Mar 25 2011

Tell Those Who Mourn

“…tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.” – Isaiah 61: 3

My heart aches as I write this post. I just got news that a friend of the family lost her husband. He had fallen down a flight of stairs and hit his head. He went to sleep and never woke up again. He was in a coma for more than 9 days. He leaves behind his wife and three small children.

I can’t imagine the terrible anguish that she must be experiencing from losing the love of her life and the father of all her children. There must be a terrible hole in her heart. While I do not know the pain that this young mother is experiencing, I do know what it is to lose someone you love with all of your heart. I lost my mother when I was just sixteen years old. I was devastated and lost. My world was upside down. I did not know what would become of me. But God did!

Over the past almost two weeks, as I awaited the daily text updates on this young father’s progress, I have been mediating on suffering. I have been thinking about how people suffer so much in this fallen world and how we will all continue to experience suffering until the end of this world. There will continue to be famine, earthquakes, tsunamis, death, sickness, diseases, and sorrow for as long as we are here. Thank goodness for us believers that our God has a new heaven and new earth for us where there will be no more suffering. (Rev. 21:1, Is. 65:17) Our God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone FOREVER!! Thank you Jesus! I can’t wait!! (Rev. 21:4)

Until then we must encourage one another and NOT LOSE HOPE. We must remember that our Lord is still in control no matter what we or anyone else we know is facing. He was in control when Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He was in control when the Hebrew girl Hadassah, better known as Queen Esther, was taken without a choice to the king’s harem. He was in control when three Hebrew boys were thrown into a furnace alive. He was in control when Lazarus died. He was in control when my mother died. He was in control when our innocent Savior Jesus died a brutal death for all of our sins.

We may not always understand why He allows certain bad things to happen in our lives, but our God can certainly take situations that seem like that are meant to destroy us and turn it for our good. (Gen. 50:20) Let us not allow the suffering that we will experience to harden our hearts against our God. He has not left or forsaken us in this world. He warned us that we would have many sorrows and troubles in this world. But He also reminds us that He HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD. (John 16:33) In our times of utter distress let us cry out to God and confess our brokenness. Let us cry out for His strength. Let us confess just as Paul did,

“ I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].” ( Phil. 4:13 Amplified Bible)

It will be by His strength and His Spirit, not by our own might that we will overcome the traumatic trials that we will face here on this earth. We are not alone! His Spirit comforts us in all of our troubles. Then one day when someone else is going through troubles, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

In our times of sorrow and despair we must hold on with eager hope to the promises, that one day, in glorious freedom we will be redeemed from death and decay. Let us be encouraged knowing that what we suffer now is NOTHING COMPARED TO THE GLORY He will reveal to us later. (Romans 8:18-22)

Please pray for this sister, her children and her family.


Jan 4 2011

We Will Face Persecution

About a year after I decided to get off the proverbial fence and truly surrender all of my heart, my plans, my will, my entire life to Christ Jesus I began experiencing persecution in my life and ministry. I had never really experienced persecution for my faith, until I decided to live a more consecrated life and start walking in my calling. The Holy Spirit reminded me and led me to Matthew 5:10-12,

10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
After reading this I was prompted to write in the margin of my bible, “Be encouraged Lisa, it’s just the beginning.”

It’s the beginning of a new year and He has brought me right back to this subjection of persecution by bringing me to 2 Timothy 3:12 which says,

“Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”.

Definition of persecution – The act or practice of persecuting on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or beliefs that differ from those of the persecutor.

Definition of persecute – 1. To oppress, harass, or maltreat, esp. because of race, religion, etc.
2. To bother persistently

It has become quite clear to me that when we decide to go against the flow of the world and take a stand for Truth and live by the Word of God we are going to face opposition. Persecution is going to play an integral part in any devoted Christian’s life. The enemy is angry at us because he knows that a godly Christian’s life is a threat to his deceptive demonic activity. A godly life is a testimony of God’s grace, mercy, and power working through us as a witness to others. So he has to come against us. He will use hard hearted, unrepented people in our lives who feel convicted by our witness. We will be talked about and lied on. People will call us names, mistreat us and look for ways to discredit us, but we must not lose heart. We must stay focused and keep doing what we know is right. We must not become angry or bitter, but willingly forgive and pray for our persecutors. (Matthew 5:44, Romans 12:14)

Persecution may tempt us to second guess what we know that the Holy Spirit has taught us, but we must not be discouraged. We must take courage, be confident, certain and undaunted in what our Lord has taught us and walk in it. We cannot live to please people and God. As Christ’s servants living to please God must be our goal. (1 Peter 3:14, Galatians 1:10)

As we go through this New Year determined to fulfill the vision that the Lord has given us we will face persecution, but let us remember that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. We have strength for all things in Christ who empowers us. We are ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into us. He has already overcome the world for us and deprived it of its power to conquer us. So let us boldly walk in Christ and work towards the vision that the Holy Spirit has put on our hearts without fear of persecution. (Philippians 4:13, John 16:33,)

Enclosing I leave you with Isaiah 54:17,

“But in that coming day no weapon formed against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from Me. I. the Lord, have spoken!”


Oct 13 2010

Get A Grip! Keep Believing!

I don’t know about you, but my life is NOT perfect. I have problems, trials, and testing’s daily. It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that I have the strength to overcome life’s adversities. I have moments where my faith and hope is so big that I immediately remember who I am in Christ and I stand on the Truth of God’s Word. Its during these times that I can instantly resist fear, doubt, anxiety and all the other spiritual forces and emotions that will attack my mind. However there are those other times (which are not often, but they do happen) when I feel tired and worn out. I start looking at my circumstances and over evaluating them, instead of remembering what the Lord has already spoken to me about the situation. That is when I begin to feel despair, anger, bitterness, depression, doubt, and sadly even hatred. God forgive me. I’m sharing this with you because I KNOW that I am NOT the only who has gone through this or is going through this now.

Sometimes we have been praying and hoping for years for a breakthrough in a situation or in the life of a loved one. Since we haven’t seen the full manifestation we may begin to feel a little faithless or hopeless. We may even find that we are allowing our hearts to be hardened over the situation which will only lead to unbelief and it will begin to push us away from God.

IT’S TIME TO GET A GRIP!!

We are NEVER EVER going to experience God’s peace and rest over our situations and in our lives if we stay in unbelief. It’s time to take a step back and reflect on all of the breakthroughs that we have already had. It’s time to remember His promises and BELIEVE AGAIN! The enemy wants us to think that our Lord has forgotten us and that His Word will not be fulfilled in our lives and in the lives of those we love. He wants us to give up, to stop believing, stop praying, and stop seeking out God’s Word.

Recently when I was on some straight ‘woe is me’ crap I cried out to God and said please help me. I don’t like to sit very long in that overwhelming feeling of hopelessness because I KNOW IT’S A TRAP! It’s a trap to pull me away from the truth of God’s Word. If we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness we will find ourselves depressed thinking God won’t come through on His promises and that things will never change. But the truth is if He said it then it is already done, we just need to believe it NO MATTER WHAT!

So that day I sat on my front porch and allowed His Word to minister to my broken heart and spirit. I felt led to sit in Hebrews chapter 3. Verses 3:12-14 spoke to me.

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. “Hebrews 3:12-14

I felt like our Lord was saying to me, “Lisa, beware of hardening your heart. Keep believing. Trust me. Remember all that I have already done in your life and in the lives of your family. Don’t be like the children of Israel that hardened their hearts against Me, even after all the miracles they saw Me do.”

The children of Israel saw God manifested in their lives through many miracles. They saw Him part the sea. They ate bread that He rained down from heaven to feed them in the wilderness. He gave them water from a rock when there wasn’t water to be found anywhere else. He led them through the wilderness with a cloud of fire by night and cloud by day. They saw awesome miracles and they still hardened their hearts, tested and tried God’s patience. They refused to do what He told them. They complained and refused to believe in Him. The result was that the unbelieving generation died in the wilderness. They died in their own wilderness of unbelief, doubt, bitterness, and complaining. They never entered His rest. (Hebrews 3:7-19)

Twice in chapter 3 of Hebrews and once in chapter 4 it says,

“Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts…” (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7)

Life isn’t going to be peaches and cream all the time. We are going to have hard times. We are going to feel weak and tired some times, but we CAN NOT GIVE UP! We need to choose to believe that our Lord IS working things out in our lives according to His purpose. Let’s remember that He IS FAITHFUL to fulfill His Word. Let’s choose to walk by faith and not by sight or EMOTIONS. For it’s ONLY if we start BELIEVING again that we will begin to have peace over our situation and find rest from our turmoil. (Hebrews 4:3)

I will leave you with this last scripture the Lord showed me when He was encouraging and correcting me about that situation I was going through. It’s Hebrews 10:35-36,

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” – NLT


Sep 9 2010

Each Of Us Has A Divine Purpose On Earth

“I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. Now, Father, bring Me into the glory We shared before the world began. ” John 17:4-5

I just recently finished reading through the book of John again. When I got to verse four above I had to stop and really reflect. You see at this point in the book Jesus had been betrayed and his accusers were on their way to arrest him. He knew that they were going to kill him. The final hours of His life had come and He knew that He was completing the work that He had come to this earth to do. Facing the end of His life He could confidently say to our Heavenly Father,

“I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.”

This made me think, will we be able to say the same thing when our lives’ are nearing its end? Will we be able to say that we have brought Jesus glory in this world, in our families, in our communities, in our work places, and in our schools? Will we be able to say that we have completed the work He gave us to do?

I believe that we can say these words IF we begin to seek Him first in everything we do and IF we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily lives. Then we will fulfill our divine purpose in this world.

Let no one reading this be confused in or in doubt, EACH OF US HAS A DIVINE PURPOSE ON EARTH. Our lives are not an accident. Our salvation is not a coincidence. We are part of His divine plan and He has something specific for each of us to do here on this earth. We were born and reborn in Christ, saved for God’s service. Our Heavenly Father confirms it in Jeremiah 29:11 when He says,

“For I know the thoughts and PLANS that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.” (NLT)

Ephesians 2: 10 reaffirms that our Lord has a divine and specific plans for us by saying,

“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” (Amplified Bible)

This is why He has given each of us special gifts and talents. We are gifted to serve Christ and others. Our gifts bring glory to God when we are using them to minister to the lost, love and comfort the hurting, and encouraging others to keep pressing forward. Our gifts both natural and spiritual are given to us so we can help each other. Our divine purpose and the work He has given each of us to do is to be His mouthpiece. We are called to be His ambassadors and conduits of His love. Our gifting, whatever they may be, will help spread the message about Christ Jesus. He will use our gifting to open divine doors of opportunity to share the Truth about Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:7 & Ephesians 4:12)

When our Savior laid down His life for us He did it so that we who would believe in Him would become new people in Him. We are no longer to live for ourselves. Instead we are to live for Christ. Our new life in Christ is a gift from God. In our new life we have a task to complete and is to reconcile people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. This is our divine purpose, to share the Gospel, the message of salvation with the world around us. (Ephesians 4:20-24, 2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

So like our Lord we must let our light shine for all to see. We must share the love of Christ with those He puts in our path and help those in need. Let us be living testimonies of Christ Jesus and glorify God by completing the work He gave us to do here on this here. May the day come that we hear our Lord say,

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”


Aug 24 2010

Our Children Are Under Attack!

For many days now the Spirit of the Lord has had it on my heart that our youth are under a severe attack of the enemy. The enemy has determined to steal our children’s faith by trying to pull them away from the truth of God’s Word. He is determined to get them to serve and make material things, money, drugs, alcohol, their boy friends/girlfriends, sexual immorality, entertainment, technology, and their own sinful selfish desires their gods. He is constantly sending subliminal messages through certain movies, TV shows, books, music, ungodly friends and even their cellular phones. Their cellular phones, video games, and laptops are stealing their time, keeping them distracted, and are becoming open doorways for the enemy to come into their lives.

As Christian parents we need to remember that we are in a spiritual battle fighting against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. There are mighty powers in this dark world and evil spirits in heavenly places that are determined to steal, kill, and destroy our children. (Ephesians 6:12)

Let’s not be naive. Look around you…listen to the news. There are teenagers taunting and bullying each other. They’re violently attacking and killing one another. They’re being arrested, charged with lewd and lascivious conduct because they are getting caught engaging in oral sex on school buses. They’re hurting emotionally and expressing their pain by cutting themselves. Many young girls are so desperate to be skinny like the super models and altered images they see in magazines that they are starving themselves and purging when they do eat. Statistics are showing that one in four women will be a victim of attempted sexual assault during their time spent in college. Other statistics show that nationally more than half of our teenagers are virgins only up until age 17. Still other stats say that four in ten women become pregnant at least once before age twenty. Many teens and young adults aren’t ashamed about showing their half naked bodies in social network photo albums or sitting in front of a webcam in their undergarments trying to seduce the viewer on the other end. Having text sex has become the norm.

This is horrible! This is what is becoming of our next generation. What are we going to do about it as Christian parents?

These are perilous days. We need to be actively involved in our children’s lives talking with them, giving them direction and wise godly counsel. We need to really know who their friends are. We must make their business our business.

We must lift them up and encourage them to not be afraid to be different, but to live for Christ Jesus and to be the salt and light in their schools, hangouts, neighborhoods, and social clubs. They need to know and understand that our enemy the devil is real and that he has assigned his demons and imps to come against Christian families. The devil does not want our children to live for Christ. He does not want them to love one another. He does not want them to be living testimonies and ambassadors of Christ Jesus who stand for Truth. He wants to snuff out their light. But we have a say. We can pray and make a difference in our children’s lives. It is up to us to decide whether we are going to ignore what we see. Are we going to ignore the warning signs? Or are we going to teach our children morals, self –respect, honor, to love themselves and others, and to live holy and pure lives?

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

We can teach our children to live godly lives and direct them on the right path which is found in the Word of God. If we do not get the Word of God into our children they will be destroyed for lack of knowledge. They will go through terrible unnecessary hardship and drama if they are not rooted in the Word of God. Just think of what some of us went through before we knew Jesus and allowed the Word to renew our minds. That is what needs to happen with our children. They need their minds renewed from all the junk too. (Hosea 4:6, Romans 12:2)

The Holy Spirit has been impressing on my heart that I must counter the attack on my family by encouraging my children to get into the Word daily and for them to build their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I feel led to become more diligent in praying over them, and to speak His Word over their lives constantly. I am standing on the promise that He has given us in Isaiah 55:11 that says that He sends out His Word and it ALWAYS produces fruit. It will accomplish all that He wants it to and it WILL prosper everywhere He sends it. So now I will be sending them off in the morning with little Bread of Life notes. They are scriptures for the day that they will walk out of the house with. I trust my Lord to bring them confirmation of His Word. He always does and they always stand in awe.

I pray for every Christian parent who reads this that our Lord will open your eyes and ears to hear and see the traps that are being set for your children. I pray that you rise up in the authority and power of the Holy Spirit and take dominion over your family. May our Lord give us wisdom and direction to handle each situation that we WILL encounter. May He help us to close any doorways that have been opened to the devil and his demons in our lives. I am entrusting your family and mine into God’s hands. Greater is the Spirit that lives in us than the spirit who lives in this world! (1 John 4:4)


I Know The Thought I Have For You!
Jul 9 2010

I Know The Thought I Have For You!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. “– Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT

These three verses are some of my absolute favorite verses in the entire bible. Since I got saved these verses have sustained my faith and hope throughout many trials and tribulations. I will often quote these verses to someone who is facing adversity and needs encouragement. It’s a reminder that no matter what we are going through there is no need to worry and stress out because our Lord has A GOOD PLAN that He’s working out in our lives. In His plan there is ALWAYS hope for our final outcome. He promises that if we will pray that He WILL listen and when we look for Him WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, requiring Him as a vital necessity to make it through our daily lives, we will find Him.

I love how these verses read out of the Amplified Bible. Read it out loud that your faith my increase, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) So speak out loud now,

“For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and NOT for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.
Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”Our Creator and heavenly Father is telling us clearly that he thinks about our life and has a specific plan for us here on earth. Our life has a divine purpose. Look at what Psalm 139 says,

Verse 16, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Verse 17, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

We are always on His mind! His is always thinking good things about us. I believe He is thinking how He will save and deliver us from the hand of the enemy. When we’ve gone astray I believe He’s already thought of where He would put a detour on the road that we are traveling to get us back on the right path. I know He thinks of how He would love to bless and increase our resources so that we can be a blessing to others. I know He is thinking of ways to help us grow in faith, perservance, and love. I believe He’s thinking of who He can put in our path so that we can share our testimony and the Good News about Jesus Christ. Most of all I think He is always thinking of ways to reveal Himself to us, that we would recognize Him and know Him more intimately. He is always thinking of us!

His plans for our life is so much better than our own. When we try to live this life on our own apart from fellowship with Him we will always feel like something is missing. We will always need more of something to fill the void and longing in our hearts that belongs to our Creator. We will attempt to fill that void with materials things, riches, notoriety, alcohol, drugs, bad relationships, business, work, staying busy, partying, sex, having children or whatever it is that we are putting in front of God. Our ways do not produce the abundant life full of peace and hope that having a true relationship with Jesus Christ brings. In fact Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” We need Jesus. He is the Light of the World meant to be the lamp to guide our feet and the light for our path.

When we begin to seek the Lord with all of our hearts, calling out to Him in prayer knowing with our entire being that we need Him, we will find Him. He promises that if we will draw near to Him He WILL draw near to us. He removes the scales from our eyes so that we can see and hear from Him, so that we can understand His Word. We don’t have to walk around blindly wondering what God’s plan is for our life, all we have to do ask for direction and seek His will in His Word. We will begin to see that He has always wanted the best for us. He has always been calling us and knocking on the door of our heart. It is us that have chosen to go our own way.

When we begin to follow His plan for our lives we will have peace and hope. Our minds and hearts will be protected from overwhelming thoughts of defeat, inadequacy, anxiety, and fear as we mediate on His promises to us. Our hope will be in knowing that He is faithful and true to His Word and that He never leaves or forsakes us. He has not left us alone in this world without help and comfort. He has given us His Holy Spirit which will remind us of things that He has taught us, direction that He has given us, words of encouragement that have reassured us. Following his plan and path for our life will lead to us to an abundant life that we have always dreamed of full true hope, peace, and security.

If you are reading this and have turned away from walking with Jesus, I strongly exhort you for your own good to come back to the narrow path. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few every find it. (Matt. 7:13-14) Our Lord is not mad at you. He loves you and always has. He is patient and slow to anger. He is waiting for you to humble yourself at His feet so that He can lift you back up again.

If you have never known that God has a good and specific plan for your life and what to surrender to Him you must put your faith in His son, Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we are saved. It is through Jesus that we will have a new life and become new creations. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no other way.

In either case you need to confess your sins to God, believe in Jesus, turn and go the opposite way that you are going now. It’s time to surrender your will and plans for His. You will not be sorry. I cannot tell that you will not have trouble. Jesus said that on this earth we will have many sorrows and troubles, but that we should take heart because He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) We will overcome this world by putting our faith in Christ Jesus. He is our Deliverer and Savior!

In Christ love,


Jun 5 2010

The Way, The Truth, & The Life

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” –John 14:9

This is one of my personal favorite verses because I believe it reveals one of Jesus strongest names, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When we personally know Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life it is a life changing revelation. This name says it all really. It gives us divine direction and clarifies any confusion as to which way is the right way to go. It confirms what and Who is really the Truth. It validates that we truly find new and eternal life in Him. When we get to digging into the Word we can see clearly why Jesus referred to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I want to share with you what I learned about this name on my search through the Word of God.

Jesus IS the Way to…

Salvation and right standing with God.

“For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus.” – 1 Timothy 2:5

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) The ONLY way for us to be saved from our sins and to be made right with God is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. God the Father declares ALL sinners right in His sight when they BELIEVE IN JESUS. (Galatians 2:15, Romans 3:26). He is the One all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name. (Acts 10:43)

Jesus IS the Way to…
Freedom from slavery to sin.

“We know that our sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are NO LONGER SLAVES TO SIN. For when we died with Christ we were SET FREE FROM THE POWER OF SIN.” – Romans 6:6

There are many who have been in bondage to sinful habit, attitudes, addictions, thoughts, and behavior. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the renewing of their minds, through the Word of God, they have found freedom from their slavery to sin. I am one of those people. You see we do not need to let sin control the way we live any more. Jesus died to set us free from slavery to sin. We don’t have to give in to sinful desires that will try to attack our minds. (Romans 6:12) We must realize that we become the slave of WHATEVER WE CHOOSE to obey. We can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or we can CHOOSE TO OBEY GOD, which leads to righteous living. (Romans 6:16) When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So YOU ALSO should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:10-11)

Jesus IS the Truth…

That reveals the true God.

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Word. (John 1:1) When we sit down to read the Word of God we are actually sitting at Jesus feet fellowshipping with Him. These are times when we need to ask His Holy Spirit to make us holy by His truth and to teach us His Word which is truth. (John 17:17) Through the Word of God we will learn God’s will for our life. We will learn His character. We learn to hear and recognize God’s voice. He will show us what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong in our lives. He will use the Word to prepare and equip us to do every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17) It is through His Word that He will teach and reveal many truths to us. And if we are truly His disciples we will remain faithful to His teachings and then we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free. (John 8:32)

Jesus IS the Life…

New life

“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

Through faith in Jesus Christ we become new creations in Him. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17) His Holy Spirit begins the process of transforming us into the image of Christ. He begins working in our minds and hearts, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. (Philippians 2:13) He guides our life. When we allow ourselves to be directed by His Spirit our lives will manifest joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a)

With this new life we become His witnesses, telling people about the good and wonderful things that He has done in our lives. Our new lives become a testimony to others of God’s mercy and grace. So we become Christ’s ambassadors. He makes his appeal through us when we plead for others to come back to God. Many will see what He has done in our lives and be amazed. They too will put their trust in the Lord because they see our new life. (Acts 1:8, Psalm 40:3, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

Eternal Life

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die..” (John 11:25-26)

This is my personal favorite. Jesus promised that ANYONE who believes in Him and lives in Him will never die but will have eternal life with God. He has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us. When everything is ready He will come and get us and we will be with Him forever. (John 14:2-3) There will be no more sorrows, sickness, suffering, or evil. We will be in the presence of the Almighty God and see Jesus in all His glory and majesty.

What better way is there? What better truth can there be? There is no other life that will give us what Jesus Christ has died and risen to give us.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

May 28 2010

One of His handmaiden’s journal entries

5-28-10

My Lord,

How mighty You are! NOTHING can stand in Your way. When You decide that we will go this way or that way You will not allow anyone’s rebellion or hard heart to stand in our way. You touch the hearts of the stubborn and give us favor. You make a way out of no way. You prove Your Word is true above all circumstances. You are faithful to Your Word always and forever.

I have seen you move mountains and all I had to do was believe in Your Word and have faith. I have delighted in Your Word and in Your ways. I have found my stability in You. You have rewarded me because I delight in You, because I abide in You. You have blessed me in the presence of those that waited to see us fail. You have lifted me up when I have humbled myself at Your feet. You are blessing my family so that we could be a blessing to other families.

We are leaving a legacy of faith and hope in Jesus Christ. We will tell our children and all who ask why we are so blessed, You are the One who has blessed us with wisdom, honor, and prosperity in our minds, body, soul and finances. We have given you offerings and our tithes. We have given to the poor, but most of all we constantly bring you offerings of thanksgiving and sacrifices of praise for you are worthy to be praised now and forever more.

We are thankful to You for lifting us up out of the pit of despair and for setting us on the Rock of our salvation. We shall NOT be moved because Jesus is the immovable Rock on which we stand. We will rule with Him one day. Praise, honor, and glory be to You Lord, the King of Kings.

Loving You will all my heart,

Your Handmaiden

Apr 29 2010

Ready for ANYTHING and EQUAL To Anything Through Christ

Here’s an article I wrote for WeUsed2bu Ministries.

Ready for ANYTHING and EQUAL To Anything Through Christ
On my journey with my Savior Jesus, I have discovered that He has not left me alone in this world full of sin, corruption, evil, and destruction. He is actively present in my life, helping me and bringing me comfort, hope, and security through the promises in His Word. There have been times where I have felt like I am just going to break under life’s pressures, that if one more thing happened, I was just going to lose it! But how quickly and faithful the Holy Spirit is to bring to my remembrance the promise in His Word which says,

“I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!” (Philippians 4:13)
I just love this promise. I do not take it lightly. This Word sustains me. I realize that I DO NOT have to crumble under the pressures of this world because I have put my faith and trust in Him to help me, to strengthen me when I just can’t any more. I have come to humbly realize that I need to actively walk in this promise, even when I am not at my breaking point, because it is not by my own strength or power that I want to live any more, but by the Spirit and His power. I am weak without Him.

Christians, our Savior has empowered us with the same power that raised Him from the dead: the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can daily learn to live as overcomers in this world. (Romans 8:11) When life’s troubles or obstacles come our way, we don’t have to tremble with fear or anxiety. We don’t have to freak out and wonder what we are going to do. Instead, we can trust in His promises, run to His Word for wisdom and direction, and rely on Christ’s strength to face all things that will come against us.

The Holy Spirit is the source of this strength. He is Christ’s Spirit living and working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. It is through Him that we are equipped with everything we need for doing His will in every situation. The Holy Spirit infuses us with His strength from the inside, making us sufficient to endure trials and tribulations, able to overcome temptations, and having the boldness and courage necessary to make certain changes in our lives. (Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20-21)

I love how Philippians 4:13 reads out of the Amplified. Read it out loud.

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who EMPOWERS ME [I am ready for ANYTHING and EQUAL to anything through Him Who INFUSES INNER STRENGTH INTO ME; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].”

If we will trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, we can live by this verse. We can apply it to every trial that we will ever face, because He has promised us that by His grace we will always be sufficient in Christ, ready for everything and equal to anything. His power works best in our weakness and He always works everything out for our good. (Proverbs 3:5, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:28)

Sisters, we can confidently say that through Christ Jesus WE CAN…

Overcome fear, anxiety, worry, and doubt. (Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:25-34)
Refuse to be slaves to sin in our lives. (Romans 6:6)
Resist the devil and his temptations. (James 4:7, 1 Corinthians 10:13)
Live holy and pure lives. (1 Peter 1:14-16)
Change and renew our minds. (Romans 12:2)
Forgive those who hurt and used us, gossiped, and spoke ill words against us. (Matthew 5:44)
Be His ambassadors in this world, sharing the Good News that Christ saves without fear of persecution, with courage and boldness. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

We can be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who strengthens us! Let’s learn to live and walk out Philippians 4:13 in our daily lives.


Apr 21 2010

Judging Versus Condemnation: Judging Unto Correction

It’s amazing to me how many believers try to hold on to Matthew 7:1-6 as a means of rejecting exhortation from the body of Christ. I read this article on Judging Versus Condemnation and I wanted to share it with you. I thought this was a good teaching on biblical judging unto correction.

Cross post from Fellowship of Christ International

Written by By Rev. Dr. Trudy Veerman

Web Site: A Christian Counselor


Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad…
1 King 3:9

Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. Job 34:4

The word “judging” has been wrongly interpreted by many believers in Christ. If by judgement you mean to accuse someone of wrongdoing, then follow Jesus’ example and do not judge until you are certain that you are perfectly pure.

Judge NOT, that YE be NOT judged… Matthew 7:1-6

The above speaks of judging in the flesh, with a carnal mind.

If we stop here, then you could say DON’T JUDGE, but since Jesus went on we see that we CAN judge. Let us look at the rest of what He said, “For if you judge, you will be judged by the same standard by which you judge.” Jesus says that if we are to judge, we’ll be handed back the same measure that we judged with. If your life is right with the Lord, then why would you fear the judgement on yourself? But, how do we judge one another?

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. John 7:24

God’s Word is sufficient for guidance regarding judging and evaluating. John 8:15-24 teaches us how to judge. Jesus himself does not even judge according to the flesh. But, if we judge according to the scriptures, we better make sure that we don’t fail ourselves in the particular area in which we judge others.

We must judge according to the Scripture, not unto condemnation, but correction. Judging is often misunderstood and misused as accusation and condemning. That is why many Christians think we should not judge. But the God-like Biblical judging is a wonderful way of opening the eyes of the one who is falling by the wayside. If nobody tells him he may get lost and he may not know how to come back. We judge others in the Love of Christ, not with harsh words and condemnation, but according to God’s Word.

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother.
Zechariah 7:9

It should be the Word of God that the believer speaks, that will judge the person, NOT the believer’s opinion. God is the only Judge to judge unto condemnation, but when we judge each other, we must judge as to correct, not to condemn. Not with an attitude as if we know it so well, or are so good, but in the Love of Christ. Really, God has judged sin already, but also provided a Remedy.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Leviticus 19:15

Judging as in estimating, determining, measuring your brother’s sin according to the scriptures. Approaching him, helping and supporting to bring him back on track with the Lord. That is in simple English what Biblical Judging means. Admonishing , warning, correcting and restoring is called Nouthetic Counseling, according to Paul.

“…Thou hast rightly judged” (Luke 7:43) were Jesus words to Simon Peter.

Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Luke 12:57 )

This is how we should judge, using the scriptures as our standard:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

1 John 4:1-6 tells us to test the spirit of those addressing you. Measure what I and others say with the Bible. It is the standard provided by God.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 )

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1 Corinthians 2:15 )

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? (1 Corinthians 6:2-5 )

Of course there are some who don’t want to hear any warning or admonition. They would call the approach “judging” as accusation, hiding themselves behind this, as not to have their sins revealed. They would like to bring Biblical judging to a stop , or a halt, throwing back the ball to the believer who tries to bring them back to obedience unto the Lord.

Let us as brothers and sisters in Christ strive to find the TRUTH, the Word of God, that we may have eternal life. It is a blessing to be judged correctly by anyone who speaks TRUTH per God’s principles and NOT man’s.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:6, 7)

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD. (Psalm 107:43)

MAY THE LORD ADD HIS BLESSING TO HIS WORD