You Mean, I Am Something Good?

‎"like a beautiful poem..." Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Not only did God save us from this wrath (which we rightly deserve), but also...to make something beautiful of us...His Workmanship...His creation – something new He has made of us in Jesus Christ. The Jerusalem Bible translates workmanship as “work of art.” All because of My Jesus' work at the cross, I am a work of art...something beautiful...."Thank You Jesus!!!" "WOW...Praise Him Today!....Happy Friday!!!"

A Broken...and Contrite Heart?

"You break me down, Lord" Isaiah 66:2"This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word"...the word 'contrite' used here, literally means..."lame or disabled"...one who is aware of the damage brought on by his sin...and his personal inability to stand upright before God.” (Motyer)
Do I 'tremble' at God's Word? Or how about, do I tremble at the thought of standing before Our Perfect and Holy God, and hope to somehow say..."can you please overlook everything I've done, and let me in, cause really down deep, I'm a pretty fantastic person....I mean, why else would you love me?" Nope, what God really wants from us is a poor and a contrite spirit, and to tremble at His word...hmmmm?

Ok Job...I get your point

"food, for the 'spiritual' man?" Job 23:12 "I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food" How much value do I put on the Word of God? Job says he's come to value Our Lord's Words, even more than the food he considers to live on..."what's up with that?...I wanna be like Job!" First off...you see there is the natural man, than there is the spiritual man. Trust me, I see to it that my natural man is fed regularly and fed well...but what about my spiritual man? I confess, it's amazing how much junk food I cram into my spiritual man..."Lord, help me!"

Sometimes, when I stop and think about it....

"He has made me glad"..."Psalm 92:4 "You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done" (NLT) Too often, I allow my circumstances to run me, and forget some pretty important things My God has done for me...like atonement for my sins..."Thank You Jesus!" Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to you now? Come join me Christian, cling to that cross which took our sin away; serve Him who served thee.

I Could Never be a Judas

"me, could I have been a Judas?" Luke 22:48 but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" I am Judas’ kiss But You love me anyway...See now, I am the man who yelled out from the crowd For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground Yes then, I turned away with a smile on my face With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace And then alone in the night, I still called out for You So ashamed of my life, my life, my life Oh, God…how you love me (Sidewalk Prophets)

Stop Focusing on my circumstances?

"keep our eyes on?...." Matthew 14:28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water" Circumstances, you know as well as I do, its real easy for us to to get our eyes on our circumstances...we start looking around at the boisterous waves; we start looking at our problems...next thing ya know, we begin to sink...We need to keep our eyes on the Lord, the Master over the sea, over the waves, over the winds...It's been said: "As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus we can walk on the water, so to speak"             Help Me Lord!

Now that I'm Older

"uh when I grow up...I wanna die on a cross?" john 21:18 "I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; But when you are old, others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go" When Peter and Jesus first met, Peter was all about self-reliance...Here, Jesus promises Peter, when you are older, you will make a faithful stand for Me and be crucified. It's all about the cross. You can't help but do it...you look back over your life, and think...."I used to really think that was important, or this was important, but now?" God has this funny way of changing us...He does slowly, maticulously...what used to reign as so important, suddenly is not even worth thinking on...instead we mature...at least I hope, and in more cases than not, we become "kingdom minded"....like Peter, we focus our attention on finishing well.

For He is not far from any of you

"where can I go? He's like...everywhere" Acts 17:28 "For in him we live and move and exist" In all honesty...I am totally surrounded by God. I depend upon God for my very existence. In Him I live. God sustains my life. I'm dependent on Him. I move, wherever I move, He is there. I exist in Him, by Him.

An Issue as Old as Time

"perplexing...isn't it?" Eccl 8:14 "righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve" As old as time is itself...we often ask why Lord? It's a hard pill to swallow, but we simply cannot see the Lord's entire picture...He's in control, He has a plan...and only He can truly be trusted "Lord, just give me the strength for today, enough light for this step I am on"

is God in my Fires?

"is God in your fire?" 1 Kings 19:12 "After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire" "There's a fire starting in my heart, Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark" So often we look for God in the 'dramatic', but God more than not, chooses the less dramatic...we have to learn such lessons over and over.."not by Might" Zech 4:6, but by My Spirit... says Our Lord

Okay...Once Again, Its Not about me!

"one universal cure" Romans 3:22 "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ" I simply love verses like these, cause it makes me so thankful, and relieved, all at the same time...I can't do it, yet I keep on trying too...Thankfully, Jesus already did it! Cause you see, it is not earned through obedience to the law; it is a received righteousness, gained through faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness of God is not ours by faith; it is ours through faith. We do not earn righteousness by our faith. We receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ.

"Thank You Jesus" Happy friday y'all

Me Content...Are You kidding Me?

"no matter what?" Phil 4:11 "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" It was by the blood of Christ, Paul had grown to be able to say this...Circumstances, no matter how treacherous, seemed to be of no great concern to Paul...he had an eternal and unshakable refuge...sometimes I wanna say "I hate you Paul"..."O Lord help me, I've got so far to go"

We can have Confidence in Jesus Authority

"who has authority?" Mark 1:22 "The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law"..."They" had never heard anyone teach quite like this before. Jesus taught with authority because He really had authority. He brought a divine message, confident that it was from God. He wasn’t quoting from man, but from God. Jesus taught with authority because He knew what He was talking about. You can’t teach with authority if you aren’t familiar with your material.
Jesus taught with authority because He believed what He taught. When you really believe what you teach, it comes through to your audience with authority.                 Jesus still bringin' that same message today, come, you can have confidence in Jesus!

Pray Another Day

"there's always a maybe basis" Acts 17:27 "if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" We all have family, or friends...who really have nothing to hold onto, they're just 'groping' around, they need Jesus Christ...the good news is He's never really far away at all...remember, we are totally surrounded by God, wherever I move, He is there..."and so, we pray another day"

Want to be Certain...Want Personal?

"up close...and personal" Isaiah 43:1 "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine" Sometimes I think...I simply take for granted, that we are so precious to the Lord...so precious, that He calls us His children. You see...God twice owns His people. He has right of ownership both as Creator and Redeemer. It's personal, because He says I have called you by your name. It's certain...because He seals it by saying You are mine. Knowing we belong to the Lord is a wonderful answer to fear. We can know that He holds us, protects us, guards us, and cares for us. We can know that He would not have created, redeemed, and called us unless He intended to finish His work in us. How can we be afraid when we know this God is for us, is looking out for our interests?
"Thank You Lord"