I John 4:18-20 Verse 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear drives out punishment. (So the one who fears is not complete in love.) Verse 19 We love because He first loved us. Verse 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. The person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This can be a scary verse. Now, sometimes we hate what our brothers and sisters do, but not them. With our Christian brothers and sisters, it is sometimes hard to tell what we hate. Mostly, if the hurt goes deep into the soul. I believe the soul carries your emotions. I’ve not read that anywhere, so I could be wrong.
I believe the fear comes into play because they are afraid to meet the Lord with this guilt of not being able to forgive or love a brother. This in itself is punishment. This can keep you from moving forward. The only way to move forward is to ask Jesus, through the Holy Spirit to help you. It will not happen overnight. If this person keeps adding hurt to your plate, it will take longer. Keep trying. It will be on them and not you.
In your prayers, always ask God to put more love in your heart for Him. The more you love Him, the easier it is to love other people.
We love because He first loved us. Someday we will face the One we love and the One who loves us. Our love for an unseen God is expressed in our love for God’s children….our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t love them because there is something about their personality we like and so forth. But because they are a child of God. With the completeness of love, we must be willing to sacrifice for them. Then truly, love is completed.
Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to have an impact on you? Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to impact others around you? Our goal should be that we are so bathed in the glory of God, that He should be felt when someone walks by us.
Beloved, please be in prayer. Be in a state where you trust God and can hear the Holy Spirit’s leading. He will give you peace in a troubled world, but you must have a relationship with Him so you will know when to turn right or left. If fleeing from bad weather or something else, you need to know which way to go. God can lead you to safety.
Many years ago, God asked me to give his word to a person I met in another city in our state. He was from California. I knew that this person would be in our city, but I did not know where this person would be. God told me when to turn left and right. I went to exactly where this person was at that moment. He will do this for you, my friend. But being in prayer and walking with Him before you need Him in this type of situation, is essential. Don’t chance on waiting until the last minute.
May these verses help you in your faith.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
therefore we will not fear, though the earth change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
The Lord of Hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:1-3, 7, 10 NAS
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.
I have mentioned in the past that the Holy Spirit is our engagement ring from God the Father until Jesus Christ returns. Oh, Beloved, I hope you have learned how to remain close to Him as you walk this life. The Holy Spirit is the Breath of God within us. One cannot learn the truth and awe of the scripture without Him. The Holy Spirit is the one that takes scripture from our head and moves it to the heart. There He gives those words Illumination to light our path.
Two nights ago the Holy Spirit burdened my heart for my youngest daughter and her family. They went to another state to move my oldest granddaughter’s things from her college dorm. This “shelter in place” happened while she was home for spring break.
The Holy Spirit that lives within me, burdened my heart for my youngest daughter and family. I did begin praying that evening and continued to pray when I woke from sleeping in the early morning. Then I prayed a couple of times during the day.
In the afternoon I prayed a couple of times before receiving a text from my daughter. She said they were driving in heavy rain and a semi-truck hit a pothole and the semi jumped into their lane. They were beside the truck when it jumped into their lane. They were fine and the truck briefly kissed their car and trailer. The truck took off their mirror and dented the trailer they were pulling. The semi did not realize that anything happened. Because of the weather they could not stop on the road since visibility was so low.
My question is, “What would have happened if I had not prayed.” I do not understand the workings of this kind of prayer. I do know, that when the Holy Spirit says you need to pray…..you need to pray
If a burden is placed in your heart by the Holy Spirit, please pray. Pray as if their life depends on your prayer.
Gifts brought to the creator of the universe. God gave Himself to you and me, so He could give us the ultimate gift.
Did you ask God for your Christmas gift? God has so many gifts for you. They are the most wonderful gifts. Why God would choose these gifts for you and me, I don’t understand. Luke 2:8 tells us that these gifts are personalized gifts. First, God chose Himself to come to this earth and be born as a baby. Why? So He could restore us to Him. He chose to lead us, you and me, back to Himself. Why would the One who made the universe leave His throne in heaven to restore us to Him? God, did this because of His unconditional love. Also, He knew He would have to suffer and die a horrible death for you and me. I have a number of medical problems, but because God came to earth, died so that I could someday join Him in heaven. It is because of what He did, I can have peace. With cancer, I can have peace. With two kinds of arthritis, I can have peace. With fibromyalgia, I can have peace. With degenerative disc disease, I can have peace. There are more things, but I think what I’ve mentioned is more than enough. Because of what God did for me (and you), I can live in joy. This peace and joy are forever.
So do you want your Christmas gift from God? Would you like to accept the gift and live in heaven forever with God? This is the first gift of many to follow. Pray this prayer and mean each word with all your heart and being. “Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer asking for the forgiveness of my sins. I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is Your Son. I believe that He came to earth and was born from a virgin and that He died on a cross at Calvery that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now to come into my life and be my personal Lord and Saviour. I repent of my sins (the bad things you have done) and will worship you all the days of my life! I believe that You will return to earth someday. Because Your word is true, I confess with my mouth that I am born again and cleansed by the Blood of Jesus. In Jesus’ name, I pray and confess these things. Amen”
The second gift you will receive will be the Spirit of God coming to you, to live within you. You may or may not feel this Holy Spirit within you at first. The Holy Spirit is given to you as an engagement ring. The Spirit will seal you as one of His children. A few of the things that the Holy Spirit will give you is guidance, counsel, and tells Jesus your prayers who give them to God. As the Spirit and you grow closer, He will help you understand the Holy Bible. Without the Holy Spirit, one can not really understand the Bible. Especially the deeper things of God. All the above are gifts, but there is more than these mentioned.
Also, God has angels that He will send to help you there is a mighty war taking place. A war between God’s people and Satan with his demons. Before you accept Jesus as your Saviour and King you were a slave to your lust and Satan with his demons. When you accept Jesus, you are rescued from Satan and his kingdom of darkness. We are then transferred into the kingdom of God’s Son, Jesus. These are special gifts, that are called spiritual gifts. Every believer has one or more spiritual gifts, but not all of them. In 2 Corinthians 12:3-11, there is a list of Spiritual gifts. Some of the Spiritual gifts are the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, and teaching. Also, there is mercy which can bring comfort to others (Rom 12:8). Romans 12:8 also speaks of Leadership. This special gift guides people to see goals and will motivate others. The one gift I need help with is discernment. I can know the truth of scripture and when one may speak in error, but to see a person’s character is not always with me. My gift of mercy gets in the way. I can even see how God could use a person in His kingdom. It is hard for me to discern a person’s character. I can be deceived. This gift is listed in I Corinthians 12:10.
In Romans 12:8, it mentions the gift of Exhortation or encouraging. This God-given ability can be used by God to uplift the broken and defeated.
In Ephesians 4:11, it mentions those who evangelize. With the work of Jesus Christ, they speak with power in their words and people respond in faith to Jesus.
Romans 12:8 also mentions giving. They always tithe as we all should do. Their life shows a very generous giving to the church, ministries and especially to those in need.
I mentioned knowledge and this ability can gather the knowledge of the Bible and take these facts, truth, and principals to give a deeper insight into the Word of God. You will find this in I Corinthians 12:8.
Pastoring or Shepherding is to guide in their faith and preaching the Word of God. This gift requires time along with God. Some think a pastor should do a number of things like visiting the sick and on multiple committees. Deacons are appointed to carry out these for the pastor.
I Corinthians 12:28 list the gift of Administrator. They can plan, organize and head up complex projects and see them completely by getting others to work together. It also lists Wisdom. There is wisdom in how to apply the scripture to life. They have wisdom in how to solve problems.
A prophet is listed in Romans 12:6, I Co 12:10, 28 and Ephesians 4:11. Most just think this gift is telling of future events. I am not saying this does not happen especially within a family, but it is declaring God’s truth boldly. This can be especially hard when you have to speak the truth to correct a person or a group. You are giving instructions.
Some people seem to always be where people are needing help. The gift of help is generally done without many knowing it was done. They seem to know how to help others. You can find this in Romans 12:7 and in I Corinthians 12:28.
Teaching is another gift. This includes organizing God’s word and communicating knowledge. Also, they can tell them how to apply what is being taught.
Love, especially unconditional love, is a goal for all of us. The only way I believe for this to be accomplished is to ask Jesus to put more love in one’s heart from Him. I look at loving Christ as the ultimate gift. To be allowed to love Him is the key to all of life. It is because of love for Him is necessary to have other gifts. If you do not love Christ, how can you use any other gifts that have been given to you? If what you do for Christ is only a motion without love, is it accounted to you? How can you be a reflection of Christ without love? Without love, how can you have peace and joy?
The gift of a family, co-workers and friends is a special gift. To share with each other is so wonderful. This morning I watched my grandchildren open presents. Their faces would glow with joy when they realized their presents. Does our face glow with the presence of the Lord’s love? With the Lord, you can share your wisdom and kindness. These are precious gifts from God you can share. There are so many gifts that the God of the universe gives. Ask God to open your eyes to see them. Then thank Him for these gifts.
What gifts can you share? Ask God to open your heart and let gifts of love and kindness go from you to others. Let Jesus the gift of light to you shine forth to others. Let your light help restore what had been lost in the darkness. Our journey in this gift of light and our obedience to Jesus becomes a journey above everything else. Learn and love this gift of rejoicing as we walk in our journey with excitement in our gift of purpose. We are covered in the gift of grace and growing in knowledge.
My husband and I were in a place to eat, when the young lady next to us responded to the waitress who must have said Merry Christmas and/or Happy New Year, she responded by saying something like “not if it was like yesterday.” Yesterday was Christmas. So I prayed for her and her 5-year-old child. That prayer was my gift to her, even though she did not know it was given to her. I use to stop and rest at the mall years ago and I would watch people. The Lord would quicken my spirit and I would pray for them. My gift of prayer and the lord’s gift was given to them. God’s gifts to you are never-ending. Keep these gifts close to your heart and grow in them, is that you may share them with others.
Be thankful for the gifts that God has given you and be willing to share them with others throughout the coming year.
All at once you stop in mid-step. Your engagement ring is not on your finger. Your engagement ring is precious to you. You panic! Your mind is racing. Where could it be? Your finger can still feel the ring.
Beloved, you have another engagement ring that is more precious than your physical engagement ring. But when you no longer feel it most do not panic! Most know why they can not feel this ring of promise but do nothing.
This ring of promise, your engagement ring is worn on your heart. It protects and moves your heart. When you no longer feel Him, it means you have pushed Him far down into your heart and chose not to listen to Him. By your choice, He may not fully protect you. You have grieved Him.
In Ephesians, chapter one, is a beautiful love story you can read. This chapter tells who you are engaged to and tells of God’s promise to you. When you accept God’s proposal, He seals you with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is given to you as a pledge of your inheritance with Jesus Christ.
When you decided to accept Jesus as your Savior and to follow His teachings, you are given the Holy Spirit to live within you. He is to teach you, to guide and to give you a commission (Acts 13:4). He commands you (Acts 8:29), restrains evil and He intercedes (Romans 8:26) for us to Jesus and Jesus will talk to the Father God concerning us. It brings peace to us because Jesus talks to God about your situation. The Holy Spirit bears witness of God (John 15:26 and 2 Peter 1:21). We can cause the Holy Spirit to Grieve (Ephesians 4:30).
The Holy Spirit is our foundation. This Spirit of God will write things on your heart. He will help you to love more.
When we are living in heaven’s eternity, the Lord will bring our love story to each of us. Beloved, we will see and feel His glory that He shared with us to its fullest. We have this to look forward to and it will never be taken away. We will not find the words to say to Jesus. There will be tears of love that He will collect and put in His heart. Your tears, my tears, He collects for His heart. What words can be spoken that carries what we will feel in that moment. This moment and for eternity is why we were created. We will see and understand God’s grace and mercy that He shared with us. With eternity on His mind, God gave us our engagement ring. Then our hearts and knees will bow and we shall say, “Here are your Beloved for eternity. We love you.
Alan Ruck and my daughter on the set of “Three For The Road”.
Sometimes the trusting and obeying God comes at a very inconvenient time. After the trusting and obedience you say, “Lord, you sure had a lot of moving parts to accomplish what you wanted me to do.” Sometimes I cannot see all the moving parts., but I know God was working behind the scene.
One day my oldest living daughter came home and said someone was producing a movie in our state. She wanted to try out for an extra. I said we had too much to do, but we would see if we could.
Well, that was the last time I thought about it. That was until we got a phone call from the casting director. We had never done anything like this and wondered how they got our number. This was in the ’80s when there weren’t cellphones and computers were not as useful as they are now. I asked the lady about the morals of the movie. She assured me it was fine and I said okay.
The filming was not in our city but in two other cities. One was about an hour and a half away. I need to mention that I have no sense of direction. I would get turned around at our mall which is built almost in a straight line. We set out and I gave my daughter the directions and we made it there without getting lost. The next day we forgot the directions and neither of us could remember how to get there. We needed divine direction and prayed in silence.
Unknowingly we would turn here and there and made it to the location. We were provided with lunch. It was during this time we got to meet some of the stars. My daughter was not excited when she got to meet Charlie Sheen but was very excited when she met Alan Ruck. There were pictures taken. During this time I kept noticing the gentleman going here and there. I felt led by the Holy Spirit to talk to him. I was not comfortable talking to him, but I obeyed the Holy Spirit. During our conversation, he said, “I tried religion and it did not work out.” I tried to tell him this was about a relationship with Jesus. The next day was our last day. I went over to Charlie Sheen and made small talk. I did not feel led to talk to him about the Lord. I did talk more with the other gentleman. At the end of the day, I did not have the peace one receives after obeying God and I thought this was the last day.
After we got home, my mother called. She shared they were going to film in the city but did not know where. I felt led by the Holy Spirit to run off the cassette tapes. They were various sermons from our preacher. I obeyed and put the cassettes in a brown paper lunch bag. The next morning I got my children off to school. Then the Lord spoke to me. Give your dog a bath and take him with you. My response was, “You want me to do what?! I’m already dressed and you want me to give my dog a bath? I’m nervous enough.” I obeyed and gave Xanadu, our Yorkshire Terrier, a bath and put him in the van.
I reminded the Lord that I did not know where to go. We turned here and there. I did not know I was following a divine navigator. But then there we were. I saw the casting director in the distance. I decided I would go and chit chat with her. Maybe I could ease into the set and not get kicked out. Remember my daughters last day was the day before, so I had no excuse for being there. So Xanadu and I ventured toward her. She loved Xanadu and wanted to hold him and kiss him. I kept my eyes on that gentleman for an hour. I started walking at the other end of the parking lot. I was really nervous. Then I realized I would have to pass by the director to get to the trailer the gentleman was going in and out of. I walk toward to producer and he said to me, “My wife has a dog like that and she will be here shortly.” I wandered around and did not know where the gentleman went. Then the producer’s wife appeared with her Yorkie. I looked at her dog and then mine. This was most definitely a Lady and Tramp meeting. We engaged in conversation and walked our dogs in the parking lot before walking down a nearby alley. While in the alley a policeman walked by and asked if we were authorized to be on the set. The lady said yes and that her husband is the producer. I thanked her and we continued to walk our dogs. I saw the gentleman go into a trailer. I said good-bye to the lady and headed that way with my dog and the lunch sack.
I knocked on the door and someone I did not know answered the door. I asked if the gentleman was there. The gentleman came to the door. I handed him the lunch sack with the cassette tapes. I cannot remember what I said, but it was short. My dog and I were ready to go home and rest our weary legs.
I thought about what God pulled together for this divine opportunity to talk to a person and plant seeds. I still don’t know where the casting director got our name and number. I asked myself, “What would have happened if I did not take my dog?” What happened to the gentleman I gave the tapes to? Did it help the next person talking to him about Jesus? Did he ever accept the Lord?
All I am certain about is that I obeyed God. I thank the Lord Jesus for the divine opportunity. Also, I thanked him that He was my divine navigator.
Charlie Sheen and my daughter on the set of “Three Foer The Road.
Beloved, the Holy Spirit is the key in a Christian life. God the Father, loved us so abundantly that He left us with a gift that transcends our imagination. But my Dear Ones, most of God’s children reduces the power of the Holy Spirit because we violate His sovereign will. Sin is anything that we do or don’t do out of the will of God. A lot of God’s children do not know the Holy Spirit. Now He will help a Christian when we quench Him but we reduce His power. Sometimes just by not asking Him to do something like asking Him for wisdom. It is He that fills us and brings peace to our most inward parts of our being. He is the One that takes our prayers to Jesus and He talks to the Father on our behalf. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to stay and explain God’s Word, to pray without ceasing and to worship. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us in His ways. One of the most things I love about the Holy Spirit is that he leads us to The Throne Room of God.
God calls us to get alone with Him, to seek His presence, to develop a mind like His and receive His Word. This call is a Divine urge to commune with Him.
A good person to study is Moses. Moses longed for the presences of God in his life. This longing was intense in nature. I believe this determined the intensity of God’s touch on Moses life. Moses accepted the divine urge God gave Him. Many do not let this intensity grow within them. They miss being touched by God.
One thing about Moses and God’s relationship is that God caused Moses to wait before He spoke. I guess God wanted to see if Moses was serious. although God knew and it was for our benefit. This is where we fall short, myself included. If you have prayed and not met with God, then you have only made it half way…maybe. Do you leave your prayer time before you feel the presence of God? Passage after passage in the Bible tells us to wait on God. We need to have this set firmly within us to wait on the Lord and that we will not settle on anything less than a heart to heart communion with Him. It is with this attitude that God will take you to places within Him that are not met by many. One of God’s greatest desire is to take His children deeper into His heart. We are to be so interlocked with the Holy Spirit that we carry God’s presences within us so it will flow out to others.
Next I will write “To Enter The Throne Room Of God.”
