A Stronghold in Joy

There is a Stronghold in Joy

“9. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.11. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15: 9 – 13

“10. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Joy; an easy and simple topic. No muss no fuss, just joy.  Let’s look a little deeper into that second passage, specifically at “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” In Hebrew they used the word:

maoz or mauz or maoz or mauz: a place or means of safety, protection

Original Word: מָעוֹז

Part of Speech: Noun Masculine

Transliteration: maoz or mauz or maoz or mauz

Phonetic Spelling: (maw-oze')

Short Definition: stronghold

Don’t worry; I am not going to go into semantics, well not too much anyway.  But I think this needs to be covered. All too often we look at scripture verse and take it at just face value, but it is important to look at the meaning behind it as well. The joy of the Lord is your stronghold. Notice how it say the joy of the Lord, not joy in the Lord, this is important.

You always have access to a stronghold, all you have to do is realise what God is saying to you in all of this. God is a God of love, he delights in the ways of his children, He has joy in all that we do. God is joy!  Joy of the Lord, you understand now? Or are you completely confused? Been there done that, I was confused when God first brought this to me.

We have a stronghold in the Lord because He is joy, it is His joy that provides that stronghold, not our own joy but His. We have no reason to fear, be depressed or worry about anything if we rely on the joy of the Lord. God loves you and would never forsake you; He would never turn His face from you, or try and hide from you. Completely opposite, it is in the times that you are at your weakest, when you have done the most wrong things that you could ever imagine, and when you are filled with such great sorrow that it seems that no one would ever accept you that he takes you into His stronghold and holds back the weight that lays heavy on you, and holds back the attacks of the enemy.

Make sense now?

You might be wondering why I included 2 passages in this post but have only focused on one. Fact is I these were the ones that God revealed to me, and when I looked up the word joy in the Bible, it came up with 240 references to that word. (NIV Version) I think the Holy Spirit was showing me something with these Bible verses, first is that one is Old Testament and the other is New Testament, God’s promises are the same yesterday, today and forever more. Secondly is this, take a look at verse 11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” God’s joy, His everlasting and unfailing joy is in us, and it overflows in us, it completes the joy that we have, and fills in when our joy is lacking. If you love God, and obey His word, your joy will never be empty, and you will always have a stronghold to turn too.

Be blessed, and keep the faith! And may your joy always be full. :)

One Body

One Body

“3. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 

4. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,

 5. so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 

6. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 

8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12: 3-8

      A thought occurred to me while reading through someone else’s blog this past week and it has to do with the division of the church. It is not a bad thing, but I do believe it is a hindrance to the growth of the church.

There are many denominations in the body of Christ, Evangelical, Charismatic, Catholic, Reformed, Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Anglican, to name a few, and all of them have things in common and all them have major differences. None is wrong in what they believe or what in creeds and doctrines they follow all of them draw them from the scriptures and that is God breathed. Now, why do I call this difference a division and a hindrance to the growth and spreading of the church? It is because in the midst of all of this that we are no longer unified.

      I know where all of you can go with this, “But it says in the scriptures that we are all one body made up of many parts, that is the denominations of the church. They are the different body parts that make up the body of Christ.” And I agree completely, that is exactly what it is, but the truth lies behind it all. This is not something seen on the surface, it is spiritual wound, and it is Satan’s greatest victory over us as the church.

We and I mean all of us have drifted apart from God’s grand design to be unified under Him, we are all so caught up in our creeds, doctrines, and how we choose to run our services. Whether we choose to raise our hands, shout hallelujah or bow our heads and say a Hail Mary, that we have become separated. The body has split apart. The eye has said “I do not need you foot,” and the ear has said “I do not need you hands.” We have become blinded by our own humanity and forgotten that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Creeds, doctrines, and songs mean nothing to our Heavenly Father, at least when it comes to churches and how we do things. What matters to Him is that we worship Him and Him alone, that we do it with our whole heart mind body and soul, and that we do it as one! The Bible does not say that wherever 2 or 3 Evangelicals are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them, it says ” 19. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”” Matthew 18: 19-20. It is only when we come together as one that we will achieve what God wants to achieve, it is only as one body that we can step on the head of the Serpent.

      

      There is nothing wrong with denominations, in fact I encourage you to find your place, the one denomination that best suits you and the style that you worship and praise our God in. But do not discriminate against the other denominations out there, encourage them in their growth, pray for them on Sunday mornings that they too may see the glory of God that morning. Meet with them grow with them, share in their sorrows and in their laughter’s. As one body, unified under God we are unstoppable and we can change the world.

Be blessed, and remember to keep the faith!

Are You Strong Enough?

Are You Strong Enough?

On my weekly commute to BC, I was listening to the song “Strong Enough” by Matthew West and I came to a great realization and it brought me to a deeper understanding of myself and my faith in God. I am so weak.

Wow! Stupendous breakthrough! Ha-ha, I know that is what all of you are thinking right now. And I had to laugh myself when I thought of this. Why did I all of the sudden come this realization? Why did it hit me so hard? Because it was real, and because it was the Holy Spirit that revealed it to me, this is not by my own understanding but by God’s understanding that I came to see this. I saw how small, insignificant and weak I actually am. In fact he not only revealed the thought to me but showed it to me.

The picture that I have included with my blog post, I took on my drive to Cranbrook. (Don’t worry; I pulled over to take it), and the scripture verse came with it. “1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;” Psalm 121: 1- 3. Even now as I am writing this, God is speaking to me, I have chosen song at random to listen too from my library and they all seem to have the same theme, “My Hope” by Matt Redman, and “In Christ Alone” All have the same messages carried throughout them. Where does my help come from? To whom shall I turn, who can I run to, rely on. I AM NOT STRONG ENOUGH!

Guess what, we may not be strong enough, but God is! We can never carry the burdens of this world alone. The temptations that you face each and every day can only be brought down when we turn it over to Him. Together with God, we can face all obstacles that stand in our way.

God, I give up, I am not strong enough to do it alone, help me I pray, help me in the way that only you can. I am weak, but you are strong.

Remember this when you go through your day to day activities, whether it be work, school, or play, trials and temptations are bound to come your way, but when you involve the Lord they can easily be overcome.

I am hoping that all of this makes sense to people. I know it does to me. I am actually going to start writing my next sermon on this Bible passage, and go into a little more detail about all of this.

Pray to God and ask Him to reveal something to you in the next day, I try and listen to Him at every opportunity that I get, (I said try, I am not perfect and it doesn't happen as often as it should.) Read your Bible every day, if you need help set a reminder in your calendar, put an alarm on your phone, but spend some time in God’s word. Even 5 minutes a day can make a great difference.

Be blessed and remember to keep the faith!

Test Your Faith

Testing Your Faith

I know I have touched on this before, but I think it is something that needs to be constantly revisited. I hope that this approach will give you some new insights on faith and what it means. 

Luke 17: 5-19

5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. 7“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’?8Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ "11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Have you tested your faith recently? I mean truly tested it. This is not falling backwards into someones arms, that requires faith in man. I mean your faith in God? If you haven't then why not? And if you have were you rewarded for your faith?

This is a hard question to answer for all of us, and not something to take lightly once you undertake it. It is a hard action to even do, to live by faith, to rely completely on God and all that He has to offer, to trust in Him 100%. Wow, I think I just blew my own mind there. That is true faith, that is what God wants us to have with Him. That undying and unending faith and trust in Him. But here is the hard part, we are human and we are bound to fail in this area. We can strive for it but all of us have fallen short of it at one point or another.

This is the thing though, faith is a daily thing. You wake up each morning and pray to God saying, "God, I will have in you, in you and all you have in store for me today. I put my life in your hands." Each day you can start over, each day you can say that prayer even if you fell short the day before. 

Faith can do great things, even the smallest of faith can do great things. The key to faith is that it has to be for the glory of God. You can ask a tree to be moved into the ocean all you want too, you can have the greatest faith in it, but if it is not for the glory of God it is not going to happen. What rhyme or reason is there for you to put a tree into the ocean? How can God's glory be shown in it? Are you doing it just because you can or you told someone you could do it? That is not for God's glory. Or it can happen but if it is against what God wants you might end up losing it anyway.

I heard this story of a pastor once. (I can neither confirm nor deny that this story actually happened. Google it and come up with your own conclusions. :) I for one believe it.) This pastor's wife passed away, and the pastor prayed and prayed and prayed that she would be raised from the dead, he had the faith and it happened! She was raised from the dead. A week or so later she passed away again, he did the same thing again and she was raised from the dead a second time! It happened a third time where his wife passed away and lo and behold he did it again. Three times he raised her from the dead! This time though the wife had something to say about it. "Stop raising me from the dead! It is my time to go and God is calling me home." She passed away later that night. Quite the story huh? Faith can do anything, even raise people from the dead. Only when done in God's will and with his glory in mind.

God has a plan and a purpose for everything, His design is the greatest design, His picture is more beautiful than anything we can paint. We can have faith in God and all that He is going to do for us, we can have faith for someone to be healed, for the dead to be raised for that promotion that you have always wanted, or that perfect item that you have always wanted, but remember that Jesus taught us to pray saying:

"Our Father 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 lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil."

Be blessed and remember to keep the faith!

Tried, tested and true?

Would you come out on top if God tested you? How would you get through it? Why does God test us, or better yet a question that is asked by Christians and non-Christians alike is why does God let bad things happen to good people?

I have been going through my own series of tests and tribulations the past week, and it has seemed nearly impossible to get through it all. I have endured a week without my wife and family, and the thing that is keeping us apart seems like it is not even going to happen. I guess I should explain this a little better.

I received a promotion from the company that I work for, and it has taken me out of town, to Cranbrook BC, which is 3 and a half hours away from Lethbridge. It’s not bad you say, it’s not that far away, but it is far enough that I cannot commute every day, so that leaves me in hotel for this week. We prepared for all of this in advance, put our house on the market, started packing and getting ready for all of to leave hoping and believing that God would sell our house in time so we would not have to spend time apart. A month went by and nothing came, the deadline came closer and closer to where I would have to be away without my family during the week. Still we kept praying and having faith that God was going to sell our house in time.

As you can see from earlier in the post that I am currently away from wife and kids, it is just for this past week but the deadline is in only 2 weeks before I am up here full time. I have been so mad at God for this, I have prayed so hard, I have had faith in Him and believed that He would do it and I have received nothing. No answers, no sale of our house and one of the hardest weeks I have probably ever faced. No sleep, no one to talk too, all alone.

Needless to say I am not coming out on top right, I am beaten and defeated, Satan has been whispering words of despair and fear in my ears and I have been listening to it all. Why, why is it all going wrong, why is he not answering my wife’s and my prayers? Why is it so hard, why am I being tested and why is all going wrong? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?

Nothing, these are the whispers in my ears, the doubts that Satan in putting in head and on my heart. The easiest way to break us as Christians is to divide us from our God. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:13.

So why are we tested? Because in testing we find strength and we learn to trust and rely on our heavenly father.  A popular song by Mercy Me goes like this : 

“I can count a million times

People asking me how                                                                                                                                                               I Can praise You with all that I've gone through

The question just amazes me

Can circumstances possibly

Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed

Long before these rainy days

It's never really ever crossed my mind

To turn my back on you, oh Lord

My only shelter from the storm

But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain

Mercy Me: Bring the Rain

It is through our hardships that our faith in Christ grows, it is through our struggles that we become better people and it gives us the ability to witness to others when God pulls us though on top of it all.

That is the point of testing, look at Job. He is the perfect example of testing. God did make bad things happen to Job, he allowed them to occur but only because he knew that Job could persevere though it all. ”Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” Job 1: 8  

My mom used to say this when times were tuff, “God never throws more at you than he knows you can handle.” I thank God that my mom was given such wisdom and it has helped me though a lot of hard times.

If you are going through hard times, if you are being tested and all seems lost. Keep your head held high, stomp your foot down and shout out: “SATAN YOU CANNOT DEFEAT, I DENY THE DOUBTS THAT YOU PUT ON MY HEART AND I DENY YOU!”

God is with you though all things, and he will never let you fall.

Be blessed and remember to keep the faith.

For I know the plans I have for you.

For I know the plans I have for you.

      This one is truly inspired by God because I had no intention of writing anything till at least the end of the summer, but I think everyone needs to be reminded that God has a plan for everyone, and it is always great and never what you expect. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. 
       I have talked before about having a close relationship with God, about walking in faith and righteousness and keeping your head held high in times of hardship, but I never really explained why it was worth it, and why we should keep preserving through it all. It is an important thing to cover because without purpose we as humans tend to lack hope. If we have nothing to strive for we lose our way and become lost.
      From the time of our inception God had a plan for us, He had a plan before we were even thought of, before time and the earth even existed. That is an amazing thing to think of, everyone has a purpose and no matter what it is that you are going though, God's purpose will prevail."Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Matthew 10:29. God has a plan for everything, nothing happens without His will and it is all about YOU! 
      This is why it is so important to have a close relationship with God, He has nothing but your best interests at heart. You may think that what you are going through is hard, unfair, unjust and has no rhyme or reason but it all happens within the will of God, and it all has to do with plans He has for you. God wants you to succeed and prosper, He wants all of the best things for you. He doesn't want you to give up hope and live like the world wants you to live. HE LOVES YOU! 
      This is why we persevere, this is what we strive for everyday. To carry out the will of God and follow the plans that He has for our lives. "Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21. God's will and plans will always overcome whatever man has in mind. 


      Keep that in mind as you go through your day to day activities. God has a plan for you, in all that you do. Whether it is great or small, know that you have a purpose, that God loves you and that always has your best interests at heart.


      Be blessed and keep the faith!

When your faith gets tested

When your faith gets tested

      Some recent events have inspired this blog post, and it may not be for everyone to read this but we all go through a period where someone or something tests what we believe in, challenges our faith and exposes some deep truths that we probably never even thought of before. These tests can either make or break you, you either grow closer to God through it or question His very existence.

      I will be honest with you, I have been there many times before and I haven't always come out on top either. I have been down to the point of exhaustion, and pushed into a wall with no where to turn and no one seemingly to turn to. There has been a conversation going on on facebook for the past few days now, between several people of varying faiths, and at times many things that have been apparent to what the church is doing to people has been brought to light. 

      A lot of people who no longer believe, have been hurt by the church in some way shape or form. They have either felt like an outcast, feel as though they are being judged by others or have been burnt out by being over used and under appreciated. Now I am not saying that church is the only cause of people turning from their faith, but it is point that needs to be covered, as taboo as it is. We tend to bury the truth that even the church can turn people away.

      If you are one of those who has been hurt by something that the institution of church has done, I encourage you to keep pressing through it as hard as it may be. The church is a building, it is full of sinners and imperfect people who are going to make mistakes. Being a Christian is not about going to church, that is Religion, and I for one cannot stand that word and all it implies. I am not religious, I am in a relationship with my Lord and Saviour. 

      Pray, and pray over the things are going wrong, pray for the people that are wronging you. You cannot change people, only God can do that, and it is not until they feel convicted of what they are doing that they can begin to change. "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" Matthew 5:44. 

      Talk to those around you about the struggles that you are going through, you might not be the only one going through these things. You can find strength in others and encourage each other through the difficult times. 

      It may be hard, and I know that road is tempting that tells you to just walk away from it all. But I am telling you now, that the grass may look greener on the other side but it is often filled with poison ivy and thorns. Satan loves to use our imperfection against us, and it is evident that he can use the church, and the people in it to carry out what he wants. Fight the temptation to leave, to turn your back on God. God is love, people aren't always love. 

      Be encouraged, and keep your head up. God will bless you for your perseverance.

      I hope that this encourages someone out there, I try hard to listen to what God wants me to write and I think that everything has purpose and person that is supposed to be reading this.

      Keep the faith, and God bless!

Who is my neighbor? Part 2

Who is my neighbor?

       God is love, remember this always. No matter what you do, or don't do God still loves you, but He loves you too much to leave you the way you are. God loves everyone equally and He wants you to do the same to those surrounding you in your life. Love your neighbor as you yourself want to be loved, I mentioned this last night, and I am going to go a little bit more into detail of how to carry it out with those around you.

       What are the main things people need to survive? Food, water and shelter, these are the 3 basic needs of every human being, but can we function without love, compassion, friendship? We can but we cannot live life to it's fullness without them, the same can be said when it comes to showing these things to others, we cannot live full rich Christian lives unless we show these things to our neighbors.

       So what can you do as an individual to love your neighbor? "I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Matthew 25:36. This is how you show love to your neighbor. We have been entrusted by God to heal the sick, care for the widows, and comfort those who are suffering, to feed the hungry and pray for those who need to be saved. I will admit that I am not very good at any of this, in fact I am going to share 2 stories with you.

       I was going to 7-Eleven one night to grab some snack stuff, usual routine. When I got out of the store I was approached by a homeless man on bike, asking for money or something. He told me he was embarrassed and he was staying in the shelter but needed some money to get some food. I told him I had nothing to give him and drove away.

       My wife was going to the Dollar Store to pick up some odds and ends, and before she went inside she was approached by a homeless lady asking for money, my wife said she had and went into the store. While in the store though she bought her some socks, and a few other items and also a Bible. She walked out of the store and the lady was no where to be found, she drove around and tried to find her, but couldn't. She was crying over the fact that she couldn't find this lady.

       Who loved their neighbor in these 2 events? My wife of course. These are actual events that happened, and they happen to all of us on a constant basis. My wife chose the right action, she had the proper follow through and even though she could not find the homeless lady, her heart and compassion went to her and God will reward her for it. I on the other hand feel extreme guilt over not doing anything for the homeless person that I encountered. 

       I'm not saying to you to go out and find a homeless person and buy them food or anything, if that is what God is telling you to do, great! But He may be calling you to volunteer at the local soup kitchen, or to go to the old folks home, raise money for a local shelter or donate items to a food bank, work on a crisis hotline. There are many ways to show love to your neighbor. Like I said yesterday the concept is easy, it is the follow through that matters.

       I leave you with one more Bible passage that God has put on my heart in regards to all of this, and it weighs heavily on my heart. "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." Matthew 25:45. It hurts to write that verse and realize that that was me.

       Don't let opportunity pass you by, show love to your neighbor the first time you have a chance. Bless others, raise them up and the same will be done for you when you need it.

       Thanks again everyone, keep the faith and God bless! 

Who is my neighbor? Part1

Who is my neighbor?

       "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27. Repeat that, love your neighbor as yourself, seems simple enough, the person next door, mow their lawn cook them a meal every now and then. So very wrong, the concept is easy, it's the follow through that is so much more. So, who is your neighbor?

       The answer like I said is easy, everyone you come into contact with is your neighbor, everyone that you meet, talk to, interact with and even pass by on the street  is your neighbor. You can love your neighbor, in fact most of the time they are just as easy enough to ignore them, but can you love them as yourself, can you love them as much as you love you yourself wants to be loved. 

       We as humans long to be loved, not only do we long for it we need it. If we do not feel love and appreciation we do not function right, and if we do not receive love we cannot give it in return. If a child is not shown love from it's mother when it is first born, it dies and the same thing happens to us as adults, something in side of us dies and we cannot do the things we normally do. That is why God is love, His very nature is love, and He gives His love to us freely. In return though we need to show the same kind of love to our neighbor.

       I will continue with this a little bit more in detail tomorrow night. Just think about it for a while tonight, and ask God to reveal your neighbors to you, and to help you show them the same love that you want you and that has been given to you.

      Keep the faith and God bless!

      For those of you on facebook, remember to share this if you like it. :)

       

Mercy

Mercy

       Last time I talked about grace, so it seems only reasonable that I should do something about mercy, you can't have one without the other.

      "But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:16


       Even the worst sinners have been shown mercy, and this mercy is only given to us by God's grace. God is the almighty judge, and judges everything in truth, And the truth is that we are all deserving of severe punishment, and condemnation, but he is also a righteous and merciful judge. God has granted us mercy because He loves us so much! He shows mercy to us and we should do the same for others, it is the whole "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven" Luke 6:37. 

       Even we do not forgive and show mercy to others, even if they are deserving of it, we are not being Godly people, remember the mercy that you were shown, even though you were so undeserving, before you choose to cast judgment on someone else.

      

       If we do not show mercy to others, it holds us back from a true relationship with our Lord and Saviour, we are not fit to cast judgement on others, so do not even bother going down that road. Forgive, forget and move on. We are meant to be an example to others, and show them how God wants them to live, if you can't show mercy in even the smallest of things, you are not being a good example.

       And believe me, it is not easy, at all. In fact most times it is fight to do it, but you have to choose to do it on a daily basis, you have to choose to show mercy every moment you get, you have to fight the human urge to not show it, and not forget it. If you succeed though, you will find yourself growing closer to God, and you will find it easier every time to show people mercy.

        I am going to leave you with one more Bible passage, read it, repeat it and remember it:

Psalm 136:

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: 

And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

Thanks again for reading. "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love." 2 John 1:3


God bless and keep the faith!

Grace

Grace

        Grace:

       1.an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied

       2.mercy; clemency; pardon:

       Now, I gave you 2 definitions but in regards to our Christian walk they are one. This is what we call divine grace, this is the grace of God.

       We are all sinners, we sin everyday and for the most part we don't even give it a second thought, that's even if we notice the sin in the first place, and because of sin we deserve to die. Harsh, isn't it. Something that is essentially human nature for us makes us deserve death, and literally separates us from God, from hearing His words to us, and have a true relationship with Him.

       "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son; that whoever believes in Him, will not perish but have everlasting life." John 3: 16. This is divine grace.

We had a debt to pay for our sins, and that debt was death, but Jesus paid for that debt for us, He offered us grace with no penalties, and an infinite allowance of time. He showed us true mercy, and He pardoned us from debt that we could not pay even though we deserved it.

       

       We have an awesome gift and often times we forget about, we beat ourselves up about the sins that we have committed and we rarely forget it. That is the devil's most powerful tool against, and he uses it often. We take grace for granted, it is one of our most powerful things, (in fact it is why we are alive today), and we waste it. It is the best thing to use to convince people that they need Christ, and to be saved, and it satan's best  thing against us to bring us back down.

      Do not forget about Gods divine grace, ask for forgiveness and you shall have, He will wash away your sin's whiter than snow and remember them no more. But only if you choose to let them go. Tell the devil to back off and leave you alone! Your sins are forgiven and always will be, so long as you bring them to the cross.

      His grace is sufficient for you, for me, for all of us but only if we accept it. A pardon can only be valid if we choose to accept it. 

       My thoughts and prayers go with you all tonight, remember grace a don't ever let the devil tell you otherwise.

       Keep the faith and God bless!