best of my ability in Him, I pledge to love those in my life unconditionally. I hope you will too.
Lastly I want to share an excerpt from the devotional book I like called God Calling.
This is God directly talking to us.
"Never judge. The heart of man is so delicate, so complex, only its Maker can know it. Each heart is so different, actuated by different motives, controlled by different circumstances, influenced by different sufferings.
How can one judge of another? Leave it to Me the unravelling of the puzzles of life. Leave to Me the teaching of understanding. Bring each heart to Me, its Maker, and leave it with Me. Secure in the certainty that all that is wrong I can set right."
Isn't that profound? I love it! I choose to love unconditionally! Will I ever mess up? Yes! And I hope you will still love me unconditionally...
You see, God loves each of us unconditionally. While we were still SINNERS, Christ died for us. It can be hard to love unlovable people. People who are mean, rude, uncaring, don't attract our affections. But God loved us, while we were this way, enough that He was willing to die for us so that He could be with us for all of eternity.
God, told me that Sunday a couple of weeks ago, that He wants me to begin to practice this kind of love toward all the people in my life. First my spouse and children. Then my extended family, friends, and acquaintances. And last strangers that I will run across. Unconditional love. What does that mean exactly? To me, the purest definition is love with no strings attached. It means I choose to love you no matter how you act toward me. You may disappoint me, irritate me, or completely fail me and I will still love you. It means actively loving by serving you, praying for you, being compassionate and kind toward you, and by always giving you the benefit of the doubt.
So with the Grace of God and to the best of my ability in Him, I pledge to love those in my life unconditionally. I hope you will too.
Lastly I want to share an excerpt from the devotional book I like called God Calling.
This is God directly talking to us.
"Never judge. The heart of man is so delicate, so complex, only its Maker can know it. Each heart is so different, actuated by different motives, controlled by different circumstances, influenced by different sufferings.
How can one judge of another? Leave it to Me the unravelling of the puzzles of life. Leave to Me the teaching of understanding. Bring each heart to Me, its Maker, and leave it with Me. Secure in the certainty that all that is wrong I can set right."
Isn't that profound? I love it! I choose to love unconditionally! Will I ever mess up? Yes! And I hope you will still love me unconditionally...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Stellan
Today, I am thinking of baby Stellan and his family. Stellan is a 5 month old baby who is going into a very risky heart surgery right now, even as I type. His is an amazing story of God's grace. If you want to check out his story here is the website http://mycharmingkids.blogspot.com/
Wow, I just can only imagine how is parents are feeling right now. His parents were told that he would die in the womb! But he was born seemingly very healthy. Lately his heart problems have come back and his case has been practically untreatable. So the doctors decided to do a heart ablation. It is something they normally don't do on babies. But it has come to the last resort.
So a few minutes ago a young mother had to say goodbye to her beautiful son, knowing full well the risks of the operation. She had to say goodbye totally trusting God and putting Stellan's life in God's hands. What a great place to put it though.
She says she is totally at peace. God's supernatural peace is surrounding her at this moment.
All we have to do is ask and the peace of God which transcends understanding will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank you God! Thank you that you are always there when we call. Thank you that you are a simple acknowledgement away, always forgiving when we ask, always loving unconditionally. Be with this family today God and show yourself strong on their behalf.
Wow, I just can only imagine how is parents are feeling right now. His parents were told that he would die in the womb! But he was born seemingly very healthy. Lately his heart problems have come back and his case has been practically untreatable. So the doctors decided to do a heart ablation. It is something they normally don't do on babies. But it has come to the last resort.
So a few minutes ago a young mother had to say goodbye to her beautiful son, knowing full well the risks of the operation. She had to say goodbye totally trusting God and putting Stellan's life in God's hands. What a great place to put it though.
She says she is totally at peace. God's supernatural peace is surrounding her at this moment.
All we have to do is ask and the peace of God which transcends understanding will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank you God! Thank you that you are always there when we call. Thank you that you are a simple acknowledgement away, always forgiving when we ask, always loving unconditionally. Be with this family today God and show yourself strong on their behalf.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Truth
Real truth is based on the Word of God. The Word of God is the standard we look to when determining what is true and what is not. Who or What has the final say in your life? Oprah? Channel 5 news? Your emotions?
We cannot even trust our emotions to tell us the truth! We cannot trust our bodies to tell us the truth. Our bodies might be screaming, "I'm sick!!!" But the Word of God says, "By His stripes we WERE healed!" I know, it's hard to make sense of that sometimes. But by meditating on the Word, we can get a revelation, and all of the sudden "know" the truth. "By Golly, if God says I am healed then I AM healed!" For God is not a man that He should lie!
T.V. and newspapers constantly blare doom and gloom and scary things. This is when we have to focus on the truth, the Word of God and the thousands of promises for us that are in it!
Philippians 4:8
Whatever is noble, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.
We cannot even trust our emotions to tell us the truth! We cannot trust our bodies to tell us the truth. Our bodies might be screaming, "I'm sick!!!" But the Word of God says, "By His stripes we WERE healed!" I know, it's hard to make sense of that sometimes. But by meditating on the Word, we can get a revelation, and all of the sudden "know" the truth. "By Golly, if God says I am healed then I AM healed!" For God is not a man that He should lie!
T.V. and newspapers constantly blare doom and gloom and scary things. This is when we have to focus on the truth, the Word of God and the thousands of promises for us that are in it!
Philippians 4:8
Whatever is noble, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Without This I am Nothing
1 Corinthians 13 says:
If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Wow. This verse really hit me anew when I read it this time.
I have been praying and asking God for a lot of things. I have been earnestly seeking after a lot of things lately. I have asked God for more faith. I have asked him for health. I have asked him for finances.
I asked God to lead me in my Bible reading last night and this verse is where He led me.
Basically, He was saying to me, You can have all these things, Kristi, but without love YOU ARE NOTHING.
The first step for each of us is to receive God's love for us. How many times have we heard, "God loves you"? I think it kind of just bounces off of us we've heard it so many times. But how many of us really know that God loves us and accepts us? We have to receive His love, and then we will be able to truly love Him back. And then our lives will be about love. God is love. Our lives will be about loving God and others. Our lives will be about God.
This is the thing we must seek first. And then the rest will come.
If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Wow. This verse really hit me anew when I read it this time.
I have been praying and asking God for a lot of things. I have been earnestly seeking after a lot of things lately. I have asked God for more faith. I have asked him for health. I have asked him for finances.
I asked God to lead me in my Bible reading last night and this verse is where He led me.
Basically, He was saying to me, You can have all these things, Kristi, but without love YOU ARE NOTHING.
The first step for each of us is to receive God's love for us. How many times have we heard, "God loves you"? I think it kind of just bounces off of us we've heard it so many times. But how many of us really know that God loves us and accepts us? We have to receive His love, and then we will be able to truly love Him back. And then our lives will be about love. God is love. Our lives will be about loving God and others. Our lives will be about God.
This is the thing we must seek first. And then the rest will come.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Fix Your Eyes of Jesus
Thanks to my sister, Joni, for leading me to this verse today.
Life has been stressful lately. Too many times, I look away from Jesus, who is my peace, and set my eyes on my circumstances.
God has shown me time and again that the only way to keep my peace is to keep my eyes fixed steadily on Him.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hallelujah! What a terrific verse. It's all about perspective friends! What perspective are you looking at life from? Are you looking through the perspective of fear, doubt, worry, and stress? Then you have your eyes on your circumstances! We all do that at times. We have to train ourselves to keep our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith!
Life has been stressful lately. Too many times, I look away from Jesus, who is my peace, and set my eyes on my circumstances.
God has shown me time and again that the only way to keep my peace is to keep my eyes fixed steadily on Him.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hallelujah! What a terrific verse. It's all about perspective friends! What perspective are you looking at life from? Are you looking through the perspective of fear, doubt, worry, and stress? Then you have your eyes on your circumstances! We all do that at times. We have to train ourselves to keep our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith!
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