This time of year we are watching American Idol and it is at the point where they are all singing for a spot in the top 24. It is painful for me to watch. These people have sang their hearts out, been under extreme pressure with time limits on learning new songs that may not even be their personal style. Some of them have even had to sing with groups of other contestants that they don't necessarily get along with. They have had to function on little sleep, being away from their families, and deal with strained voices and sore throats. And some of them have experienced the horror of forgetting their words, missing a note, having their voice crack and some have even passed out on stage from nerves! All of this in hopes of getting a spot on American Idol's top 24.
Let me draw your focus to the word "hope". Their fate falls in the hand of 3 people deciding if they feel you have been consistent, special and if you can touch the hearts of America. So each contestant "hopes" they make it.
Sadly enough there are people around us everyday that "hope" they make it to heaven. How sad! There are people who pray their good outweighs their bad. They hope that God at the end of their life "decides" they can enter into heaven. If someone out there reads this, please, please continue to read because I have amazing news for you. God himself says you can KNOW you are going to heaven. In His great love for you he left you verses in His word that tells you that.
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Rev 3:20
If you let him in...he'll come in and there are no vereses that says he ever leaves, because he doesn't.
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any [man] pluck them out of my hand." John 10:28
It doesn't say he gives you eternal life and then if you aren't good enough he will take it away. In fact, he says no man can pluck them out of my hand and you HAVE eternal life!
"I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who
sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they
have already passed from death into life." John 5:24
If you have accepted Christ...you have ALREADY passed from death to life...and life ETERNAL!
"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
It's all about who HE is...and because you belong to him you are no longer, never, ever, ever, ever, condemned!!
"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his
work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Phil 1:6
We aren't perfect, but God will not stop helping us get there. He will complete us on the day Jesus comes to get us. So don't let your failures make you doubt your adoption. You are His and he will keep working on you.
There are many, many more verses to remind you that you are His...and will forever be His. It isn't based on your talent or whether you've had a good "performance"...It is based on your faith in Him which is why I will leave you with the verses from Ephesians.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for
this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Eph 2:8-9
It' all in what He's done. And that my friend is more than enough. When "THE JUDGE" calls his children home....you can be sure you'll be in that number!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Should I be surprised???
I John 3:13 So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters,* if the world hates you.
The word of God tells us that the world will hate us. Couldn't be any clearer. We love God, they don't. We live for Him, they only live for themselves. We obey his commands and choose to be His servant. They don't understand. I understand it but it still hurts.
I'm just going to be transparent here, I enjoy being liked. Don't you? I have been in a few situations where I was really trying to minister to certain individuals that crossed my path. Gave of my time, my finances and all the emotional support I could muster up. I prayed for them tried to point them to Christ. I wish I could tell you that it all turned out wonderful and that they are serving the Lord whole heartedly and happy in their Christian walk but I can't. Matter of fact only one of them are in church at all. I have been called judgemental and I really feel like they need to look that word up becuase their slander, and cruel assessment of me fits the definition of judgemental pretty good. I let their comments really bother me for a period of time but as I prayed about it and searched the scriptures my dear Savior reminded me of a few things.
1. Jesus himself wasn't accepted and he was perfect...no sin was within him. Even his own people wouldn't accept him. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's
messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen
protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me." Matthew 23:37
2. I am not responsible for the outcome. I am only responsible to be obedient to Christ. Colossians 3:24" Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."
3. Even though I may have made mistakes it does not mean I am not a child of the King. Romans 8:1" So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."
4. No matter what you think of me, I choose to continue to pray for you and love you. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you"
I've been cursed at, had my mailbox bashed in, talked about and ignored but I will not have to answer for any of those things....they will. The only thing I have to answer for are my actions and while I look back and wish I had done some things differently, I can stand before the Lord thankful that I took the opportunity to talk about Him to these people. And here's another fact, God knows my heart. I don't have to try to explain myself...He knows the truth.
I will continue to tell others how good God is. I will continue to make my family the most important thing in my life next to God and I will continue to serve him in whatever capacity He allows. Here's another thing I'll continue to do. Have JOY! Becuase when I look beyond hurtful words I come back to what is real. I am redeemed. God loves me. I am blessed! I have the most wonderful family in the world and God has proved Himself faithful to us!! I have a wonderful church family and a support system that is unbelieveable! And one day I will spend eternity with Jesus Christ. Wow!! How blessed!!!!
It does make me sad that these people are missing out on all that God has for them. I continue to pray that they will commit to Christ and experience peace and joy.
I don't know if any of you struggle with what people think of you or hurts that you've experienced but know you aren't alone...Jesus was rejected and persecuted too and He will protect you and heal you. Just keep serving and don't let them rob you of your joy. I'm CERTAINLY not going to let them rob me of mine! :)
The word of God tells us that the world will hate us. Couldn't be any clearer. We love God, they don't. We live for Him, they only live for themselves. We obey his commands and choose to be His servant. They don't understand. I understand it but it still hurts.
I'm just going to be transparent here, I enjoy being liked. Don't you? I have been in a few situations where I was really trying to minister to certain individuals that crossed my path. Gave of my time, my finances and all the emotional support I could muster up. I prayed for them tried to point them to Christ. I wish I could tell you that it all turned out wonderful and that they are serving the Lord whole heartedly and happy in their Christian walk but I can't. Matter of fact only one of them are in church at all. I have been called judgemental and I really feel like they need to look that word up becuase their slander, and cruel assessment of me fits the definition of judgemental pretty good. I let their comments really bother me for a period of time but as I prayed about it and searched the scriptures my dear Savior reminded me of a few things.
1. Jesus himself wasn't accepted and he was perfect...no sin was within him. Even his own people wouldn't accept him. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's
messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen
protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me." Matthew 23:37
2. I am not responsible for the outcome. I am only responsible to be obedient to Christ. Colossians 3:24" Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."
3. Even though I may have made mistakes it does not mean I am not a child of the King. Romans 8:1" So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."
4. No matter what you think of me, I choose to continue to pray for you and love you. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you"
I've been cursed at, had my mailbox bashed in, talked about and ignored but I will not have to answer for any of those things....they will. The only thing I have to answer for are my actions and while I look back and wish I had done some things differently, I can stand before the Lord thankful that I took the opportunity to talk about Him to these people. And here's another fact, God knows my heart. I don't have to try to explain myself...He knows the truth.
I will continue to tell others how good God is. I will continue to make my family the most important thing in my life next to God and I will continue to serve him in whatever capacity He allows. Here's another thing I'll continue to do. Have JOY! Becuase when I look beyond hurtful words I come back to what is real. I am redeemed. God loves me. I am blessed! I have the most wonderful family in the world and God has proved Himself faithful to us!! I have a wonderful church family and a support system that is unbelieveable! And one day I will spend eternity with Jesus Christ. Wow!! How blessed!!!!
It does make me sad that these people are missing out on all that God has for them. I continue to pray that they will commit to Christ and experience peace and joy.
I don't know if any of you struggle with what people think of you or hurts that you've experienced but know you aren't alone...Jesus was rejected and persecuted too and He will protect you and heal you. Just keep serving and don't let them rob you of your joy. I'm CERTAINLY not going to let them rob me of mine! :)
Sunday, February 5, 2012
You don't need anything else....
Hannah is about to start her 4th week at Aveda Institute and this week was an exciting one for her. She got her tools and manniquin heads with human hair! Her kit contained curling irons, flat irons, hair dryer, clippers in 2 sizes, capes, scissors, and much more. So I guess I'll let her cut my hair tomorrow......right?.....WRONG! ha! Does she have all the equipment she needs to cut my hair? Yes. Tools she has, the experience and training on how to use those tools to give the perfect haircut is yet to be learned. Reminds me of a verse our pastor preached on tonight out of 2 Peter.
"By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly
life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us
to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. II Peter 1:3"
From the moment we are saved we have all we need to live a godly life. But just like Hannah, we don't quite know how to use all the "tools" so to speak that God has given us. We have to study, practice, pray and trust in Him to show us how.
Cosmetologists have to log so many service hours, actual working hours to graduate. As a Christian we are continually logging our hours of service until we graduate to heaven. As Hannah progresses through her training she will gain confidence, skill and wisdom. The same is true for us. We gain confidence in the Word and the Lord's faithfulness. We learn skill in knowing how to handle situations in our life according to how God expects us to handle them. And wisdom that allows us to look back and see how God has worked in the past and the wisdom to know he is the same yesterday, today and forever and he will come through yet once again.
As Hannah lifts her scissors to do her first haircut I'm sure she will be a bundle of nerves, but as she begins she will do what she has learned and take it one step at a time. We should do the same. If there is a trial that is new to you, just take what you have learned about Jesus and take it one step at a time. Pull out your tools...the Word, prayer and your faith.
God wants us to live a godly life and a life that is abundant and he has given us all we need to do it. Let's start logging those hours of service so that when we graduate we will not be ashamed of the quality of work we've done.
"By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly
life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us
to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. II Peter 1:3"
From the moment we are saved we have all we need to live a godly life. But just like Hannah, we don't quite know how to use all the "tools" so to speak that God has given us. We have to study, practice, pray and trust in Him to show us how.
Cosmetologists have to log so many service hours, actual working hours to graduate. As a Christian we are continually logging our hours of service until we graduate to heaven. As Hannah progresses through her training she will gain confidence, skill and wisdom. The same is true for us. We gain confidence in the Word and the Lord's faithfulness. We learn skill in knowing how to handle situations in our life according to how God expects us to handle them. And wisdom that allows us to look back and see how God has worked in the past and the wisdom to know he is the same yesterday, today and forever and he will come through yet once again.
As Hannah lifts her scissors to do her first haircut I'm sure she will be a bundle of nerves, but as she begins she will do what she has learned and take it one step at a time. We should do the same. If there is a trial that is new to you, just take what you have learned about Jesus and take it one step at a time. Pull out your tools...the Word, prayer and your faith.
God wants us to live a godly life and a life that is abundant and he has given us all we need to do it. Let's start logging those hours of service so that when we graduate we will not be ashamed of the quality of work we've done.
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