Today I feel God wants me to bring up the subject of who we are in Christ.  The older I have gotten, it is more evident to me how important this fact is!  If we as Christians continue to search for who we are outside of Him, we will be just like the world.  We will be tossed everywhere in our thoughts and actions.  Who we are in Christ is stable like a rock, and not as changing as water or vapor.

Yesterday I saw a movie entitled Overcomers.  In it the idea of our being new creations was portrayed…Ephesians 1 and 2 was emphasized.  In the first two chapters of this book, Paul brought up Spiritual blessings we have as Children of God.  Christ purchased us, so we are precious!  Since we are His, He has sealed us with His Holy Spirit. His Spirit helps us discover what the mystery of His will is.  We are one with all believers, as His body. As individuals, He is maturing each one of us.

This is what makes the Christian walk so difficult, the speed of everything.  Praise God He is patient with each of us!  I am so grateful that we are growing in Him and do not remain as infants.  This reminds me of Jesus’ statement of how He was the vine and we are the branches.  He gives life and builds…Satan comes and tries to destroy and kill.  I should not be so discouraged that I do not see the end product yet.  When I meet Him, I will be like Him…which goes for every single believer!

Today I am amazed thinking about how God is the peace in the midst of storms.  It was evident when Jesus asked Peter to walk to Him on the Sea of Galilee. It was evident in my life when He healed my crossed eyes, and just recently through my bilateral hip replacements.  In the future I will trust Him to bring me peace.

The things I am laying at His feet are many, but know He is able to provide the tranquility.  I am asking the Holy Spirit to give my Sister, Rachel, the ability to get through her colonoscopy in September, along with me as I have my inner ear testing. Not only do my Sister and I have nervousness with our health, but her husband is suffering from a stroke he had about 5 years ago. Finally, my Parents are in need of stability as my Mom has symptoms of dementia, colitis, and diabetes.  My Father needs grace as he takes care of my Mom.

Speaking of my Parents, I am praying that my ex will continue to do as well as he is doing.  As God enables Alan, I am praying that he will not give up the fight for our restored marriage.  I an praying God heals our bodies inside and out! That we will be able to get remarried, and my Parents, family and friends will be able to attend a small wedding this December.  Praise God He is the peace that is making a symphony out of life’s disharmony!

One of the most beautiful thoughts is that our God has promised He would always be with us.  We do not have to be afraid…He has walked behind us, is walking with us, and will walk before us lighting the way. He does not change!

Today was a perfect day to meditate on this fact, since our family woke up to the news that a dear old friend of ours had gone to be with the Lord. This was all unexpected!  It made me think all day of how fleeting life is, which Ecclesiastes states.  Praise be to God, though, our mortal bodies will take on immortality when we are resurrected! You and I do not have to worry about our dying, or any family or friends who have trusted Christ as Savior.

I wanted to encourage myself, and those out there, to put on that shield of faith.  As we do this, we need to continue taking one step in front of the other.  Our eyes need to be focused on the King. He will enable us to finish the race He  has put before us…He has finished the course for us!

For me, the most encouraging thought is that God has promised over and over in His Word that He is with His children. We are not alone…He has walked behind us, is walking with us, and will walk before us lighting our way.  We are not asked to worry about what tomorrow holds.

Today was a perfect day for me to dwell on this fact.  I was rather upset in my heart.  My family awoke to the news that a dear old friend of ours had passed away unexpectedly.  Hearing this reminded me of the fact that all of life is like a vapor, which is expressed in Ecclesiastes.  God is life…He is unchanging and will resurrect these mortal bodies into immortal bodies.  I do not have to fear about my dying, or any member of my family who has trusted Jesus.

Jesus is sharing with me, as He also reminded those like Joshua and Gideon, that we are victorious in Him.  We may feel weak, as is stated in Lauren Daigel’s song, God says we are strong.  It is so much better to trust the Creator’s view of ourselves, than what  we or others have to say!  I wanted to encourage myself and you out there that we do not have to be crippled by fear!  Let us put on that shield of faith and put one step in front of the other.  Our attention should be on the prize, which is the upward calling of Christ.

Living sacrifices, as mentioned in Romans 12, is something I was dwelling on the last few days.  It is the act of faith in  giving of ourselves whatever we have to offer Him. It isn’t able to be accomplished on our own, but through Christ.

Christ is our everything, and sacrificed Himself for us. Any sacrifice given has to be perfect.  We unfortunately know that we are not perfect; but, praise be to Jesus that He humbled Himself and gave everything He was to His Father!

The reason He was able to sacrifice wasn’t that we were deserving of that action, but that there was love operating. The way we are able to love people is to let God’s love flow through us.  It is not able to happen unless we humble yourselves and let our Savior do the work!

Do I hear an Amen to the fact that we serve an awesome and mysterious God?  I know I can amen that statement! The reason He is God is that He is beyond finding out. When we are unable to figure out what God is doing, it is good to know that our maker has everything under control.

I couldn’t help but dwell on this fact while talking to Dad the other day.  We discussed how God will move in the most unlikely of ways.  Just look how God sent Elijah to the widowl who was barely making it.  Through the prophet, the Lord mysteriously provided for her and her son.

I had to laugh meditating on this.  There have been times when I have felt so inadequate, but God sends someone in my path that is either struggling as much as I am or even more.  Not only have I had that person be ministered to, but my spirits are miraculously lifted.  It is when we allow the Spirit to move that we see Him move.  Let us all be  encouraged and expectant as He works.  It is exactly like the wind..you do not see it, but you notice it’s effect.

The last couple of days the Lord has impressed on me the importance of renewing my mind…of just not relying on what I see around me.  I am so capable of believing whatever I see without totally thinking about what is the truth.  God is truth, and He  is the measurement for all reality.  Everything else is either not perfect or passing away.

That leads me to the subject of weakness.  Okay, we notice that we are weak.  That is true, but Christ is our strength and will give us the ability and endurance we need. He is the fulfillment of our neediness.  He told us to come to Him and drink.

My Father and I were talking about  this subject this morning.  Some people will state that Christ is our crutch.  He is more than our crutch, and gives us the very next breath we take. How can we say that He is just our crutch, when He is our everything?

This morning I  woke up very discouraged about past happenings and failures in my life.  The Lord stopped me in my tracks…not only talking to me in my mind, but through the words of my Father.

What God was sharing with me was that it was His Grace that allows us to have a new morning….no matter what has occurred in the past.  I am publically, right now, thanking God for the opportunity of being with my Parents.  I thank Him for my dog that I was able to take out in the fresh, frostbitten air. I am also grateful that I have a loving Sister, Brother-in-Law, and Aunts.  Finally, nothing is more sweeter than knowing that one day I will be praising God forever with my Brothers and Sisters in Christ! 

The Scriptures that my Dad pointed us to were found in Psalms and in Habakkuk. David was crying out to God about how long will it be for the affliction to pass in his life. In Habakkuk, the Prophet was stating that no matter if he had any livelihood or signs of prosperity he still was going to praise God.  May that be my and all of our attitudes today!

This morning I was meditating upon the fact that God is good…how gracious of Him! We do not deserve His goodness, but each day He is there as  a good, Heavenly Father.  We all have a tendency to falter in our minds by not taking God for His Word.

In His Word, I believe in one of the epistles by John,  it mentions that perfect love casts out all fear.  When we are fearful, we are in essence telling God that His love is not perfect/good.  The only reason we experience bad, is that we entered a sinful world which is constantly questioning God and trying to do things its own way.

Let us today remember Romans 8:28, which says that God allows everything in our lives for our good. Do we truly believe this?  Are we going to believe Him that we are either going to be delivered from the trials, or that He will give us grace in going through them?  In Hebrews it talks about these two groups of people.

Lord, help our faith!

I wanted to start this blog in order to focus my mind, and others,’ on what God does in His chldren’s lives. There are too many times when I and every other Christian are too focused on what they feel should be happening, instead of the grace of God in their lives. I will start off by thanking the Lord for entering this sinful world and for remembering me as He hanged on the cross. I also want to praise my maker for giving me such wonderful Godly Parents, and such a compassionate and caring Sister! In addition, thank you Lord for your body of believers that have come beside me as encouragement! I want to dedicate this day and blog to God:) Finally, thank you Jesus for bringing my husband, Alan, back to me.