 Photo Credit: Epsos "...How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing" (NIV) - Matthew 23:37 “..How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" (ESV) Matthew 23:37 Prayer: Lord, you are a marvelous! Show me what you are saying to me in this verse. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen! What a verse! It's amazing how God continually shows us through Scripture how loving and kind hearted He is. The thing is, fam, if we wanted to paint a picture of God as this big-mean guy waiting to say something or be mean to us, we'll definitely find it when we read Scripture because we'll be picking out what we want to see. There are two things I'd love to share with you before we start: 1. Please read my last article about Scripture being God-breathed. There, I encouraged you to start reading the Word like a love letter. God is for you and not against you! 2. Also, when you read, pray first and ask God and the Holy Spirit to come lead you, help you, and to speak to you (i.e. give you revelation). We do have a flesh so sometimes we can go to Scripture and interpret it in our own way, when really all God is showing us is that He loves us. I guess my point here is this: be faith-based, not fear-based when you read the Bible. Each time I head to Scripture and it's something that brings fear, I'm like..hmmm okay God, this feeling is not from you, i.e. I'm not interpreting this right, you are not here to condemn me / put me down / this isn't your nature so I'll ask You about it instead. Like I said last time, if there is any discipline from our Abba, He does so in a loving and kind way. He is a God of grace, doing so to help you, and to build you up. K! Now onto the message! I have to confess, I felt like this really needed to be said. I felt a heavy burden to tell people that God loves them very much and wanted them to know that He is a gentle God. God hears you when you cry out to Him. This verse is one out of a ton that demonstrates God's nature. The Savior is always showing His tender love to us. Tender means showing gentleness and concern or sympathy. He is gentle, tender and sympathetic with us. He empathizes with us when we hurt. He is not here to hurt us or condemn us. Looking at the definition of tender, the dictionary also defined it as 'not rough'. Jesus is not rough. If anything, He is the most gentle person you will ever know. Think of Someone who was pushed in a crowd, touched, used, abused, and still in the end lay there saying no harsh words or continued with what He promised to do. That's the awesome God we serve. :) Also, remember when Paul continued walking and got back up in Acts 14:19-20? Paul was telling the people in Lystra that God never left Himself without testimony. Some Jews came and stoned Paul. They even dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead - it was brutal. But what did Paul do? He got back up and went back into the city, and the next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe (another city). Those were qualities of Jesus. That was Jesus in Paul! We know it's Jesus because no one in their carnal mind would ever get stoned and STILL get back up and continue the work of spreading the message of Jesus Christ! It's a miracle! We praise the Lord! It's stuff like this that's all around us. There are qualities of Jesus all around you. He manifests Himself to you in every way possible to show you kindness, and love. He manifests Himself to show you that He is capable, He is able, He is yours and His promises are so true and will never stop demonstrating them to you. And that includes comfort - comforting you. Allow God's tender Hands to let the eyes of your heart be opened. Dear child, stop hurting. Jesus wants to show you that He loves you and He cares for you and that He wants to protect you through it all. He wants to protect you through it all. Like a hen protects her chicks, the Father protects His, under His glorious wings. Do you know who your Father is? He is a gentle God, a gentle God waiting to show you that He loves you. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:10). Amen Challenge: For the next 30 days, could you read a verse a day about God's love for you and meditate on it? See what it says and ask God to speak to you through it. :)
Life's circumstances will come and go, but God's love will remain the same. :) Jesus loves you no matter what. Song: Listen to: "You Are For Me" - by Kari Jobe
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Yesterday we spoke about how God is Sovereign, that Jesus is a Friend who is able to save, and is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother. Today we'll continue to touch on His sovereignty and how He is there through any storm. "Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you" -Psalm 119:91 (Emphasis mine). All things serve Him. To endure means to stick through, to remain in existence. Before this verse, it says, "Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures." Psalm 119:90. His faithfulness continues through, it says. You see, to go through something is different going by. If you say to someone "I'll go through it with you", you mean that you will be actively engaging with them in the process, not just being passive. That's what His faithfulness does, it continues through ALL things. Psalm 119:90 says that He established the earth and it endures, it stands (as opposed to the ever changing things around us). I remember one time a scientist gave his opinion by saying that he was amazed at how the earth was positioned and that he if it were to move an inch to any side, he believed it would disrupt the formation of the earth, planets etc. Whether his claim was true or not, one thing I know is that scientists can't fully scientifically explain away all the reasons of how the earth is where it is, how it's position is there, how it is sustained (yes, we know gravity...but you know what I mean). They can calculate how the earth is held up, or that if it moves an inch, it could fall down...but even if we had ALL the calculations, GOD is still in control. Remember how I posted about how God knows when one sparrow is about to go down? *light bulb moment* Yea..I know. Imagine for us, how much more for us, who are created in His image! How much more!! Amen! Know that God is sovereign over all, and He loves us very so very much. Because of the Lord's great promises, we can endure until the end. A Few Things: 1. If you would like to receive a newsletter with new posts, encouragement, and updates, you can sign up for a newsletter! 2. I would love to join you in prayer to our Wonderful God! If you have any prayer requests, please send them here.
 "Oh Lord...show me Your wonders..."
I walk through the park and I see a tree. I look at how big it is and then continue walking. I stop... "Wait a minute...that's a BIG tree... "...God, You're so wonderful..." Not that I haven't seen a big tree before, but this time it was different. "Show me your wonders..." I had prayed. I take a picture of it. "That tree comes from a little seed..."  Sometimes we go through a period of hardships.
Christ came to set you free. He came to tell you that He loves you so much that He wanted to die for you and free you from bondage. The enemy can sometimes come in and try to "take" that away from you, but you can hit him back with these truths: by knowing who you are in Christ! Amen. You are: -Declared Righteous and not guilty in Christ Jesus You were made righteous by FAITH. "It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. If God's promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless." Romans 4:13-14 "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15 "But [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26b -Declared permanent access to God's presence through Jesus Christ You can approach God with anything! "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16 "Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." -Hebrews 10:19 - 22 -Declared freedom from a guilty conscience When shame, guilt, comes your way, hand it over to Christ, He paid for it all and it's His. "Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." -Hebrews 10:19 - 22 "This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper." Hebrews 9:9 -Declared acceptance by God "Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:9-10 "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary." Hebrews 10:14-18 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." Ephesians 1:4 "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault." Colossians 1:22 Genesis 1:1-2 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
There was nothing desirable to be seen in the world. The earth was formless and empty, just like us. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. It goes against God's nature for Him to create such a world, so we assume that from the first sentence something happened in the earth for it to get that way (as we later read, satan was already a fallen angel and kicked out of eden so he was probably roaming around destroying things as usual). We're like that description. We're like that before God enters our life. Satan took us and trashed us, he used us and "destroyed us..." ...but know that God's Spirit is hovering you. He wants you. He wants you and wants to complete you. Now you might be wondering, why doesn't He just complete me then? Well, in the same heart beat, He can, but He wants you to accept that invitation, to say yes. Will you let Him into your house? Will you let Him enter? The enemy forced himself a long time ago, very ungentleman-like right? But we have a God who's knocking, and asking. All I know is that He wants to put Light in you. And Light will create a pathway for so more... Say yes to God. Jesus loves you very much. Wow it's been a while!
God's been doing great things and He is so faithful! I just want to let you know that whatever God's doing in your life, He is going to bless it! Amen! So today I was scanning through my journal and I stopped at when I wrote down Genesis 3:11 and right away the title "who are you listening to" came to me. Friend, who are you listening to? Are you listening to somebody else today who's not God's voice? Are you listening to someone who isn't a voice to be trusted? God's telling you to stop right now. Right now. Genesis 3:11 says, "who told you that you were naked? Have you EATEN from the TREE that I COMMANDED you not to eat from?" What are you eating? Are you eating from television? From videos? From celebrities? Are you eating from people who God says 'no' to? It's time to re-assess who you spend time with. These "things" will benefit you for a while, but in the long run, they'll destroy you. Don't believe the lies of the enemy. The enemy is INDIRECTLY telling you to 'stop right now' that your purpose isn't good enough, and that YOU'RE not good enough. Tell him that you are, tell Him that God loves you and that you are good enough. Tell him that God's gifts and CALLING are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), so we can CHOOSE to STOP right now and make a u-turn and head back to God. Tell him you can do it without the lies and that you don't need momentary pleasures. Amen. The enemy has a plan for you, just as GOD has a plan for you, but we have to CHOOSE whom we're LISTENING to. God loves you very much and wants to see you prosper, but for now, please ask yourself: Who are you listening to? God bless you. Hope in the Lord, and He will sustain you. Psalm 55:22 solemnly appeared at the doorstep of my heart. I know there must be someone needing this.  I know that there are times when we are waiting for something good, and at times for something bad, like a doctor's report, or a final assignment, and we just don't know what to do. I wanted to note down a few tips on how to rely on God during the bad times, during the times when you're waiting on something, and you don't know what to do. The enemy wants you worried and anxious, and he doesn't want you to know that if you did put all your TRUST in God during a rough period, it will only make you stronger in faith AND in deed. When in a period of uncertainty: 1. FOCUS on Him. The other day I put on my Facebook status: "Continually focusing on something is called mediating. What are YOU focusing on?" If you think about what you think about, you'll get insight on what you are really focusing on and why are you giving emphasis on the bad areas of your life, instead of the good (which is: "God is faithful, God is true, God is Sustainer, God is all-knowing etc.") 2. MEDITATE on His Word. I really need to make available some of the notebooks that I talked about before and how I just flip it open when I'm either down, thinking about the wrong things, or being attacked by the enemy. It helps a lot. The flesh can be weak at remembering verses sometimes, so if you have a notebook FULL of His TRUTHS, it can then resonate in your mind wherever you are (side note: I like how Pastor T.D. Jakes calls it marinating. He says, think of a good piece of JUICY chicken...-LOL-...you put the spices and good stuff and let it soak into the meat for some time, and THEN you cook it. If you just lay the spices on top and they don't get into the actual meat, you're just going to have a nasty piece of chicken with a beautiful browned top... so true Pastor... #WiseWordsRightThurrr :) So SOAK up in your Bible reading and be JUICY. Study a passage if you want to. A nice place to read would be 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 :) 3. CONSTANTLY COMMUNICATE WITH GOD. Wow, I can't even imagine the place you might be in right now, or the place you might be in one day, but know that God's LISTENING to you. The other day I just went on and I'm like: "God...I can't do this right now...I feel..etc," and I just told Him how I felt and He just COMFORTED me, I was just SO grateful. He wants to listen to you. Tell Him how worried you are, tell Him just how much xyz means to You..He cares. P.s. Don't forget to ALSO be in PRAISE. He listens to the hard bits, but also listens to your praise, and praise will triumph over anything any day! Amen! 4. SPEND TIME WITH PEOPLE WHO MATTER. At some point, we all need HUMAN contact...lol ;-) I know what it's like to say: "no one will understand me, they won't care so why should I tell them..." and on and on, but you know what, God has shown me to APPRECIATE the people around me, even the ones I don't know. He has shown me that sometimes I don't even have to TELL them ANYTHING, and He will just USE them to comfort me. Hallelujah. We don't need to go around telling everyone how tough it is right now but you CAN spend time with POSITIVE, UPLIFTING, ENCOURAGING, GENUINE people, and EXPECT GOD to work through them and KNOW & TRUST that He is with you wherever you go. 5. LEAN ON THE COMFORTER. What more can I say...The Comforter is the Amazing Holy Spirit whom we have within us :) Make Him your Best Friend. The Holy Spirit gives you words to say, He nudges you when you should take a leap of faith and step out into the unknown, He tells you to pray when you need help and even prays FOR you when you don't know what to say. The Comforter is a Friend for life, so get to know Him :) God is with you wherever you go.
 God is SO good! I've been doing this online 365-day devotional by Joyce Meyer, and it has really been speaking to me (hence the many references to her as of late!! haha!). She said: "I know God loves me, so I can love what God chooses to love. I don't love everything I do, but I accept myself because God accepts me."
How true. If a PERFECT God, who has NO blemish CHOOSES to love us, why can't we start to see ourselves in the same light He does? I believe that we are meant to love ourselves (obviously not in a conceited way)... "Even when you say i'm not, He says I'm beautiful. I didn't watch American Idol, but when I heard Candice Glover's song it was really inspiring, and it made me think of how many of us define our beauty by what we see around us or what we hear from people or the media. Curious of who she was, I watched an interview of hers. The presenter asked her who the "he" was, and she said that the audience can take it as a guy who didn't accept them as they were, or as God. I choose to see it as both, and it can also apply at times when anything sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and His truths about us. :)
In 1 Samuel 16:7, when God instructed Samuel to go anoint the next king of Israel, He tells him not to consider [the next king's] APPEARANCE or his height because the He had rejected him [who had those things]. He then says: "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the OUTWARD appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." When we start looking to God as our foundation of beauty, nothing in this world can hinder the truths that rest in us, and when lies do start to enter our lives, we know that we have a resting place to run to, a God who is comforting, reassuring, full of truth, and never changing (Malachi 3:6a "I the Lord do not change). No matter what they say, YOU are beautiful :) |
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