God Is Not Static

People want to imagine God as a static being. There are some attributes of God that don't change, but there are different season's in how God deals with us, so there has to be different season's that even God goes through. Times of desiring intimacy and times of desiring respect. We can't put Him in a box and say this is God~ because He is so big! so amazing! so complex~

The Day After Christmas

     Yesterday Was Christmas
   
     Yesterday was the day designated to celebrate Jesus' birth, we're going to avoid any discussion here about whether it's the correct day. It doesn't matter to me! I'm just glad we take time to marvel at the fact that He stepped away from heaven to be born as a man! That deserves celebration, right? And even more, that birth set into play a chain of events that has given me freedom from the dark world of sin that I was previously destined to live in. I'm happy to celebrate Jesus' birth! Joy to the world! Rejoice! and again I say Rejoice!
     But....I want to ask a couple of questions for you to consider, were you like the Inn Keeper? Did you have room for Jesus, or did you put Him in the stable? Did you give him a place of honor in the "guest room", a place He can visit again next year or maybe even Easter? Or did you clean out room for Him to have His own place...a place He can claim for the rest of your year? the rest of your life?
     Second question, now that we celebrated His birth...what are you going to do with Him? Forget Him until next year or celebrate Him everyday?
     I'm not going to tell you what to do here, I'm just trying to stir up something for you to think about.
     Oh, okay, I am going to tell you something to do, a teacher's heart is always trying to teach! Don't pack Jesus up with your Christmas ornaments, just to wait to unpack Him next year, same time, same place.
     Keep Him close to you, look to Him each day. Let the gift of His birth change your life! Live in the grace of His presence.

Giving ~ God's Principle

Giving ~ God's Principle

"Tis better to  give than to receive"~ 

Has anyone heard that? I was always told that as a child, but I didn't really understand it. I always thought people were telling me that to manipulate me into not wanting to receive! 

     Now I finally understand! One of the principles that God has tried to teach us from the beginning is to not worry about what we receive, we should be more concerned with what we can give~

     He shares so many examples of this idea~

Proverbs 11:24-25 

Some give freely and still get richer, while others are stingy but grow still poorer. The person who blesses others will prosper; he who satisfies others will be satisfied himself.

Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Psalm 21:26 b
the righteous give without sparing.

(I am striving to walk a righteous path, so I'm told here that giving is part of that path...without sparing.)

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully

     There are many more of God's teachings about giving and receiving, because He wants to bless us, but we have to be a willing participant, doing our part! He wants to give but He wants us giving also!

     Why do you think He wants us to give? Maybe so we recognize that what we have is from Him? He will let us scrape and get by with little, but He longs to bless us. He is our Protector and Provider.

     

"Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. Malachi 3:10(The Message)"  

     If you're like me, you can have some pretty wild dreams of blessings! But also notice, He doesn't say I'll shower you with blessings and then you give...it's for us to bring our full tithe in and then He will pour out the blessing. 

     But finally, we're not doing this just for the blessing that God wants to give us, but we're doing it to honor Him! In giving, we become His tools here on Earth, we're His body, fulfilling His work, and bringing Him glory and honor through our lives, our actions and our giving. 

They Comfort Me

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

The rod God uses against our enemies, to beat them away.

The staff God uses on us, to guide us, to change our direction, maybe even to get our attention? 

Anyway, it is a comfort to know that He is in control, He will protect us, but He will not neglect correcting us also. 

Thank You Heavenly Father.

Father's Prayer aka the Lord's Prayer

                                                     

Dear Father,
(Address Heaven)

    I love You and honor even Your name Father!
    I long for You to be here, Your will and Your purpose to be done here with me, as You have it done at home with You! 
    Please give me the things I need today, food, shelter, You know what I need better than I do!
    Forgive me Father, when I fall short of Your purpose in my life, or when I make really bad choices and do the things You don't want me to do, and help me forgive people when they make bad choices against me.
    Please help me avoid those things that You know are bad for me, You know, the tempting things.  Please keep me from the evil things!
     You are my Father forever! It's Your Kingdom, Father, it's Your power and for Your glory!

I love You Father,
Your daughter

PS Please write back soon!  XOXO

“Pray, then, in this way:

 ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

 ‘Your kingdom come.Your will be done, On earth as it is in    heaven.

 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.

 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

 For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.’

Matthew 6:9-13

Are You A Saint?

     Are you a saint? Your automatic response is probably, "NO WAY!". You hear it often as people speak about themselves, they say, I'm no "saint". 
     But shouldn't you see yourself as a saint? In scripture Paul often refers to God's people as "the saints", such as
"To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi Philippians 1:1" NASB. 

     Is it humility to refuse to see yourself as a saint? Or embarrassment in front of the world? We don't want to appear any differently from the world right? They might hold us up for ridicule. Yet we are called to be a holy people.

     We have a holy God and He calls us to be holy. Maybe we better start trying to be what He calls us and not be concerned with what the world holds up for ridicule? If God calls us to be saints, which is actually a person set apart for Him, then hadn't we better start calling ourselves saints?

     When I searched for the definition of "saint" in the dictionary I found several we could accept, but if we put it in perspective with scripture, I don't believe they will all work.

     One definition says it's for "those noted for their holiness and venerated during their lifetimes or after death" but if we go with that definition, it definitely limits those that had been addressed in Paul's writing. He wrote "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi" and now we read it as part of the scriptures for us, the people he wrote it to weren't dead and neither are we! 

     I have written a lot here just to convince you that you are a saint and should recognize yourself as one and live as one! However, here's one more bit of evidence that you are called as a saint, if we look at other translations of the same verse the word "saint" translates to "All God’s people united with the Messiah Yeshua"(Philippians 1:1 Complete Jewish Bible Translation).

     Don't you want to be one of those people? If you are one of those people then accept it, you are a saint! See yourself as God sees you, a person set apart for His purpose, to live a holy life, to be joined with Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a saint.