God Will Do This

Posted on May 13, 2014by rebekahbeene

This morning I am waking up to a chilly rainy morning. One of those days where you just want to stay inside, hold onto a warm cup of coffee and read a good book. I’m going to have to get out into it eventually and head to work. I am amazed that it’s so nice and cool. For me the weekly rain and cooler temps is just fine. As my dad used to say, “this is good sleeping weather”. We nurse that cup of coffee for all we can get out of it.

We all experience chilly days. Those days when we’d rather stay in the bed. There are times when we’d rather not greet the dreariness. We want coffee, but we want it to do more than it does. While it’s warm and comforting, it really won’t make us feel better in the long run. We may drown ourselves in a good book but it’s just a story and eventually we’ll find the end and have to come out of the mystery, adventure and fiction.

There are times we’d rather not face life at all. It can get dreary. We try to find something to lift our spirits but things have gone oh so wrong and we just can’t believe the downpour of emotions we feel as we struggle to face the truth and make sense out of it all. We try to “pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps” and remind ourselves that “God helps those who help themselves.”  Still we feel stuck in the doldrums and depression may start creeping in, seeping like rain beneath the windowsills or under the door stop. If we keep nursing that hurt, that despair, that trouble we will find ourselves fully wedged under our circumstances. 

Thankfully for the child of God we don’t have to escape life to step into His presence.  We don’t have to pick ourselves up or help ourselves. For precious one, God wants you to know this day that He helps those who simply can’t help themselves. He picks His own up when they are crushed by the circumstances of life and holds them tightly. He is your never failing umbrella in the rain, the shade in the heat of life’s harshest days and the Protector of all who feel so unprotected. He is your Helper! He is your Source of strength! He is your Sun in the rain and your Shield forever! You are His precious beloved possession. And He takes care of His own. He blesses you when you feel unworthy. He drenches you with His ointment of faith and joy when you feel so dry. He covers you with His love and His care. Totally cared for by God Himself you don’t have to regret getting up for this may be the very day you have been waiting for.

Oh beloved, don’t rue the weather. Rejoice instead in God! Remind yourself of what Jesus has done for you! Drink deeply of the water of Life and immerse yourself in God’s Good Book. Every blessing, every promise, every hope, every security is yours. God wrote it all out so that just when you needed it you would find it.  No blanket or quilt can feel so good as the Comforter’s magnificent care. Don’t nurse your problems but rehearse God’s truth. Read it aloud and watch the damp feelings recede back where they come from.

You are an overcomer, you are a blessed believer and God has a future for you, even in this dreary, rainy day – even in what looks to the natural eye to be a dreary life. This day is wonderful because you are in Christ!  God loves you – eternally, perfectly, faithfully. And He is for you – with mercy, goodness and redemption.  What a wonderful Savior and what a wonderful life when you walk in the Light of His Word!

I Corinthians 1:9 God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Isaiah 33:2 But LORD, be merciful to us, for we have waited for You. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble.

Isaiah 25:4 For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat…  NAS

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

Thank you to Rachel at http://cuppacards.blogspot.com/ for today's artwork. Perfect!

Are You Trying to Fit or Be Fit?

This new year is so fresh and promising. It’s a good time to think about priorities and purpose. The slate is clean in a way, so there’s room for expansion, improvement and rearranging of the things we thought were so important in 2013. If you’ve been looking for something now is the time to put God in on those ideas. In fact, you may have been trying to get God to agree with your ideas. It’s a great time to drop all your good ideas at His feet and see if He wants to do something different, and thus better with your life.

I have a friend who’s been looking for a small wheel to put on the front of a little cart. She has looked and look but can’t find the right size. I spied a pair of wheels at a thrift shop the other day and thought surely they were small enough to fit. But after sending her the picture, she gave me the size and even though these were quite small, they were still too large for the job.

She’s been looking a long time. I guess she could just go ahead and put a different size wheel on it. But it would never be right. She could make it work in a way, but she’d always know it was not going to do what it was intended to do.

We’re all looking for the right fit. Either in spouses, jobs, marriages, ministry or friendships. We want to know we’re fulfilling some purpose with our lives. We also want intimacy. That closeness that lets us be free to discuss our problems, air our dirty laundry and seek for assistance. Intimacy doesn’t go tell tales. It holds onto those things spoken and the farthest they go is to the throne of grace. People live their entire lives doing a job that doesn’t fit them. Sometimes it’s for money, other times for prestige. 

Occasionally they are just put there because someone wanted them there, even though the fit is terrible. When things don’t fit right, eventually it will show up. I’m married to a biker so I know first hand that things must go together just right. He doesn’t make it up as he goes. He consults the service manual and always makes sure the parts and tires and accessories are made for the bike he has. He doesn’t take that bike and try to turn it into something it’s not.

Most struggles with position, authority, fulfillment, success, and fitting into the right place in this world comes from trying to do things our way and asking God to put His seal of approval on our decisions. My friend has decided to wait until she finds the right wheel. She’s not going to settle for something less than a perfect fit. We don’t have to settle for our own way either.

Today is a good day to start letting God call your shots, fulfill your calling. He will put you in the right place and make the right fit if you will trust Him. Trust often involves a shake up. Trust lets God remove what isn’t the right fit. Trust also requires patience, for you must be willing to wait on God to set things right. You may have always known God wanted to use you but you’ve been riding around on a bad fit. It’s been rocky, jumpy and unfulfilled. Now’s as good a time as any to repent of doing your own thing, even if it’s good, and watch as He gives you the best instead.

Oh beloved, you can trust the Lord to make things right for you. It’s wonderful when God is working in your life. He will give you more than just a good fit. With God, you will have the purpose, peace, patience and intimacy you’ve been looking for. With God you will know you are where you should be. With God fitting you where you should be, where you were destined to be, others will be blessed as well. He knows your problems and your needs. He is more than able to put you where He wants you spiritually and to supply the physical needs to keep you there. He also knows all about the things that concern you. He’s well aware that you’ve been rejected, walked away from, and had the rug pulled out from under you. But beloved, you are still alive and that’s because Christ has made a way for your landing to be right into His arms. God’s promises are like the service manual for a motorcycle – each promise gives you detailed instructions on how to live, how to thrive and how to remain faithful to Him through it all.

God loves you and He’s for you, so you can trust Him, no matter what, to make your life fit His plans and thus be blessed beyond measure all the days of your life.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

I Thessalonians 4:1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Surprise! God's Gifts are Yours!

I have been given a bag of fall blooming bulbs. I am so excited to plant them. We got them in the ground quickly so they might bloom in a few weeks.  With this change in the weather they might just make it. If not, they will definitely bloom next fall.

They’re known as surprise lilies.  I think because they just multiply and come up anywhere in the grass. You don’t see a thing, no leaves first. Suddenly they’re blooming on a long stem. Old home places can be found by seeing them suddenly appear in deserted property. Even if the old house itself is gone, the surprises still bloom each and every year.  They multiply and multiply and what a showy sight.

The person who gifted these to me had no idea that they are my absolute most favorite ever flowers! I had no idea that someone was going to gift me with such a prized gift! And yet there, right in the middle of an ordinary day, comes the gift! I relish the idea of planting each and every one. I relish the thought that next fall for sure they’ll surprise me with their beautiful show.

God speaks to my heart: God’s precious gifts are all for me, all for you, all for us. Many times though we don’t even know that they are available. We catch a glimpse here and there and we’re surprised!

Surprised at the grace God bestows on us. For we surely would wipe ourselves off the face of the earth and yet God speaks softly and says come back beloved. Surely we know our misbehavior, our failings, our sins. We know our imperfections and we concentrate on each and every one. Yet He speaks love songs into our hearts.

Surprised at the mercy from the Throne Room. We were destined to die, to shrivel up like a bulb left out of the ground and yet Mercy comes dancing into our presence and says oh beloved, I AM granting you clemency, your debt has been canceled, your sorrow is covered by My sympathy.

Surprised by His love! I am, aren’t you? We are a works oriented people. We are demanding and we think God is too. We believe that the only way He could love us is if we perform! But we can’t – performance breeds pride. And we could never perform enough. Just as the bulb pops out of the ground grandly showing its beauty – God’s love pops out of the soil of our disappointment, discontentment and our failures to blow us away with His love for He IS love!

We don’t always like surprises do we? Sometimes we have lived with the depression, the condemnation, the rejection, the religious activity so long that we blink our eyes in disbelief? What is God doing we ask? He’s messing with my life! He’s changing the order of things – my order of things. I was comfortable and now God has gone and surprised me!  It might not have been good but at least it was normal.

Oh beloved, surprise! God loves you! God has given you grace, mercy and peace! They’re growing just beneath the soil of your heart right now and if you will let Him they’ll pop up and surprise you with joy! Take the entire gift of God’s wonderfulness and enjoy the view from His love. Look into His Word of Surprising Wonderful presents – and see what’s there. And then take it in, plant it in the soil of your heart and watch as God blooms and blooms and blooms. Rejoice as God surprises you with His abundance in your lack.  He’ll keep surprising you that even in hardships, God has a plan. He always seeks to love us and make us more like Him in all we encounter.

Bloom beloved, bloom, in the light of His love and in the light of His constant care. Let Him keep surprising you with all He is and all you are in Christ.  No matter what, God loves you and He’s for you and that’s all that really matters.

Psalm 111:2 How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in Him should ponder them.

Psalm 126:3 Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!

Psalm 40:5 O Lord my God, You have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all Your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

Psalm 84:6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.

Jesus Has Opened the Storehouse for You!

Remember when there were convenience stores everywhere? I mean there were even stores out in the country. Between the little town I lived in as a teenager and the closest big town I can remember at least three such neighborhood gas and grocery places. Two of those stores were so important to the county residents they were called Haugland’s Corner (the store was in a big square curve) and Byer’s Hilltop station (you guessed it, right on a hilltop).

It was nice as a kid growing up to ride to these stores. From the hoop cheese sitting out at Byer’s station to the ice cold Grape Crush drinks in the cola chest in Haugland’s store, there was always something to purchase to ease the summer heat.  When I lived in a bigger town there were neighborhood stores as well. One could ride their bicycles to get a loaf of bread for mom, put it in the basket on the front of your bike.  It was convenient.  It was easy. And everybody knew everybody including the store owner.  Nothing was more refreshing on a hot summer day than to walk into the coolness of the little stores.

Most of the home owned convenience stores of the day are closed now. I don’t really know what caused the demise of the little stores; could have been the economy or the mobility of the succeeding generations, but it’s sad.  Their façade tells a tale that the generation after us will not know at all. Yes, we can buy whatever they had and more by going to a bigger town and entering a bigger store, but the personal touch and fellowship of owner and purchaser is gone forever.

I am reminded of Jesus, Who left the splendor of Heaven, as the song goes, knowing His destiny. His ministry was not born of convenience.  His reconciliation required Him to leave everything that was good and perfect and “heavenly” to come to earth for us. Not just to set up shop to introduce us to Himself, but to live to die, so that we would be reconciled to Him.

The reconciliation of the entire human race meant more to Him than His convenience.  He put aside His ease, His honor, His glory and walked as one of us, lived as one of us, died as one of us. You and I beloved were worth it to Him. He moved in as a friend, opened a store of grace and gave it all away.  To everyone who came by Him, His offer stood from Isaiah 55, “ Come buy, eat, you who have no money…”

Because of His great love, God poured Himself into community and poured Himself out on the cross. He took our unforgiveness, our trespasses, our sins and nailed every single one of them on the cross. And He did the same for those we love, those we tolerate and those we want to ignore, dismiss and forget.

In God’s store the shelves are full and brimming over with everything you need. There are bushel baskets full of forgiveness, for you and for others. There’s a whole storefront of grace, peace and joy.  There’s shelves lined with precious gifts of kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  Everywhere you look, beloved, there is Love. Love is what God’s store is built with and Love is what makes it remain. Long after the stores of yesteryear are bulldozed away, God’s store remains open forever and ever, just for you, even if you were the only patron, He’d have it all for you. 

Oh beloved, won’t you stop for a moment on this day and step into God’s storehouse of wonder, awe and blessings – read His Word, listen to His voice and fellowship with Him. He has such wonderful things in store for you! He wants to set up shop in your heart, He wants to give you reconciliation, purpose and faith. He won’t charge you for one thing; it’s all free to you from Him. He will free you from every bondage and more. He wants your open heart to woo others to Him and He wants you to live forever with Him. Everything that needs repair in your life He has the fix for you. No matter what the hurts, the sorrow, the agony, the desperation you may have experienced, in His presence you have all your needs met forever.

Stay close to the Lord and visit with Him often and drinking of the refreshing fellowship daily. He loves you and He’s for you and that’s all that really matters to your heart.  

Isaiah 55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

Don't Limit God!

“You’re at your credit limit”. “You were over your speed limit”. I even heard the guys at my house talking about a “rev limiter” on the motorcycles.  It’s all about limits. Everyone has them. There’s a limit to how much coffee I can drink or I will get the jitters. Diabetics have a limit on the amount and kinds of sugars they can have. There’s a limit for blood pressure in order to stay healthy.  Parents limit the amount of time their children watch television. There should be limits on between meal snacks, buttery foods and ice cream (I know, so sad right?) Some limits are just plain good for you.

Other limits are not so good.  If you limit the amount of grace you extend to others you are in effect limiting the amount of grace you have in your own storehouse. If you limit the amount of time you spend studying God’s Word for your own needs, you will find yourself being weak in faith. If you limit forgiveness to only those who deserve it, where will that put you?  When you limit your prayer life, you limit the answers.

There are limits that can really mess up your life. 

If you limit how much you will love God and follow Him, you will miss the wonderful life of full blessings. God can only clean and use and redeem what we give to Him. If we hold back anything from God, we are limiting God's work in our life.

If you limit how much God can do then you can expect to have nothing more. It is with the same faith that we believe that He works. How high is His grace? How wide is His love? How deep is His redemption, His care, His plans?

Maybe you’ve been struggling. You wonder how God could love you. Maybe you wonder how much God will forgive you. You may know He loves you but how could He use you?  How could He look beyond your faults, your weaknesses, your inabilities? Are you having a hard time believing God can restore things that you know are broken? You would love to change the way things are – to be loved again and to have all of God’s promises working in your life. But you feel like you've overstepped God’s limits or that there’s just not enough grace to reach you, healing to restore you or Word to teach you.

Oh beloved! Look to the Lord instead of your circumstances. Look to God instead of yourself.  Look to faith instead of fear, worry or unbelief. God has made a way for you to be so full of faith that your unbelief has to yield. Even when you can’t believe in yourself you can trust Him to believe in you.  Don’t let the limits of your human existence place limits on God. Instead run to Him and let Him build you up in His most holy faith. He had unlimited grace for your every need, unlimited peace for your every trial, unlimited joy for your every sorrow, and unlimited favor, blessings and honor for you as you walk with Him. His promises are true and every single one of them were written with you in mind. Others may have walked away as they limited their love and care. But God has no limits for His children. There’s no limit to what God can do as you yield yourself to Him.

Whatever you need, beloved, is met in Christ – even your faith! He loves you and He’s for you and that’s where the limits are removed!

 

Psalm 78:41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. (KJV)

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (KJV)

I John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. (NAS)

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

Hebrews 11:1-2 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.  Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

Mark 9:23-24 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”   Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Psalm 119:96 I have seen that everything [human] has its limits and end [no matter how extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]. (Amplified)

How's It Going in the Game of Life?

It took me a while to figure out how to snap my fingers when I was a little girl. My niece had no problem snapping her fingers and since we were practically the same age I got frustrated because she could do that before I could! Winking was easier for me but even then as with most kids, both eyes blinked at the same time until coordination kicked in. Playing jacks was another milestone maker for most of us baby boomers. Bounce the little ball and scoop up the jacks was easier said than done. Playing jacks was one of the harder to learn games and required more skill. Hand to eye coordination was learned by all three of these little childhood games.

Some things are pretty easy in the game of life. Most of us are used to snapping our fingers and getting most of what we want, from fast food to TV channels. From buying clothes to furnishing our homes - with a snap of the finger, it’s all done for us. All we have to do is pick something out, pull out the plastic and it’s done. In the blink of an eye we can change our hair, change our mate, change our homes and change churches. We can decide with hardly a moment’s notice to make major life changing decisions. Some things in our lives require a little juggling to coordinate, but with a little practice we can do whatever we want to do.

There are things we can do that God wants us to be careful about – one of them is wink. He doesn’t want us to wink at sin, at mistakes, at failures or at things that don’t line up with His Word. When we don’t give our failures to Him, then He will bring them to the mind of the believer in the form of conviction so that our fellowship with Him can be restored. But when we do come to Him for restoration, with the snap of His spiritual finger our fellowship is restored. We may have consequences of our actions, but His love never fails, He never gives up on us and His mercy comes in like a flood, renewing our heart and helping us start over. It may seem at times that God is playing jacks with our lives – picking up some of us quickly and restoring order. Other times it looks like He isn’t taking care of us – the wait is long as our hearts desire to be scooped into His loving arms. But God’s way is perfect and His longsuffering is precise as He covers us with His atoning sacrifice and His generous mercies.

Maybe you’ve grown tired of going the right road. You may have looked around and thought that others, who don’t live for the Lord, have it better than you. You may be wishing for a new set of rules with which to play the game of life. You might have even tried to do what everyone else is doing; only to find that you are more lonely and alone as you don’t feel God’s closeness like you used to.

Oh beloved, run to the Lord! Let Him show you His life skills! His blessings, glory and honor come to you when you seek Him first. No matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve done, He is waiting with open arms to restore fellowship and start anew! His Spirit is calling you to stay close, oh so close, to Him. He reminds you today that He is the Great I AM. And that in His Name is found the most talent, the most ability and the greatest blessings a heart can yearn for. Never regret living for Him, even when it looks hopeless, for in a moment His blessings will shower down on you and His return will scoop you up and take you home with Him.

Trust Him, obey Him, worship Him, live for Him – for He loves you and He’s for you and that’s all you need to succeed in the game of life!


Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You.

Micah 6:8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Psalm 136:23 He remembered us in our weakness. His faithful love endures forever.

God Wants to Warm Your Heart!

The wind is howling outside my window this morning. From the balmy day yesterday to the blustery movement of a cold front makes for huge changes in the weather. I prefer balmy, it helps me to be able to move in and out of the car while finishing up Christmas without having to brace for the cold.  The noise of the elements makes one want to stay inside and just cuddle up.

Even though it’s only 5 days until Christmas, the Christmas spirit isn’t showing up everywhere. For some, their hearts have grown cold because of a change in their circumstances overnight.  People we loved are suddenly taken from us, tragedies of all kinds abound, people don’t keep their promises and jobs don’t last.  We hope against hope that all things will work out, but some are wondering if it’s really going to happen.

Will there be another warm sunny day? Or is life going to continue to howl it’s cold winds through your life? Is there anywhere to find the warmth you so desire, or are you destined to let your heart grow as cold as the day?

Oh beloved, let God warm your heart! He knows your troubles, your trials, your sorrows and your hopes and dreams. He loves you! His plan for you is good, in spite of the present situation.  There will be a warmer day. There will be a brighter sunrise.   In the meantime, it’s best to stay very close to the warmth of His mercy, love and grace. He will keep you safe, never leave you, always guide you and give you the grace to make it. All you have to do is lean on Him. His shoulders are as eternal as His Word and His Word is the only Truth and Light you will ever need for the dark cold days. 

He loves you, oh beloved one, and He’s for you all the way to heaven and that’s worth staying close by His side now isn’t it?  

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (KJV)

Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Micah 7:7  As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.

Hard Places? Trust Him!

As I woke up from election night I looked at Danny’s minister’s license and ordination papers in their frames on the wall.  I recall many years of seeking God and following His plan. Along the way there were always people trying to tell Danny what to do and how to do it. But Danny always listened to God. And when God led him to be ordained it was right.

Those papers belong to Danny and they are a symbol of his walk with God.  They are also a symbol of God’s work in Danny’s life.  He is ordained to preach the Gospel.  Nowhere in those papers will you see that Danny is ordained to call elections, participate in campaigns, or sell motorcycles. His role is preacher, teacher, leader of the Gospel. Nothing else, nothing less, nothing more.

This election has some of us reeling.  The signs of the times are plainly written on the walls of history and are being written anew in our futures. Neither Danny nor I crusaded for either candidate, even though we had our druthers.  But that’s not our focus, that’s not our platform.

The Gospel is our only Hope. The Gospel is our only pledge. Though the walls of my home will eventually crumble, and those papers may be lost, the call to preach the Gospel will be there always. I pray this morning as you begin to pick up the pieces of whatever you are going through, that you always remember that Christ is in you and that He is your hope of glory. Share Christ, share love, share Truth. For we are His speakers to a lost and dying world.  We are His standard to a nation and a world that wants to bury the Truth of the Gospel.

Oh beloved, Run to His Word this morning and find His Truth and live it! Learn it well for you will never walk in the light of His Word unless you take it in! Study to be sanctioned of God. Let His Word be your certificate on the wall of your heart so that no matter what comes you will be able to stand - In Christ alone. His love for you will carry you through the good times and the bad, the pleasant places and the hard spots, the joys and the sorrows.  As long as you live in the light of His Word you will be safe regardless of your circumstances or whoever is elected because you will be able to say He’s on your side. And absolutely without a shadow of a doubt this is truly, truly  all that really matters.

Galatians 1:11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning.

Matthew 24:14  And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

Luke 22:35  Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?” “No,” they replied.

Ephesians 3:7  By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News.

Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

1 Corinthians 1:17  For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

Philippians 1:27 [ Live as Citizens of Heaven ] Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

1 Peter 1:23  for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

You Are So Very Precious To God! Come and See...

As a young girl I went to more A.A. meetings than church services. Some would be aghast at that fact, yet I learned a lot about God at those meetings. I learned the Lord’s Prayer and could recite God’s Word at a very early age. The members recited those verses at the end of every meeting without fail.  I learned that everybody’s in the same boat regardless of their address, position or title. Each week there would be testimony from one after another of God helping them out of their struggles with alcohol and all would say, “But for the grace of God…”  I learned encouragement.  One would stand up to get their one month coin, while another would stand and get their 30 year coin.  Everyone was congratulated no matter how young or old they were in the program.  I learned humility. I watched as my parents would bring in folks off the streets who had asked for help. One friend in particular came to live with us a while. She would sleep on the floor in our living room when she came in from work because as she said, “I’m too dirty to get in your beautiful bed and too tired to clean up”.  That woman is now in her 80’s and she’s still my friend and we talk occasionally. 

Probably the greatest thing I learned was the importance of celebrating one another.  Birthday cakes abounded as one after another passed milestones of sobriety.  I can’t find anywhere in God’s Word that we are to be crude with one another, rude to each other or bossy and insensitive.  Nobody ever stood at the lectern and brow beat or bad mouthed the audience.  Even in the discussion of right and wrong there was always a note of tenderness for everyone remembered that they all came from the same gutter into the light. 

Oh beloved, you are so precious to God! He speaks kind words into your life as He woos you to come out of your darkness and into His Light.  He knows everything about you and loves you all the more!  His plans for you are good and kind and generous! He tenderly calls you today! No matter if you’ve missed the mark over and over, there’s still today and this day is fresh and new! Reach out for His Hand that is always extended to you in grace, mercy and peace! You are loved so much that you were worth dying for! Now run to the One Who rose again so that you can walk in newness of life!

 Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (NAS)

Psalm 119:11 Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against You.

2 Corinthians 8:9  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (NAS)

Psalm 135:3  Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; celebrate His lovely name with music.

Lamentations 3:22-23 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.  Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.