Faith - A Lifetime With God

Your Christmas Present

Posted on December 27, 2019December 31, 2019 by admin

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.

GOD’S GIFT TO YOU
Have you received His Gift?

God Will Rescue You

Posted on October 13, 2019October 15, 2019 by admin

*My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from* the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant, save me in Thy loving-kindness. Psalm 31:15-16

God will rescue me and help me to put on His armor. With His gentle whisper, He reminds me that I wear His helmet of salvation and that He is with me. He chose to smother me with His love, under His wing. It is there that I gave my worship and praise. His love will never let me go. His faithfulness is mine to keep. Why would the One higher than all, reach down to me and fill me with His presence.

Your love and Mercy look at me and hopes that I stay on the path that You have for me. Oh my Lord, the One that will gently pull me back with a .love so strong. You always pull me back to You, time and time again. Then once again You pull me close and put me under Your wing so I can heal from the wandering that I receive from stepping away from Your path.

My Lord, I do love you. I thank You for choosing me, so I can have you as my God. I am your Beloved. How beautiful is Your name. I will always keep Your name on my lips. My Lord Jesus, I love you.

The above words were written right after my prayer.

VANITY + STORMS = FAITH

Posted on October 11, 2019October 17, 2019 by admin

Decades ago, God took my vanity and He decided to use it to grow my faith.

Some of the ladies of our church I attended, would eat at various restaurants once a month. I did want to join them but I felt that one needed to be invited. They did ask me. Yes, it brought joy.

The day came and after I got all my children prepared for a day at school. Now, it was time for me. I wanted to look good like the other ladies. This was before curling irons. I only had a hooded hairdryer. So my make-up was applied and probably a prayer or two. My hair and dress followed.

It looked like it was about to rain but I was only about 5-8 minutes from the restaurant. I thought I could make it there and get inside the restaurant. I was wrong. A heavy downpour began before I got to the restaurant. I parked the car. I watched the rain. I watched people run to the restaurant. I watched people run from the restaurant to their car. All were soaked, I said, “Lord, I worked so hard on myself.”

I do not know who authored the next thought. Did the thought come from me? Did the thought come from God? The thought was, “The Red Sea, it was parted.” “OK God, I worked too hard on me. I paused, then said out loud, “Would you part the rain?” A few seconds later, I noticed a lady from our group getting out of her car. So I opened my door and jumped out. There were no umbrellas. We both arrived at the restaurant doors at the same time and stepped inside. The lady looked at me and said, “How are you not wet?” I did reply, “I did ask God to part the rain.” I really did not dwell on what happened. Maybe I should have done so.

Well, for another step.I have to go back to 1968-1969 in Key West, Florida. There was not much there then. There was a Naval Hospital, base, one shopping center (what we now call strip malls). I can not remember if the grocery store was there or elsewhere. There was a drive-in. One evening we were going to the drive-in and came face to face too, I guess, a waterspout… We were so close that I could see the water swirling around. I don’t remember seeing what happened to this monster so I guess I closed my eyes. We went to the movie. We saw so many of these things dropping out of the sky. The highest that I could count at one time was 20. One would come down out of the sky and go back up w3ith two taking its place,

Now, let me tell you about the thunderstorms. The highest point on the island was the Naval Hospital. Then the movie screen. I think our palm tree came next., The island is only 3-feet higher than the ocean. You could hear every part of a storm. You could hear lightning crackling its way to the ground. Except for the naval hospital, the movie screen, palm trees were the highest points on the island. Yes, I had a palm tree next to my trailer.

Now let us throw hurricanes into the mix of things. We were told that when a hurricane was headed our way, we were to move all the furniture to the middle of the room. How is that really done in a 10-foot wide trailer? Beds took up the whole room except for a two-foot walkway. We were to take coconuts off of any palm trees. We were told to sterilize our bathtubs, sinks, and anything that could hold water. Water was piped to the Keys which had broken in the past. After that, we would go to our shelter. Ours was in the out-patient surgery room. We slept on the floor with a sheet and a pillow. I prayed asking God to not let the hurricane reach us. God was good to this frightened young mother. It stalled about 90 miles from us and then just died. Our stay there was only for a year, That was long enough to imprint fear in me. But I forgot about it until last year, when a hurricane was heading for where my daughter and family lived. Yes, I prayed.

We moved back to Arkansas. Home of tornadoes. I am so thankful that we lived in houses with basements. Every time there was a tornado warning, I would tell the kids to get in the basement while I would grab my dog (Yorkie), my purse and Bible (I have too many notes in my Bible for it to perish.).

One time I was not home when a tornado appeared. It was probably a “0” on the scale. I was less than 4 minutes from home. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I saw fire shoot out of some motor on the top of a grocery store. The red lights stopped working. But I did not see anything. I was only about 3 minutes from my house. My children would be walking from the bus stop in about 5 minutes. Finally, I got through the light and headed home. I saw a carport up in a tree. When I saw that, I yelled, “God, my babies.” I turned on the road to our house. I did not see any destruction. Later I found out that my children were walking home at the time all of this was happening. In the same lot of the grocery store was a Wal-Mart. The back wall came down. There was some destruction in the block after my road. It was the back of a golf course, Apparently. the tornado lifted up when it came to my road and put down again a block after my house. God took care of my children. I have heard two other tornadoes above me.

Now we need to move to the 1990s. I do not remember what year everything you have read came together. Although God had been protecting my family, I still was fearful. One evening, we had an outbreak of tornadoes. I was glued to the tv following each tornado warning., My husband had to work late. I do not remember if any of the children were home. Some were married and others in college. My youngest was still here but I do not remember if she was home or elsewhere. A tornado hit or was spotted in a town about 30 minutes from my home. The tornado was heading my way. I let fear consumed me. All I once I yelled without thinking about what to say, “God, remember when you parted the rain for me, please part the storm. A few minutes later, the storm parted.

I started doing this when I would become afraid. God always parted the storm or it wasn’t anything when the storm arrived here. I did not share this with anyone. I thought I should have been stronger.

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul. Psalm 94:19

One evening, a year or two later, my husband came home, looked at the TV and said, “Look, God parted the storm.” So I told him and my youngest daughter about asking God to part the storms when I was afraid. Now I had a husband and a daughter that knew what I was doing. After my youngest daughter got married, she would come in sometimes telling me not to ask God to part the rain because we need rain. I always told her the truth that I was not the one causing a drought.

I do not know if God will continue to part the weather or not. I generally don’t ask Him anymore. I did ask God a few decades ago, why He developed my faith in this matter. Or is this a stepping stone for something in the future. God did not answer. Maybe it was just to tell others my story so they will not be afraid to ask God about________whatever you need at the moment. Please do not contact me to pray about the weather. I will not do it. Develop your faith. Trust in Him. You are His child. Love Him for He is pure love. Lay your love for Him at His feet and watch His Love engulf you.