Archive for April, 2009
…I can tell you how it changed my life!
My pastor, Devin Hudson, at Grace Point Church has a casual way of teaching that soaks into my soul. The spiritual healings and “ah-ha” moments I’ve had since beginning to attend this out of the box non-denominational church have been astounding to me. Never before have I felt God’s gentle mercy, kindness and love on me as I do from Devin’s teachings.
You know when you wear perfume, you’ll turn just right and get a whiff of it, reminding you that you have fragrance on? Well, some how, that’s how I wore the shame for my sons’ bad decisions during their teen and young adult years. I’d go through life doing ok, and then some little thing would remind me of the shame I had. I felt what they did reflected TOTALLY on me. All I remember of last Sunday’s lesson (April 19, 2009) is that Devin said we are loved by God and as believers in Jesus, God has forgiven our sins yesterday, today and tomorrow. Then he said we must live our lives as recipients of God’s love and grace, not in shame from sin or any other thing that has happened in our lives.
I have finally let go of the shame and am learning to live as a loved, forgiven child of God. Coming from this new place, I have peace in my heart for the first time in a long while.
Do you have something that shames you? Is it over and done with? Can you live as a forgiven child of God instead of under punishment? I encourage you to let it go to God. He’s waiting to take it from you.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving and forgiving this “Jacked up Jesus follower”, I am so grateful for Your mercy and grace. Help me spread the news to others who are living under the tyranny of shame or guilt that they don’t have to carry that burden any longer. Amen.
John 3:16 -17 (Jesus said this before He went to die for our sins on the cross) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
April 12 – Today is my birthday. No, not my physical birthday, but my spiritual one. I took Jesus as my Lord and Savior on April 12, 1974, all alone with a Christian tract, in my mom’s pickup truck as she was in a store. It prepared me, without my knowing, for a very turbulent time in my life that was to come. Without Jesus in my heart thru my teen years, I shudder to think what would have become of me.
The prayer went something like this: “Dear Lord, I know that I do bad things and am a sinner. Your Word says that I deserve to go to hell. Your Word also says that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins so that if I believe in Him, I can go to Heaven. Please, Jesus, come into my heart and be the Lord of my life, so that I can escape hell and go to heaven when I die. Help me to grow and learn about you as I live my life. In Jesus Name Amen”
My life has been a bed of roses ever since…. it has had a beautiful side, and it has many thorns as well. If I do not yield to weeding and pruning, regularly, from the Master Gardener (God), my life can sure be a mess!
Since I turned my heart over to Jesus, my life has not been easy, but Jesus has walked with me thru abuse, both mental and physical, sickness, death of loved ones, financial hardships, marriage, child birth and even when I had a mental breakdown. He never left my side even when I wanted to go my own path for a while.
The best part about my relationship with Jesus is that He loves me as I am. He accepts me as I am and then helps me clean up. I don’t have to ‘clean up’ first in order to come to Him. So don’t think you have done something so bad that Jesus wouldn’t want you! It is not true! He loves you as you are right now! It doesn’t matter what denomination you are in, either. This is a personal relationship with The Lord of the Universe!!! Not some rules men have made over the years as to what you should or should not do.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, You are so Gracious. Thank You for the gift of salvation that You offer through your Son, Jesus. You said in Your verse above, You don’t want ANYONE to Perish, but ALL to have eternal life. I pray
Lord, now, that if anyone who is reading this doesn’t know Jesus as their personal Savior, they would pray and ask Him into their hearts today, before it is eternally too late. For we are only given today, and not promised
tomorrow. I pray this in Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.
HE IS RISEN INDEED
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Romans 8:24 “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?”
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Faith is knowing in our soul what God says in His Word is true. It can’t be seen, touched, smelled or heard. It just IS.
It reminds me of the gravitational pull of the earth. It can’t be explained, but there are definite laws that surround it and it just IS. We know that the law of gravity works all the time. It is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is no questioning it. We learn to obey that gravity because there are consequences if we don’t.
The same analogy can be applied with faith in God. If we don’t believe in His Son, (walking by faith) we won’t be with Him in Heaven. He, like gravity, is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We learn to obey God’s Word, because there are consequences if we don’t.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Abba God, I praise You for earthly examples of what faith is. Help us to walk with You in faith, Lord. Give us courage to always hope for Spiritual Realities we do not see yet. Continue to bless us with evidence, in our own lives, of Your Promises, soon to come. In Jesus’ Precious Name I pray, Amen.
James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (World English Bible)
I love baking cookies. I enjoy the whole process of making them. Preparing the dough and putting them in the oven is very rewarding to me. I love the rush of heat when I open the oven door. The thot came to me that if I don’t put the dough in the oven, it would never bake into a cookie. It would stay mush or dry out, but never become a cookie. The dough needs the heat of the oven in order for it to transform into the baked cookie.
When we go thru trials and troubles in our life, we can compare it to making cookies. The creaming of butter and sugar, the beating in of eggs, the chopping of nuts, the folding in of flour to make it all stick together – the heat of the oven. All of life’s trials are preparing us for when we will be “baked to perfection” when God tells us “Well done”…..
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for insights in daily life that help us see the bigger picture. When the heated trials of life come, let us embrace it and help us transform into the perfectly baked cookies that You have made. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
