Month: October 2023

DEAR GOD: THANKS FOR YOUR EVERLASTING LOVE~

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There are many passages in the Bible where the Lord declares that He wants us to enjoy His presence. “God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight.”  (Ecclesiastes 2:26) Makes one wonder why, despite God’s declarations, that many of His children fail to enjoy His presence.

First, one of the reasons might be that they think God is not approachable, and therefore untouchable. However, nothing could be further from the truth.  God wants a relationship with you, He desires a close and abiding one with all of His children. If people fail to recognize the depths of His love, they’ll miss out on great blessings.

He has an everlasting love, He says to all of us today as He has throughout the ages, that He wants us to come to Him, and have an intimate relationship with Him.  The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 3:13 KJV)  

His heart is pure and open, as it so clearly demonstrates throughout the entire Bible.  He is our Father and much like our earthly fathers, longs for a close and honest relationship with His children.  The relationship we share with our Father is an individualized as our DNA. So, although the relationships will be different in how we relate and speak with Him, the connection should be one and the same. We are all HIS and He created us. We belong to Him.  We all share that common denominator.

Second, they may view God as a legalistic God.  He is not a legalistic God.  He doesn’t sit around looking at us, thinking “hmm, let’s see, whom can I condemn today?”  Nor does he sit and scrutinize our actions while investigating our motives. He knows our hearts, and He sees our very soul.  The very soul He held in His hands as He created it. He wants to instead, “set us free” and that is what He did when He sent Jesus. He loved/loves us enough to have sent His Son for us. Embrace that love…hold it firmly, and shine your light from within to all those in your path.

Third, they may be afraid of Him. God calls us in reverence of His holiness, but not to be afraid. He has said so many times in His Word, “Do not be afraid!”    The following are just a few of the more familiar scriptures that show us clearly that the Lord does not want us to be afraid:

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1 KJV) 

And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: (Joshua 8:1 KJV)

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (Luke 1:30 KJV)

God loves us the way we are and accepts us fully without any qualms or motives. There really isn’t anything we can do that’ll make us more acceptable, He loves us just the way we are.  He doesn’t like sin but…He loves us, fully and completely just as we are. He forgives us our sins, when we call them to mind and repent of them, thereby allowing us to fellowship with Him further, and opens us up to blessings in abundance. God is a God of forgiveness and love and acceptance.  He also promises restoration.

How can one not enjoy that? Love, acceptance, restoration…and fellowship with your creator, does it get any better than that?

He enjoys being with us. Spend time with Him and begin to trust Him to meet all of your needs.  He’ll never let you down.

Are you ready for the best relationship you’ll ever have in your life?

“Father, thank You for Your love and acceptance, may I always do all according to Your will and purpose in my life, now and always, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

DEAR GOD” RSVP – LORD I ACCEPT YOUR INVITATION~

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Devotion - The Faith of a Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28) - Lutheran ...

And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:43 (NKJV)

 

God wants everyone to partake in the promise of Eternity. He specifically makes reference when He refers to the “Wedding Banquet.” Jesus often taught spiritual truths in the form of parables or stories. Some of the parables were explained by Jesus in the Bible; others were not. One Christ’s parables is the wedding feast found in Matthew 22.  

The groom at the wedding feast is Christ. An invitation is given to those to attend this wedding banquet. And those who attended were in wedding garments and attended gladly. And others ignored the invitation with all kinds of excuses. Those who accepted Christ were in attendance of the wedding banquet. They had on their wedding clothing and were prepared for the marriage.  Those who attended were going to be part of “eternal rewards” and at the Lamb’s table, the feast, the wedding.

Now everyone is surely invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the bad as well as the good. Sinners are all called to repentance, to salvation, and to eternal life by trusting in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

In this parable, the king finds a man at his feast who is not wearing a wedding garment. The king asked why he wasn’t adorned in wedding attire, the man’s speechless and offers no reason as to why he wasn’t wearing the proper garments. In other words, “he had no excuse.”

Although we are ALL invited, only those who are fully clothed in the righteousness of Christ by faith in Jesus will be given entry and allowed into heaven and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Some may try to gain their way into heaven by other means, such as good works, but only the blood of Christ can cover our sines and wash us clean.

Our Father will not accept any excuse for rejecting His Son’s sacrifice. There is no plausible reason or viable excuse for rejecting His Son. Those who refuse to adhere and accept the LORD, as stated will be case into the outer darkness of hell, such as the “speechless” man in the parable.

Do you want to share in Eternal life in Heaven and be seated at the Lamb’s supper? If so, put on your wedding clothes and be ready, Amen!

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

“Father, my LORD, may I always have on my wedding attire as I wait and know Your promises of Eternal Life are forthcoming, until then, I live for You and Your Word, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

DEAR GOD: How May I Serve You Today & Always~

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Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you-

1 Samuel 12:24

 

In the still of the morning, what do you hear?

Do you hear the LORD calling and drawing you near?

Do you realize that today, you’ve nothing to fear?

Do you realize He loves You and holds you dear?

I can honestly state that in the morning, I hear Him by the “silence” and peace I feel while eating my breakfast. I know through His Word He draws me near. I do realize that I’ve nothing to fear, and of course I know He holds me dear.

Recognizing the gift of His grace, and His infinite love is part of the “feeling” of knowing all of which I’ve just said above. His Presence is overwhelming, so much so at times I am dumbstruck. To think He loves me so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son, for ME/ US?  That statement and fact is mind boggling and emotionally numbing.

We of faith know what happened. Christ suffered, died, was buried and resurrected. His blood set us free. He redeemed us. And we embrace it, fully and completely. But, when one takes the time to truly digest the concept and reality, the very image and thought leaves me wondering, why?  But then I know, and I’m filled with joy. It’s simply because He loves us so much, and didn’t want to be separated from us, thereby offering us salvation through Him.

So, the question becomes this? How do we serve Him every single day? There is nothing even remotely equated to what He has done for us.  But we can love Him, follow Him, praise Him, and do all we can in the capacity in which we can, and in all that we can every day.

We can get to know Him more and more by reading His Word daily. Reflecting His Word and love in all we do, all we encounter, and all we say. We can honor Him and meditate on His Word and try to emulate Christ in our behavior overall.

And to serve Him with unfailing dedication, platitudes of love and service Him by having a contrite and true heart, all the time, every time, and till the end of time and beyond.

Do you recognize Him? Listen. Look. Watch. He’s right there beside you!

“Father, thank You for Your visual cues, Your Word and Your promises, may I do all that I can to service You, today, tomorrow and always, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

 

 

DEAR GOD: Thank You For The Vineyard~

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Turn us again to Yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies, make Your face shine down upon us, Only then will we be saved.

Psalm 80:1 (NLT)

The Parable of the wicked vine presses shows God’s response to these who reject His grace.  The relationship between God and His people is a gracious one, and He chose them by grace alone.  He chose them purely out of love, a special covenant relationship, as He promised to be there for them. They were supposed to bring forth His covenant and doctrine.

The Parable of the wicked people in the vineyard shows the stubborn and wicked people who repeatedly reject Christ. The vine press is a symbolism of Christ, our Vine, and His blood which was pressed out for us.

The vineyard only yielded “bad fruit” even though good servants were sent to them to remind them, they are to be gracious and yield “good fruit.”  But they rejected His reminders, and His teachings.  So, the owner of the vineyard sent his own Son, and they rejected Him. This parable was of course describing Christ Himself, who the people rejected, and eventually crucified Him on Calvary!

Isaiah 51:7 is about God’s vineyard, which represents Israel, and was disappointed because they didn’t care for it, and it only produced “bad fruit.” Again, a metaphor for God’s love and judgement for His people. (Psalm 80)

We are to be faithful stewards to His vineyard, of which He is the Head Vine, and the Faither who placed the Head Vine in the garden.

How are you at being a “steward?”  Are you tending to the vineyard? Are you producing good fruits and yielding rewards of which burst forth when following the LORD.

When we are planted in the Vineyard of Christ, our roots get deeply entrenched in His Word thereby allowing spiritual growth, which enables us to become entwined in His grace, power, love and support.

How does your garden fare in the trenches of the Word of the LORD?

“Father my LORD, my Vine and my everything, thank You for presenting me with the opportunity to thrive and live in Your love and grace, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

 

 

 

 

 

DEAR GOD: My Productivity Overflows With You~

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Colossians 3:23 –

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

 

To those reading this post, have you ever taken the time to reflect on just how much you can accomplish when you do it all for and onto the LORD?

I, for one can state unequivocally, and with all my heart, that I have found that to be true, consistently. It is a pattern that presents itself repeatedly throughout all my years thus far, and I suspect it will do so until I am called home.

Doing things for the LORD, brings about a certain “zest” almost an “effervescence” of spirit when the task/job is done with the LORD in mind.

His Presence is with us, and dwells within us at all times. (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Honoring Him, by being the best we can and realizing that our job is vitally important, is in fact a way of growing deeper, and further into the roots of our Christianity.

Being a part of His army as a soldier, we march to His orders, and surrender to God and God alone. He is the single most important factor of our lives, He is our Five Star General, and we owe Him our full service no one else but Him. After all, as it states in 2 Timothy 2:4 – “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.”

And He is the One, that will protect and provide to all of our needs, all the days we are here on earth. From birth to death, and all the in-betweens, He is with us.  As promised and stated in Isaiah 46:4 “even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

Do all things for Him, and through Him, by honoring Him with the best of your best and all the rest will smoothly fall into place.

Have you acknowledged Him today?

Do you know He is right there with you?

“Father God, may I do the best I can for You and through You, today, tomorrow and always, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

 

DEAR GOD: I Only Have Faith in You~

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“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” –Proverbs 29:25 

This verse from Proverbs I take personal interest to and I’ve applied it to all I do in this lifetime. Especially with all of the duress and unrest this world is  handing out to humans these days. It collides with my soul, and it often tries to “block out the light” because of the negativity in the air.  It’s like I’m suffocating at times with circumstances in the world and our country.

However, I put my full trust in the LORD. I know without a doubt that He is in control, and that although it seems like things are dank and bleak, the opposite side of the coin is what I choose to see. And that is because of my bond and depth of love for the LORD and His promises.

  • God has never disappointed me, NEVER!  He has shown me the way, more times than not. It isn’t His fault, should I take another path. He shows me, and it is up to me to listen.
  • He guides. Yes, guides. Like the true North, He is a forever and always and completely trustworthy co-pilot to have, during all of my journeys.
  • He chastises when necessary. YES! He will do His part as a loving Father if I should do something which isn’t sitting too well with Him!  And to which I say, “pardon me Father, I’m sorry. Thanks for disciplining me, with love!
  • And He shines His light upon the path in which to enlighten me and keep me from the dark.
  • Most important, His love is unmatched, unwavering, and unconditionally powerful and soothing.

Trusting in God, and not man is a no brainer for me, always has been, and hopefully, always will be. We can’t be fooled by the enemy and the ways of the world. Its subtle temptations may come calling, be prepared at all times.  And the only way to be prepared, is to meditate, reflect, trust and follow the LORD.

Who are you going to trust? God, or the world?

“Father, thank You for Your word, Your promises, and the steadfast depth of love You have shown all the days of my life, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”