Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5 NLT
I had lunch with a dear friend once and we talked about this. She commented that she didn’t like ‘Jesus’ crammed down her throat before she was a believer. She has learned that a life lived for God speaks louder than a lot of words about God. This verse says to live wisely, not to talk wisely, not that we shouldn’t be wise about both.
While I was thinking about this, I heard the Holy Spirit remind me that the world doesn’t need to hear about our problems, they have enough of their own. In other words, save your drama for your mama! We need to demonstrate that we are victorious in Christ Jesus by overcoming our issues, not just talk about them. We still go through things, but our focus is on helping others because we know that God has this!
The confidence and trust we have in God should speak loud and clear by the way we don’t focus on and talk about our problems.
Thank you Jesus for showing me this. You said we are to be salt and light, not blend in so there’s no difference. I’m determined to smile through the pain, laugh through the trauma, give through the lack so that others may know Jesus is ever working in me. If they need a miracle, Lord, may you use me.
But in the depths of my heart, I truly know that you, Yahweh, have become my Shield; You take me and surround me with yourself. Your glory covers me continually. You lift high my head. I have cried out to you, Yahweh, from your holy presence. You send me a Father’s help. Pause in his presence. Psalms 3:3-4 TPT
Regardless of what you face today, be assured that God covers you. Funny, but as I was typing this, I heard the phrase, “I’ve got you covered.”
The thought of His glory cloud covering me like a soft blanket, hiding me from my enemies, simply makes me smile. I can stand in that position for as long as I need to because in His presence is peace and joy.
I’ll take that every day. Knowing I can call out and He responds to me. Bringing a Father’s help in times when bullies are harassing me on the playground of life. Intimidating me and harassing me into giving up what is rightfully mine.
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
This morning and every morning I’m thankful for the sacrifice of my mom. She tilled the soil of my heart and planted good seed in it daily. I know from talking with other friends that the home I was raised in, though not perfect, was indeed rare.
She read bible stories to us, missionary stories, never tired of our questions. She had us in church 3 times a week and in between if there was anything else going on.
When my dad died and we began to wander away from God, I would hear her from behind her closed bedroom door, praying and crying out to God. She never stopped! She never doubted that if God began a good work, and she was faithful to water and tend it, He would be faithful to complete it. Even if it took a lifetime, she knew His Word would never return to Him empty but would finish what He started in us.
Mom transitioned into her heavenly home last August. This is one of the last good pictures I have of her. But I know now that she is seeing the harvest of those seeds she’s sown into the hearts of so many. Teaching Sunday school, playing the piano because there was no one else to do it. Singing with my dad and later with my step-dad. Ministering hugs and a listening ear.
Here’s what I’ve learned from her; Just keep sowing regardless if you ever see the outcome. It will not only change the life of the one you sow into, but the fruit of it will tasted for generations to come.
Happy first Mothers Day in heaven, Mom, I’m a life that was changed.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3
I am blessed beyond measure because the Lord has chosen me as His servant. To wait upon Him, anticipate His need to deliver a timely word, to wrap His arms of love around someone who is weary, to speak strength, freedom and healing. To proclaim that Jesus is returning soon! To encourage my sisters and brothers to continue until He comes for us.
I am empowered by His Spirit to decree and declare, to set in motion things that are not seen so that they may manifest in due time. My ministry may not take me in front of a large church or televised around the world. Mine is simple. To hear, to speak, to obey. If I do that, there is no limit to what God can do in and through me.
Time to take the limits off God. Time to put aside your own goals and agendas. Our job is to hear His voice say, “This is the way, walk in it!” And walk on!
Ever feel that every day is a reflection of the day before? Oh, little things are different, but so much of it’s the same. We get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, spend a few hours ‘vegging’ out, only to be repeated day after day after day.
Psalm 39:6 says, Our life is like an image in a mirror. We rush through life collecting things, but we don’t know who will get them after we die.
Wouldn’t it be nice to make a difference in someone’s life? To maybe take more time being a blessing to someone rather than gathering riches to ourselves? Riches? Are you kidding me? I’m just trying to make ends meet! But why? Didn’t Jesus tell us that, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.”? Shouldn’t that take the stress off us and place it onto Him?
Father, thanks for the reminder. We have become so self-sufficient. You created us to need you. To fellowship with you. To allow you to care for us. Forgive us for being so self absorbed! May we remember that we are your sheep and you are our shepherd. Lead us into green pastures and restore our souls, that we might fulfill your needs, allowing you to meet ours. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. Phil 3:12-14
Almost every morning and evening, I lace up my shoes to go for a mile walk. I’m by no means a runner, nor do I desire to be, but I figure walking is a good start to get on the road to health and I enjoy it. I enjoy walking with my daughter the most, we have some pretty amazing conversations and it keeps me from getting bored.
Sometimes we just talk smack, but most of the times we talk about where God is taking us, where we’ve come from and the lessons He’s constantly teaching us. By the time we get back home, I feel refreshed in my spirit and my body. It’s as if God is walking and talking with us. He enjoys our conversation as much as we do.
Life with God is a journey with constant changes going on around us. Sometimes we go through the mountains and are blessed with some awesome views. Sometimes we drive near the ocean and watch the waves come crashing on the shore. But wherever we go, He is with us, beckoning us to stay with Him.
I hear Him speaking to us this morning, “Don’t become too tired that you stop right in the middle of the road. Sit on that rock, it’s a sure foundation. I’ll restore your soul, feed you when you’re weary and give you water to drink that you know not of.”
So my friends, don’t quit now! Keep going because your Father is waiting for you to finish the race.
“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.” Matthew 12:33
That’s pretty simple and easy to understand. Raised in Michigan, I can tell a cherry tree from an apple tree. The blossoms are different in the spring, and their fruit is quite different at harvest time.
Now, in Florida, I can tell the difference between a lemon tree and an orange tree. Both have useful fruit but are very different. But have you ever had a tree that just stopped bearing? We have.
We used to have the most beautiful white grapefruit tree with the sweetest grapefruits in our front yard. But after the 5 hurricanes went through Florida in one summer, it simply stopped producing fruit, and the fruit it had was icky. The stress of all those storms changed the tree, and it stopped bearing, so we had to cut it down.
What a lesson for the body of Christ. Let’s not be stressed out over life. Stay in the Word, speak what God says, do what God says to do, rest in His faithfulness, and bear fruit.
Let’s not just take up space in the world, being like the world, talking like the world, having what the world has. Jesus said we would have tests, trials, and tribulations, but “be of good cheer! I’ve overcome the world!” (John 16:33)
We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony and don’t love life so much that it keeps you from bearing much fruit.
You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, Say this: “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God’s your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!” Psalm 91 Message
I wanted to end the week on covenant. Over the last few years, God has had me study about covenant and how valuable it is to us as believers. If I don’t know my rights, I have nothing to hold onto. Sometimes you have to fight it out in court to obtain what is rightfully yours, but if you have a good lawyer (Jesus), and you’re willing to not give up, you will win.
I’ve been asked so many times how I can go through so much and keep my faith, continue to write and encourage others and not give up? It’s because I constantly remind myself of who I am and whose I am. God loves me and He loves you no less. He’s faithful to me and He’s faithful to you no less. He’s my advocate and He’s yours as well. If you believe, all things are possible to them that believe.
Let’s let go of the past and trust in Jesus, the author and finisher of our story. He knows your end from the very beginning and will see your final chapter written and published for all to read.
Thanks for reading this week. Hope you’ve been encouraged.
If you’re a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it’s something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. Romans 4:4-5 Message Bible
I’ve always been a hard worker. I’ve always gone the extra mile even when my first mile tired me out. But there have been times when the job I was given was way beyond my purview and I knew I’d either bit off more than I could chew or it was assumed I was better than I was.
It was about 21 years ago, I was hired as a consultant for a group of physicians who were in serious trouble and about to file for bankruptcy. I’d never done anything like this in my entire life. I was a medical biller with a history of good accounts receivables. I knew how to bill clean claims and the majority of them were paid quickly. I could look at a billers rejections and tell you whether or not she knew what she was doing.
The biller they had didn’t know what she was doing and when I looked at the amount of unpaid claims she had stacked on her desk, I was amazed she was still working there. Just because someone is nice, doesn’t mean they’re well suited for the job.
My first task was to get them set up for electronic billing so that their claims could be processed quickly. I sat alone in a small room with a mainframe computer, a very large book and a phone. I put my head down on the book and prayed, “God, I have no idea what to do or how to do it, but I know how to hear your voice and will do what You tell me, but please speak cause I’m lost here.”
I looked up and saw the phone in front of me and heard the Lord say, “Call the helpline.” So I did. The voice on the other line said, “Finally! Someone I can work with!”
He walked me through 2 small steps and I transmitted a huge file. We went over it together and it looked ok so we sent it on. In 2 weeks, I went back to see how things were going with the new biller I had hired and they came walking out of their office to greet me. The one doctor was holding a check from one insurance company for $46,000 and asked me, “Do you walk on water too?” I laughed and said, “No, but I know the one who does!”
God freely gifts us with His abilities so that we don’t have to just depend on ours. I couldn’t do life without Him. Not on my job, not in my relationships, not in any part of life. He is everything to me. I’m so thankful that I don’t have to do anything to earn forgiveness, His blood did that and His blood is enough.
And trusting-Him-to-do-it is what gets me set right with God, by God. Sheer gift!
So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, “Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.” Romans 4:1-3 The Message
Isn’t that a mouthful? There was nothing Abraham could do to make himself right. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own. I just love how that’s written.
I don’t know about you, but I was not raised that way. I was raised that it was all about what we did. We had to keep the big 10, not lie, cheat or steal, not disobey our parents or have bad thoughts towards others. The list of don’ts were longer than I could memorize let alone do.
I think that’s why so many give up on their walk with God, they’ve never been taught that it’s not what they do, it’s what God did for you. When you focus on His saving grace and what His blood did for us, paving the way to a personal relationship with Him, there is just no way you want to turn your back on Him. Enjoying His presence, listening to His instructions, knowing you’re a part of something so much bigger than yourself, there’s no turning back at that point. You simply press on past the pain, you press on past disappointment and discouragement by keeping your eyes on Who made you right.
Hold fast to the Word, hide it deep in your heart. His promises are for you and He is always faithful.
remnantposts by sandy gregory 