I was crying and then your love so beautiful, wrapped around me. I was lonely but your love filled me. There was so much pain, but You took that pain away. You replaced that pain with Your beautiful love. A love that never hurts. Your promises are true. And no one can take those promises away. Your love is so beautiful. Your love is for always. Some say I am a fool for trusting Your love. But Your Spirit is so beautiful. Your Spirit is like a river that always flows in me. How can I not love You, my Lord, my Jesus? Your love is so beautiful.
RESPONDING TO GOD
Responding to God’s invitation to salvation is the most important thing that anyone can ever do. It’s not enough to believe in God in an abstract or general way; we have to receive this amazing gift through personal faith in Jesus Christ. A person can achieve incredible success in life or reach the peak of their profession, but if they don’t know where they’ll spend eternity, they’ve missed the greatest invitation of all.
The life Jesus offers is all about relationship. Many people faithfully sit in church but have no personal relationship with Jesus. It’s not about joining a club; It’s about falling in love with our Savior—a love that will impact every area of our lives.
Jesus has made the path to heaven as simple and clear as possible. “I am the way” (John 14:6 NLT). Heaven is not the default destination for every human being, but we get to choose it by faith. We are invited to respond to God’s invitation to life.
We can’t even begin to imagine how mind-blowing heaven will be. I want you to be there. God wants you to be there. That’s why Jesus came!”
By Sheila Walsh, author of The Hope of Heaven.
GOD’S WORD
A. W. TOZER said, “The importance of reading the Bible is not reading, but fellowship with the Author. The proper reading of the Bible must be in the same Spirit that authored it.”
My beloved, most of us do not reach that standard, but we must strive to do so. If we stay the same, we become stagnant and then fall backward. I know some do. You can talk to some people and know they do. You can read some books and know they are so close to God. Just read the books by J. I. Packer, Charles Stanley (still on Christian TV stations), and A. W. Tozer. There are more we can add to the list, I hope you are one.
JESUS IS VICTOR!
“Jesus is Victor! That is the truth His resurrection proclaims! Now it remains for us to allow Him to be victor in us, thus multiplying the glory of his triumph in the hearts of His trusting people.” –A. W. Tozer
Oh, Beloved Ones of God, Jesus did so much for us. He left His heavenly home and suffered so much that we could join Him one day in heaven. God created us in His image and put a special place within us so that He could send His Holy Spirit so that we could communicate with Him. Some don’t want any part of Him and some Christians just stop to fellowship with Him. Does your heart still want to respond to Him? Do so before it is too late. He is waiting for you. Jesus loves you.
A.W. Tozer is one of my favorite authors. J. I. Packer is another.
As for daily living, listen to Charles Stanley on the religious stations on TV.
IS YOUR FAITH LITTLE, GREAT, OR PERFECT
Our faith brings honor to God. Is your faith growing? We need to check our faith prayerfully. There is Scripture that may help you to know how you are growing. Jesus’ heart can be hurt when you do not have faith. Mark 16 tells about Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, who went to the tomb and found it empty. The angel told them Jesus had risen and to go and tell the disciples. Verse 11 says that they refused to believe. I believe this unbelief hurt Jesus. In verse 14 says in part, “He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart.
THE BIBLE TELLS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FAITH
Little Faith: This is a struggling faith in which they are trying to believe. An example of this is found in Mark 9:17-19. 21-24.
Verse 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I bought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute;
Verse 18 and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth, and stiffens out. And I told your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.
Verse 19 And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”
Verse 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said to him, “From childhood.
Verse 22 And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
Verse 23 And Jesus said to him, “If You can!’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
Verse 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and began saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.
The main group of words here is “if you can”. At least he knew he needed help.
2. GREAT FAITH: It is a maturing faith and stands on the word of God. A beautiful example of this is found in I Samuel 17 where David goes against Goliath. In verse 26 David views the situation as a sacred cause. In verses 32-37, David is reviewing his personal history under the providence of God and giving credit to God for delivering him. He expressed his confidence that the same God would deliver him again. WOW! We need to review our past and write them down. What a legacy to hand down to our children.
In Matthew 8:5-8 A centurion came to Jesus asking Him to heal a paralyzed servant at his home. Jesus said He would come but the centurion said he was not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof. He then said, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” Jesus said that he had great faith.
PERFECT FAITH: This person says, “This is what God says. So it is true. So be it.” Next, You thank God in worship. Rejoice over the Lord. Genesis 22:1-5 shows perfect faith. In these scriptures, God shows us perfect faith through Abraham. In these verses, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. God does not tempt us with evil but will test us so we will know how deep our faith runs and how God will stand with us. Other religions practiced human sacrifice so Abraham was familiar with it. The place where God told Abraham was about 50 miles from where they lived. Those 50 miles would be agonizing for most people. But Abraham had Perfect Faith. He remembered that God said He would multiply Isaac’s descendants. Abraham believed that even if he killed Isaac, God would bring him back to life. We know this because, in verse 5, Abraham said to his servant staying with the donkeys, “I and the lad will go, and we will worship and return to you.
So, where are you on this road of maturing faith?
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU SIT IN DARKNESS
Do you feel like a heavy weight of darkness is on your shoulders? Is that darkness encasing you?
Beloved, there is someone who knows how you feel. He has even shed tears for you. He wants to help you. He has such great love for you. In the beginning of time, God walked with man. He loved His creation of man and woman. They talked and walked together. One day Satan (the Devil) came to earth and entered into a snake and talked the woman into doing something that God asked her not to do. Then the man did the same. They sinned. God could not walk with them as He did before because of their sin, but He wanted to.
He had a plan. A plan that would mean a very painful death. But His love for us was so great that He just had to do it. He had to do something that when He looked at us, He would not see any ugly sin. And He could walk with us again. He could walk among His people if He chose. Or His people could gather around Him and we could all enjoy each other again. We could feel this great love among us.
So He decided to die a painful death on a cross. Then on the third day, He would rise from that grave. Give final instructions to His people. Then go to heaven. Later gather all His people.
Beloved, Jesus did these things. Meanwhile, He has given a part of Himself to live inside of each of His people as His promise that He will come. We are now waiting to be gathered up to Him. That part of Himself that He gives to His people is the Holy Spirit. If you let Him, he will give you peace and take away that gloom. God will not turn you away when you say you are sorry for sinning. Try not to sin anymore. Ask for His help not to do so. He will never reject you. In John 6:37 God says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.
ONE SPECIAL HOLY NIGHT
The Lord Jesus blessed me with an Arabian mare whose name is Randi. This blessing was multiplied by God’s love
When In Severe Pain
A question was asked, “How do you know that God is with you during severe pain? Do you feel His presence?
This question caught me off guard. I have never thought about this event. I use the word “event” due to the lack of what to call it.
During a painful event, it is hard to feel anything except sometimes hopelessness when the pain keeps continuing. But even that feeling is consumed by the pain. But I know He is with me because I feel Him all other times before a painful event. Jesus says He will not forsake me (Hebrews 13:5B and 2 Corinthians 4:9). He will not leave me when I need Him most. God’s word and my faith carry me to the other side of a painful event.
I do not fully understand why God allows such things as physically painful events. But my faith and love for Jesus tell me He has a reason. So I trust Him in all things. We live in a world that groans because of sin (Romans 8:22). The Holy Spirit intercedes for me (Romans 8:26-28) with all being worked together for my good, and even prove to the angels (Ephesians 3:10). I am proving that I can love Jesus without seeing Him and through hardships. The angels do not have the Holy Spirit to help through such times of severe pain. How can one explain the Holy Spirit living inside a person? The angels can only see our reaction. May your and my reactions be pleasing to the Lord God Almighty.
Be Strong
DARKNESS THEN FIRE
When my mind overwhelms my heart and fights for the right to complain, I will bow before the throne of grace and yield my thoughts to You. Though tempted with confusion, I will choose to praise. I will commit myself to thankfulness and call to mind the many ways You’ve blessed me. is empowered as I lean into Your strength. Darkness.
These unanswered questions will be satisfied by Your love. The hopes that felt defeated, You will bring back to life. My spirit is empowered as I lean into Your strength. Darkness doesn’t stand a chance when my heart is filled with praise.
From Prayers On Fire, 365 Days Praying the Psalms by Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodriguez