 Ephesians 4:32 “And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” ~CSB
These days when I think about forgiveness, I think about my second oldest daughter. Alysa was around ten years old when her mother and I divorced. Looking back on that time I was not the best father to her and her sister. What I didn’t know was the damage caused by my character and my actions. My alcohol addiction was still in its growing stages, but it was mature enough to affect how I treated her. First of all being in the military, I was not home a lot. But when I was, I did not spend a lot of quality time with Alysa. At that time, I considered my time off, ‘my time’. But that was far from the truth. Because of who I was then, I damaged the relationship between me and my daughter. In time I learned how much damage had been done. One of my mistakes happened after the divorce with Alysa’s mother. As far as my ‘weekends’ with her, I allowed my ten year old daughter to decide if she wanted to spend the weekend with me or not. She did not so I did not push the issue. I should have because that resulted in me not being there as a father to her in her younger years. Years later, because of my lack of stepping in, I received a phone call from her stating that she did not want to talk to me anymore. Fortunately this was a time when I was building a strong relationship with God. He led me to not give up, but to not be ‘pushy’ either. I shortened my calls with Alysa to once a month. Several months later we were able to have a breakthrough. God answered both our prayers and she allowed me to have a long and enlightening conversation with her. As a result of that conversation, Alysa forgave me. I could tell in her voice that she was still hurting. I could tell that she really did not want to forgive me at that time, but she did it anyway. It took awhile but we became closer. Today I can still tell its hard for her sometimes because she is stuck with the memories. Memories I was too inebriated to remember. But she fights everyday to remain righteous in her forgiveness of my past actions toward her. It is this power she demonstrates everyday in her relationship with me as her father that keeps me strong in my daily living as a servant to the kingdom. As far as forgiveness goes, once we receive it from those we hurt, we now must do better. We may not be able to change what we did, but we can make sure we show and live genuine love to all our brothers and sisters in Christ just as God created us to do. I 'love' because God loved me first. I continue to love those who hurt me because God taught me that, through my daughter's "...compassion and kindness..."
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Joshua 2:9; 12-13 “...I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us… 12 …Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.” ~CSB
Rahab was a woman who was a prostitute. She had a history that people around her may have talked about in front of her as well as behind her back. Although in life we may take the wrong paths, God will still use us when we recognize who He is. In the second chapter of Joshua, Joshua sent two spies into the land God promised them. This land was ruled by a king who did not want to give up this land so easily. The spies met Rahab and she hid them in her home. She recognized them as God’s people. She saw God’s presence in them. So much so that when the King sent his men to apprehend the spies, Rahab covered for them. She not only kept the spies safe in her home, she sent the king’s men on a ‘wild goose chase’. Sending them in a pursuit in the wrong direction. This took courage on Rahab’s part to give false information to a sitting king. She risked her life because she was more afraid of God than the king. In her plea to the spies she acknowledged that everyone knew who they were. They all knew that God was with them and the land she lived in would be conquered by them. She simply asked that when they come and take the city, can they spare her family and all attached to them. The spies did just that. So, what does this mean to us? It doesn’t matter what we think we may be guilty of in our lives. We must understand that we serve a God that loves us. He has forgiven us no matter our past. This holds true as long as we embrace what we know about God and what we do with His love for us. Rahab wanted the men to succeed with God’s plan and wanted to do her part in that plan. And because of her actions, God blessed Rahab in spite of her past. Not only did He allow for her and her family to be saved that day, He also made Rahab an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Give your life to Christ and begin your journey to redemption and purpose. God loves you and His power is great enough to turn your ‘mess’ into His ‘message’ for your life. Amen  Galatians 5:16 “I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.” ~CSB
In this world, 'rules' can be seen posted everywhere. As we grow in this world we learn to follow these rules. We do this because we want to get along or patronize the establishments where these rules are posted. For example, when we are about to ride a roller coaster and the rules tell us to keep our hands ‘inside’, we do this so that we do not risk injury to ourselves. If we go to a restaurant and the rules state, ‘Shirt and Shoes Required’, we follow these rules because we want to experience the meal that will be provided to us. Walking in the Spirit and following the same rules spiritually takes the same effort. As the text says above, walking by the spirit is excellent practice for taming our flesh and its desires. So let’s get some help from the Word of God as He gives us a chance in doing the righteous thing. We are going to move down a few verses in this same chapter of Galatians. Verses 22 and 23 have the blueprint for us to walk by. The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As we walk and practice making decisions leaning on our spiritual frame of mind, we must embrace these fruits. Here, we must search ourselves and figure out which fruits are giving us a hard time. If we find ourselves having problems with our ‘patience’, then we need to spend some time strengthening ourselves in this area. If it is our ‘self-control’ we are weak in, take the time to work that spiritual muscle out. And if we find that we need to be more kind and gentle, look up scriptures in the Bible that can heal, help and guide you to be the strongest Christian you can be in all the Fruits of the Spirit. When we do this, we will find that it becomes easier to disregard the desires of the flesh. Adapt that concept of ‘starving the flesh and feeding the spirit’. This practice will contribute to a stronger healthier stride in our walk in Christ. May God continue to give you everything you need on this journey in Jesus’ name. Amen  Matthew 14:29-30 “He (Jesus) said, “Come.” and climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ~CSB
In life we always feel comfortable when we can control situations in our lives. We work at our jobs to receive a paycheck. We use that paycheck to pay bills and buy food for our household. That is a comfort zone that we love to remain in because we can control everything in that situation. But what if that control was threatened? For example, what if our job was that kind of job where we got paid, only if we showed up to work? We get sick. Because of this sickness, (which we cannot control), we miss days and cannot work. For these days we missed work, we do not get paid. When we do not get paid, we cannot pay our bills or buy food. This is when we begin to panic. This is when life takes us out of our ‘comfort zones’. When we lived in the world, working under our own power, we had no way out of that panic. But in being Christians we now have to learn to live in peace, God's peace, even if that life is away from our comfort zones. We must do this because these are the times God works His miracles. The practice for Christians is that we must never forget Who God is and what He is capable of doing. Think about this, we have faith while we are in church and during our spiritual, biblical meditations. But when circumstances in life come around, we lose focus on God and His Son, and allow our problems, situations and struggles to become bigger than God. Peter was in his ‘church’ frame of mind when he stepped off the boat and began to walk on water. He was actually doing what Jesus told him to do. But when he saw the sight of the storm, his situation told him he could not walk on water, even when Jesus told him he could. What are we allowing the world to tell us what we cannot do, when God is already telling us we can? Like Peter we take our eyes off Christ and focus on our circumstances. If God is bigger than our struggles and trials, we should always stay focused on Him. We should have the same strong faith in God while enduring our trials and sufferings as we have when we sing praises to Him in church. We should have the same focus on God when situations are out of our control as we have when we submit to God in our meditations. Our faith is always walking hand in hand with God knowing that He will not let us sink in the chaotic waters around us. As long as we are with Christ, we will not drown. May God continue to bless and keep you protected, healed and directed in Jesus’ name. Amen  John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” ~CSB
When we were little there were times in the middle of the night when we heard a noise. Whether it be a ‘bump’ in the ceiling from the attic, or a creak in the walls. Some nights our imaginations may even cause us to feel we hear footsteps. As kids we asked ourselves, ‘Is there something under my bed?’ ‘Did my jacket hanging in the corner just move?’ All these things could make for a creepy night. That’s when we yelled for our parents and when they came into the room we felt better. We felt safe. We knew they wouldn’t let anything happen to us. Some of our parents let us sleep in their rooms for the rest of the night. Being under the covers of our parent’s bed may have been the most secure we have ever felt. Today these ‘bumps’ in the night have turned into violence in our communities. Those creepy noises have turned into the reality of guns in schools. Politics seems to be sending a new type of fear as well as the other chaos going on in the world. What do we do about this fear? We shift focus, that’s what we do. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God did not give us this fear. Our emotions of fear did not come from God. So let’s not accept this in our lives. In fact let us embrace the gift He did give us and that gift is His peace. In John 14:27 Jesus says that He leaves us His peace. He specifically says not to confuse His way of giving with the way the world gives. Jesus’ way of giving is perfect and produces life. It is in this peace that God’s way is more important. This peace will surpass every fearful thought the world tries to put in our minds and hearts. Remember the devil is at work to destroy what God has built. But look at the text above. John 16:33 allows us to understand that we may suffer. But instead of being afraid of what is around us, we must be '...courageous...' and trust in God for how He will bring us through and where we will be when we conquer this phase of our lives. We must see it through because Jesus has already conquered the world so it can do nothing to us. Because of Him we are safe. As we know God’s peace, we must practice learning how to allow God’s peace to keep us focused on Him and not on the ‘happenings’ in the world. Since Jesus has conquered the world, our courage should be in His victory, and knowing that He will always protect us from the enemy. May God bless and keep you covered in his protection of healing and direction in Jesus’ name. Amen Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please
people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” ~NRSV One of our biggest obstacles in maintaining obedience is our desire to hold onto how other people may feel about us. How we look to others often takes over the feelings or concern toward how we look in God’s eyes. Think about it, when we get into a confrontation with someone, (be it verbal or physical), we don’t want to appear weak to them or others around us. We automatically forget about what God would want us to do in that same situation and take matters in our own hands. Sometimes in our faith, we shy away from talking about Jesus or what God has done in our lives, because others may make fun of what we believe. Especially when their faith is not as strong. We live our lives focused on ‘man’s’ view of us when that point of view is not important at all. Often we fail to think about God’s approval because we cannot see Him. So in life, what we ‘see’ always takes priority over what we ‘don’t see’. In other words, the reality of the world tries to take away our belief by stepping in and attempting to separate us from God. Even though our trials may be similar, our endurance through those trails are unique. But our uniqueness is not experienced when we try and go through our trials without God. Those of us who go through our trials without God experience exposure to the world and its pressure. We blame, we argue, we fight, and we allow other’s perspectives to dictate our actions. But when we go through our trials with God, we allow Him to teach us how to use those unique gifts He’s blessed us with. The unique gifts that He created in us to endure and become stronger in our trials. We no longer see the distractions of the world and its people because we are so focused on listening to God and satisfying Him as our Teacher. With God all things are possible because He created everything we need to succeed in this world. When we switch our focus off people and what they think about us, and turn on our focus in pleasing God, our lives become a whole lot better. He has shown us His mercy in spite of what we have done. That kind of love deserves all of our attention. To be the best servants of Christ we must seek God’s approval alone. And let His light shine in us so that others will only see Him. And when they see Him, they will ‘seek’ Him and have the desire to serve Him as well. May God continue to bless and keep you under His umbrella of love and protection in Jesus’ name. Amen Romans 12:1 “Brothers and sisters, God has shown you His mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to Him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping Him in the right way.” ~NIRV
Going to church every Sunday and reading the Word of God every now and then is a scratch at the surface in being a Christian. Although these are needed and required, there is another step to be taken toward becoming more godly in our walk in Christ. We have to embrace and practice living our lives in complete ‘sacrifice’, in order to begin the process of allowing God to fully use us on our journey. Let us take the steps to get to that point in our lives. One way to discipline ourselves in the practice of sacrifice is learning how to train ourselves in ignoring the desires of our flesh. A great way to accomplish this is by adapting a healthy lifestyle. But hold on a second. Instead of looking at this way of accomplishment as a ‘diet’, let us look at it like we are training ourselves to say ‘NO’ to the crying and wants of the flesh. Crying and wants we do not need. For instance, if our doctor tells us to cut back on sugar, we train ourselves and allow the spirit inside of us to help us say ‘NO’ to some of those sugary foods. And we adapt some other healthy replacements of nurishment for our bodies to get its daily supplements. If our doctor tells us that we need to lose some weight so that we can maintain a healthier lifestyle, then we learn to say ‘NO’ to lying around at the house all day everyday. We learn to say ‘NO’ when eating in between meals that we do not need. We can find things to do that exercise our bodies and minds. We can try reading more books and watching less television or even eliminating that 'scroll time' on our phones when it comes to social media. We can also keep ourselves busy by planting a garden and growing healthier foods for our bodies. This will allow us to stay busy tending to our gardens and less lying around the house. Just saying ‘NO’ to idle time and ‘YES’ to mobility in our lives. When we have learned to discipline ourselves in making our bodies better, we can look back and become aware that we have ‘sacrificed’ things we like. We have sacrificed lazy time on the couch turning ‘me time’ into ‘family time’. Because of that we become healthier and stronger not only for our body’s sake, but for the sake of our Christian walk as well. With this new found strength we can carry on our sacrifice as we journey in the world. We can ‘sacrifice’ our need to fight back when someone insults us. We can say ‘NO’ to participation in a confrontation. And we can say ‘YES’ when it comes to forgiving our brothers and sisters. “...God has shown you His mercy…” In return and in gratitude we must learn and live sacrifice. Beginning with our own discipline and sacrifice with our flesh, we must train ourselves to be godly. Once we have conquered our flesh, God will use us to conquer the trials of this world. May God continue to bless you as you journey in Jesus’ name. Amen  John 15:4-5 “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” ~CSB
The next time you pick up a stick, look up at the tree it fell from. Take a look at the branches still attached to the tree. Those branches have leaves and are not easily broken. The branches still connected are capable of bearing fruit because of the tree it is connected to. But the branch you are holding is brittle, easily broken and does not possess the power to produce anything. It is dead because it is no longer attached to the source that gave it life. The sacrifice of God’s One and Only Son is the reason we have life. We have life because we are connected to Jesus. This eternal life was granted by the Father at the cost of His Son’s death on the cross. It is because of Jesus’ death our sins have been forgiven. The accountability for our sins have been paid in full. God then resurrected his Son from the grave so that we may have everlasting life. Now we only need to believe! Confessing with our mouth that Jesus did this for us! We must know in our hearts that God loved us so much that He did this for us and allowed us another chance to be with Him. In offering us this chance, He has created a purpose for our lives as we live here on earth. Think about it, when it comes to ‘righteousness’: in what we do, where and how we work, even in how we raise our children. How we function in society, the way we live with and around others, how we forgive and how we receive forgiveness; all comes from how strong our relationship is with Christ Jesus! Everything and everyone around us will flourish successfully if we remain, ‘everyday’, in Jesus. When we do this, we allow Him to remain in us. Jesus is our source of life, our tree, our ‘vine’. If we do not have him, we are just a branch, broken from the tree, on the ground dying. Any leaves or fruits on us will die with us because we are no longer receiving from our ‘source of life’. Eventually we will die like that brittle stick we found on the ground. Stay connected with the source! Jesus says, “The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit.” God’s fruit of love in us will change this world! It will bring hope of light inside all who believe. As they witness this in us, others will seek God, receive His Son and live righteous lives! Disciples will be made and God’s Word will continue to spread and free the souls of His children. Keep Jesus close. Because without Him, “...you can do nothing…” May God bless and keep you well as you journey in Jesus’ name. Amen Colossians 2:14 “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.” ~CSB
Kenny is a middle school student and athlete. He participates in the school’s football program and is very good for his age. One day he gets information about a ‘D1’ program that will not only help him become a better football player, it will also help him get into a good college or university. But when Kenny looks at how much it will cost, his spirit becomes low. To him it is a lot of money and he did not want to bring this to his parents. Fortunately Kenny’s coaches talked with his parents. They felt the investment in their son would be worth it so they made it happen. Kenny’s parents paid for something that Kenny could not. And because of this, Kenny will get to move into an area of his football career where he will have the chance to get better and also have access to the best colleges of his choice. As Christians, this is what happened for us. There are laws listed in the Bible that are impossible for God’s children, (as we are born into sin), to fulfill. Taking away our chances for everlasting life with Father. But God loves us so much that He chose to give us a chance at salvation. We celebrate this season, as God's Gift to all His Children, was born. God's sacrifice of His One and Only Son, is His gift to us all. You see, Jesus would take all our sins, all that ‘debt’ we could not pay for, and take it with Him to the cross. Everything that kept us from the glory of heaven, our Lord and Savior took it with Him and it was nailed on that cross. And when He died, our debt died on that cross as well. But on that third day, Jesus conquered death. God raised Him from the dead, allowing our chance for salvation to rise up with Him! It is because of Jesus, we have zero debt. It is because of Jesus we have ‘V.I.P.’ tickets to be with Him and our Father in heaven. It is because of Him our chance for everlasting life exists! So this holiday season, it doesn’t matter if Christmas is not the way you want it to be. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the finances to get others gifts or if you don’t get any gift yourself. That’s not what this season is about. There is a gift that all of us have already received and it is the best gift ever given and received. The reason this season exists is because a Man, over 2000 years ago, made a choice to give His life for all God’s children. The joy of this season is knowing we serve a God who loves us so much that we have a chance to be with Him and His Son in paradise. All we have to do is believe that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected for our salvation. This is the true meaning of the season. May God continue to bless you and your families as you all continue to walk in Jesus’ name. Amen  Matthew 22:37-39 “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
You are watching your favorite football team. It is at the end of the game, three seconds to go. Your team is down two points. Your team is in great field position to kick a field goal and win the game. Your team’s field goal kicker sets up to kick. The ball is snapped to the holder. The kicker puts it away and the ball is up. In the air, it sails to the right and the field goal is missed! Your team loses. The first thing that comes out of your mouth is, “You had one job!” This guy spends all his time practicing, kicking field goals and when the time comes for it to really count, he fails. It’s funny how you look at something or someone having one main job. We think that they should be perfect in it. Well this is not always true. At any time, anything can happen. This is why we must do two things as we journey in our Christian walk. We must remember that we have ‘one job’. Matthew Chapter 22 tells us in the text above that we must love the Lord with all our hearts, soul and mind. In order to do this we must be in a ‘constant relationship building’ process with God. This means we have to follow steps everyday in making this happen. We cannot do anything righteous in this world without God. We must get into His Word Everyday so that we can receive and allow His peace to surpass our thoughts. In this we will understand and lean on Him instead of what the world shows us. When we receive His peace, then we can begin to heal. God’s love and power will heal us in those places that keep us from loving, giving and forgiving. A healing so great we, the words and actions of others won’t hurt us anymore. We will begin to see people, places and situations differently. Not through our eyes, but through an understanding of God’s perspective. When this happens, we will be able to love others in spite of who they are, or what they may do to us. We love because we are commanded to love and we love because others are God’s children. He loves all of us very much. Jesus did not die for a selection of people. He died for everyone. It is our job to love so that others will see God and His love through us and our actions. This love is commanded in verse 39 when Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This command is second and equally as important as the first command. Remember, we have ‘One Job’, and that is to love. Let us practice it by remembering God’s love for us. So that we may show that same love to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. May God always bless you with the courage, strength, determination and wisdom to live righteously in this world. Amen |
Authors Billy & YolandaThis is the place where we share our heart through God's Word in faith that will inspire and empower you to live in peace. Archives
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