The Believers Big "C"

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set  us free (emphasis added) from the law of sin and death.

Oh how many of us read this verse and never truly understand how free we really are from the law of sin.
The enemy of our souls wraps us up  in lies of inadequacy and and guilt because we do not fully understand  the freedom we have  in Jesus.

When Christ Jesus went to the Cross to die in our place, we, you and I, who accept His gift of Salvation, were set free. Sin no longer has reign over us,  but many of us do not completely understand this. Because most of us do not know exactly what Scripture says.  When the Son sets you free, you are truly free...it is for freedom that Christ set us free...Gal. 5:1

Dear, precious, child of God, do you feel free?  If you have accepted Jesus into your heart you are free of condemnation of the law of sin.  The Word of God says so. God the Father loves us, "and as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions...sins...from us...Psalms 103:12

Yet you say, I'm a sinner, I sin everyday!  Yes we do, and yes we will, until we are finally in our heavenly home, but the penalty for each and every sin is already paid.  Paid for dearly in the precious blood of our loving Savior.  Our Savior who loved us so much He chose to take our place on that Cross so we could be free, each of  us who accepts the gift He freely gave.

I am only now coming to really understand it isn't anything I have done, am doing, or will do.  It is what Jesus has already done.  And if I will accept His gift and do my best  to follow Him, learn His ways and walk as closely, intimately with Him as I can , I will be free in Him and Him alone.  Jesus is all!  There is no condemnation when we are His, only love and hope and help.

Most of us think we have to clean ourselves up before we can come to God, again a lie of the enemy.  We can not "clean" ourselves up---human self effort will never do the job. But Jesus can "clean" us and set us free from the bondage sin has had over us.

The Word of God has so much to offer us if we would just read it and seek out the God of heaven an d His Son who gives us new life if we choose it.

Read Gods Word and find out for yourself.  He's waiting to meet with you.

Sowing & Reaping

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy"...Psalms 126:5.....weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning...Psalms 30:5


Sowing in tears.  For days now that is exactly what I've been doing.  Someone very close to me whom I love  
dearly has made a very unwise choice in their life and is now going to have to deal with the serious consequences of this choice   Oh how my heart grieves and breaks for them and for those of us closest to them.  We who love them.  For days now I have been crying out to the Lord, Why?  Why did You let this happen? You are all powerful, all mighty You could have stopped it.  Scripture says You control all things.  Why didn't You?  Why didn't You?  Pain grips my heart, tears fill my eyes and I feel as if my God, my Lord, whom I love has abandoned my to my heartache.

Then that sweet soft voice I am learning to listen to in my heart says to me,  Beloved, all mankind has to have choice. Without it they can never love Me or choose Me as their heavenly Father.  I could have controlled this situation; I am controlling it.  Do you not see My hand at work even now?   I have a purpose and a plan in this Beloved, and I will bring it about.  Yes, it is very painful right now.  I do some of my best work in the sorrows of regretful tears.  Trust me!  You will yet see the goodness of the Lord.

Oh Jesus, I am so grateful for Your presence.  For the comfort Your love brings me.  Even in the midst of this vise gripping pain, deep within, I know that things will be okay.  That I will be okay---"yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with me"...Psalms 23:4  You have promised never to leave  me nor forsake me and You keep your promises.  I will hold fast to Your word Lord. You are here walking right beside me, and You won't let me fall.  Nothing touches me without Your allowing it.

I started this blog with the Scripture about sowing in tears.  That we actually sow with our tears, seeds of trust and hope if we come and bring them to You.  You know all about weeping for those who choose wrong.  You wept over and died for a people who didn't recognize who You are.  A people who rejected You, crucified You, and all because You loved them so much You wanted to give them new life.

Dear Lord I am so very grateful for the Scriptures.  They tell us Your ways are not our ways, Your thoughts not our thoughts, but never leave us with out hope for a new morning that can and will bring us joy.  You are our joy, our peace in times of trouble. Whether I walk with You on earth or when I come home I can, and will have the joy of all you have promised...because You are faithful and true.  I love you Lord, because You love me so much.  I await the morning, knowing You are beside me in the night.

Listening That We May Live

Then a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is My Son, My Chosen One, listen to Him." ....
 [Luke 9:35]

I do not know about you, but if I heard a voice coming out of a cloud saying anything, I would either stop to hear exactly what was being said, or would find myself so scared by whats happening, I would run the opposite direction in fright.

Reading  these words from Scripture, I tried imaging how God's voice might sound.  Was it loud and booming like a clap of thunder? Or did it sound soft and quiet like a gentle whisper?  To myself  I thought," it must be more like thunder, loud and booming", like nature when it roars.Yet this verse does not tell us how God sounded here, only what He said.

Does it say God spoke? Yes.  And tells us exactly what He said.  "Listen to My Son, My Chosen One". For those who say the Bible is hard to read and understand, this sounds pretty clear to me. Listen to His Son and that's what I've been leaning to do, as I continue to spend time in Gods Word each morning. Learning that God has been speaking to us since the time He created us... [Isaiah 55:3]. Learning, He desires to speak to me, His daughter, personally, if I let Him..

Over and over as I  read, I see the words "listen", "hear Me" "God says"; throughout Scripture  these definitely sounds like He God is speaking.and wants me to hear.  And as I read His words, I am trying diligently to listen to what It says.  Why?  Because His words are life!... "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edge sword....able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. [Heb. 4:11] Scripture tell's me how to live the way God planned for me to.  It tells me, He created me and knows me better than anyone else.  His Words tell me He loves me and wants the best for me. So I try to listen with open "ears" and an open heart, because in my heart I know this is true.

 In the Old Testament ,God spoke His commandments through Moses. Using them to tell His people how they should live, on a day to day, basis with Him and why they should do so.We know these words as the "Ten Commandments". The Law of the the Old Covenant ...[Deut. 6]

In the New Testament, Jesus says He came to speak a new covenant a new Way.  What the Law was unable to do, help us to know and do the Will of God, He did by living His life in obedience to His Father. He brought to us the new covenant of Gods love & grace and through His life, showed us how we should live in this new way.  Jesus, the Son of God, is our example, of the new life we can have when we have a personal relationship with Him. A life of becoming like Christ.

The Word says, when we know the Son, we know the Father....only the Son has seen the Father...He, Jesus explains the Father. [John1:18]  That is why we are to listen.  Jesus brings new life. True life! Free life!

The words of the Gospels tells us, He, Jesus, came and died, that we may have life and have it abundantly "....[John10:10].
 Isn't that what we all want? An abundant life?  Not just financial wealth, which is what most of us think of when we think of abundant living, but a life filled with contentment, peace, and joy which we all desire in our hearts, God given desires which we all have.  Desires that can only be fulfilled in having a personal, intimate relationship with the Lover of our souls, Jesus Christ.  And not just fulfilled desires, but a new Life!  Life the way God  intended for us before sin entered the world. God has a purpose and a plan for every life He created. Every life!  We only have to be listening to what He says to learn what that life is and how to live it..."My sheep hear My voice... and they follow Me "[John 10:27].

My challenge to both myself and those of you reading my blog, is to spend time reading in the Word everyday. Reading the Gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which tell all about Jesus, who He is, how He wants to help us live,. Reading the Psalms and Proverbs full of insight and wisdom.  Gods Word most importantly tells us how much He loves us; so much He was willing to die in our place for our sins, that we might truly have life. What love! The whole Bible is a love letter from God to His children.

Read God's word for yourself. Actively listen (seek)  what Jesus has to say to you.  Ask yourself, "what do I hear Hims saying"?  If you are a child of God He has promised to reveal what He wants us to know. Reading Scripture is how we learn to Know God.  It is where we can find Him and the perfect plan He has for our life.

Oh Lord how little any of us truly understand this precious, precious gift only You have given us. Thank You that You promise to be with us and lead us in Your paths of righteousness.  Show us what real living is, walking with You daily Lord.  May all of us have "ears to hear and eyes to see" the life You offer.

Anger....Righteous or Unrighteous?

Mans(woman's) anger does not bring about the righteousness of God....James 1:20


A major crisis has abruptly changed my whole life, and I am now  trying with all my heart, to listen to God, as to how I am to handle the the painful emotions that have arisen within me because of what has happened.  I am  filled with painful anger which has resulted due to the behavior of someone else and also anger at myself for how I responded in return. I have been continually lifting  these overwhelming hurting feelings, up to the Lord asking Him for His help in dealing with the intensity of my emotions because they are beyond what I can manage by myself.

And, as if this isn't enough to cope with; there is also, the uncontrolled angry emotions of the other person in this situation,  which is the core issue of my crisis to begin with, that I am having to dealing with as well.  "Dear God, I pray, how I am to handle my anger, fears and doubts that are threatening to "swamp" me in waves of storming emotions? What does one do, when you are the focus of another persons hurtful, undeserved anger?  When they verbally and emotionally assault you, because of their inability to handle their anger in a healthy way?

My answer was to run straight into the loving arms of Jesus; asking Him to hide me in the shadow of His wings; asking Him to be my strength and my shield, my strong fortress in this time of trouble, These were very words my devotional reading had spoken to me this morning.  And that's exactly what He did. He gathered me into the shadow of His wings and with His love He calmed my hurt and anger. He did so because He says in His Word  (Psalms 17:8) that's what He will do; and He does exactly what He says in His Word He will do. I  know I can trust Him to be my refuge, my strength, when I am weak.  Because He has been my strength and my shield, and "a strong tower in trouble," over and over again. The success for this to work though, is that I run to Him with whatever I am dealing with.  Times of anger, times of sadness, times of joy! That I take everything to Him in prayer.

 As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am not to handle my anger in the same way as someone who does not know Him would. Scripture tell me, as His child, I am to respond as as the Word teaches, and that  is to bring my emotions to Him, confess any sin on my part and let the Holy Spirit enable me to forgive, both the other person and myself.  Anger--any ones-- will not bring about God's righteousness, James 1:20 tells us. So, I  must deal with my anger.

Ephesians 4:26 also addresses the subject of anger and helps  me to see that the anger itself is not sin, but what I do with the anger, how I respond that becomes sinful. This verse tells us how to respond God's way, "Be angry, but do not let the sun go down on my anger." I am to deal with it before the day is over.  Only recently have I come realized that I have been letting the sun go down on much unresolved anger and resentment , which had turned into a root of bitterness that I had been unwilling to face. Now as God has revealed it to me I have run to His Word,  my source of truth and guidance, for living a holy life, to learn from Him, what I must do with these feelings.  While anger isn't a sin, bitterness is, and God says we must get rid of it because it is a poison to our souls.

 As I sat with these thoughts, the above Scripture came to my mind. Only the problem was, as sometimes happens to me, I couldn't remember where it was located, so I went searching for a reference in my  Bible concordance, trying to find the exact verse. I looked under specific words used in the verse as I was remembering it: anger, righteousness, man, and God. One after the other, but  was not finding what I was looking for.

So I continued to search the Scriptures. And as I searched I prayed, "Lord why can't I find this Scripture reference? Is there something else here I am missing.  Holy Spirit You know exactly where it is, would You lead me to where God's words are; not what I think He is saying, but exactly what He says?   And on I searched.

Well, as you can tell from my reference verse, I did find it and several other verses God wanted me to meditate on as well.  The verse that spoke to me the most was Ephesians 4:26.  I like so many consider anger to be a sin, but that's not what God says. This verse says "be angry",  but what I'm not to do is let the sun go down on my anger.  That has been my problem in dealing with anger most of my life I realized.

Now for clarity, what I'm not saying here, is that every argument or angry situation can be resolved in the same day.  What I am saying, is  the Lord was speaking to me here about my feelings and that I bring them to Him, confess any sin on my part and put the situation into His hands, then wait for Him to show me what to do; obey Him.

 I'd like to tell you that my crisis is resolved as I am writing this blog, but that's not happened.  What I can tell you, is that God has taken something the enemy meant for evil in my life and has used it for good and ultimately for His glory, by revealing a deep rooted bondage that I needed to be set free from and cleansed my heart with His loving forgiveness. I no longer am filled with bitterness and resentment, but much sadness for the pain this has caused everyone involved. He has set me free to respond with His love and grace. Could anything be better than His goodness?

I am now waiting on the Lord to show me the next steps to take.  I know in my heart He will, because He only does what's good and right and prefect. What He wants is for me to lean on Him.  And that's what I am doing.

Dear Lord, thank You that the truth of Your Word is always available to us.  Thank You that You care and love us so much that You want us to know Your truth and by able to apply it through the power of Your Spirit indwelling us. Your Word truly  is alight unto our path and a lamp to our feet...Ps. 119:105 and You use it to speak  to each of us intimately and personally.  Thank You! Thank You, precious Lord Jesus.