Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Blessings

A friend sent me this in an email, and I had to post it onto the blog.


Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

change to the blog

Beginning in the month of June, I will be posting around a certain theme. The theme will be "finding hope and joy through pain and hartache." I'm not sure as of yet as to how often I will be posting. Once a month, there will be a guest blogger. I will be asking them to also center their posts around this theme. My prayer is that whoever comes across this blog whether via a friend or just searching on the internet for hope, they'll be blessed, encouraged, and most of all, that lives will be changed through something that is said here. I'd appreciate everyone's prayers as I step out in faith into this new venture.

Monday, May 30, 2011

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26.

I have been considering this verse a lot lately in view of the degradation of our society right here in the United States of America. You see, in the beginning, man was created in God’s image bearing His likeness. He was created to reflect the glory of God by establishing His will on the earth. What has happened?

Let's think about this. Adam and Eve were in harmony with God as they remained surrendered to God. They walked in the garden ensuring the rule of heaven was enforced on earth. They were able to do so because of their dependence on God. As they looked to God, His power, wisdom and joy flowed from heaven into them and through them. Then the serpent came along and Eve fell to the deception and temptation that she could live independent of God. She invited Adam to do the same. Adam, instead of ensuring God’s rule which stated they could eat from all the trees but one, went along with His darling wife. The harmony and joy they once experienced was lost as there is no harmony or happiness for those who live independent of their Creator. When we are tempted to live outside of God's rule, we should keep this truth in mind. Man was created by God to be dependent on God. To try to live any other way results in chaos and devastation. Even the much sought after state of "happiness", which to many appears to be elusive, can be found only in living for God. Because Adam was the Federal Head of all of mankind, his sin and the results of that sin was imputed to all who would be born from that day forward.

Yet God had a plan to redeem man through His Son, Jesus Christ, and to restore what was lost. His plan was to make us sons and daughters and not just created beings and servants. He accomplished this as the righteousness of Christ was given to us when Christ took our sins upon Himself on the cross. We now have the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus instead of the lower level of righteousness that Adam could have attained had he lived without sin. Adam could never have been a royal child of God. This is only available for those who live in Christ Jesus. What a plan our God has!

If you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you have been adopted into the family of God. You are a royal daughter of the King of the Universe. You have been redeemed from sin and it’s power as well as from the curse of the law.

God’s plan to redeem and restore is being played out through our lives as new creations in Christ as we take seriously the responsibility we are charged with. Because Christ lives in us, we have been empowered to walk in the ways of God; to discern what is truly of God versus what is not; and to rule over the earth, developing culture and ensuring the rule of heaven is carried out.

The enemy of Christ, as well as our old nature, sometimes pulls on us tempting us to walk in our own wisdom and rule as did Adam and Eve. And when we do, we find devastation as did they. Could it be that the mess we are in whether it is personally or as a country is due to our negligence concerning the things of God? Have we been negligent, as was Adam, to ensure God’s will be done in our lives? In our country?

As the redeemed of the Lord, we have been blessed as well as given responsibility to develop culture under the Lordship of Christ. To do so, it is imperative that we recognize that we are powerless without God. It is imperative that we recognize our need for Him. We must recognize our responsibility to bring His rule to earth. This means we must not live with our heads in the sand. We need to repent and quit ignoring what is happening around us. We must take action and the first action we must take is to PRAY! God tells us that if His people will humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, He will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

We fulfill God’s purpose for our lives to bring glory to Him as we remain dependent on Him and grow in His image (Romans 8:29). His image is developed by the power of the Holy Spirit as we take heed to 1 Timothy 4:7-8, “Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” We stay connected and surrendered to God through His Word, prayer and Christian fellowship. The more we grow in His image, the more we are empowered to affect the world around us. We then fulfill our cultural mandate through the “gospel mandate” by proclaiming Christ’s name and sharing God’s ways throughout the world (Mt 28:18-20).

We have the power of God living in us as royal daughters of the one true God. Let's examine our lives and our commitment to grow in His image. Let's ensure His will be done on the earth. Let’s unite in prayer and godly action to bring glory to God in our lives and our land. Shall we?

Serving Christ and His Women,
Sarah Goebel
"Encouraging women with the Word
to produce a harvest of Christ-likeness"

www.sarahgoebel.com

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Guest Blogging

Beginning this month, I will have a "guest" blogger. Normally, the guest will post on the last Monday of the month. If I'm led to do it more often, that's what will happen. For the month of May, let's welcome Sarah Goebel! Be sure to check back tomorrow at some point to read what God has put on her heart for us all. I'm telling you, you will be richly blessed and greatly encouraged!

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Peace of the Lord

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

There is something that's just unexplainable about God's peace. When we think of having the peace of God, it's something that the world just can't comprehend. I want you to know that whatever you're going through today, there is peace. The peace will eventually come. It may not be immediate, but I can promise you that it's there. It may seem far away and you may think that it's unobtainable, but I can tell you from experience that it will come. When you find that peace, there's just nothing in this world that can compare to it. Do you need peace today for a particular situation? If so, I pray God's calming peace over you.

Dear Lord, I pray for each and every lady that may read this. I pray for whatever she's going through that you'll grant her peace. Lord, bring peace and calm that storm. Let her know that you've not forgotten her, you're still there and you're working behind the sceens Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Behold Your Miracle!

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.
Exodus 14:4

In this well-known story of the parting of the red sea, God hardens the heart of Pharaoh so the Isrialites can behold their miracles. You see, the had a choice. They could choose to believe in their God or not to believe in their God, it was up to them. When we think the storms of life come to us to destroy us, sometimes it comes so we can see the hand of God in our lives. We also have a choice to believe or not. We can panick, or we can choose to believe that God has a reason for us going through whatever we're going through. What will you choose today?

Friday, May 13, 2011

What Do You Look Like?

Today, I want to talk about our beauty, but not our physical beauty as much as our spiritual beauty. As you all know, I've been totally blind since birth. In talking about this subject, I want to introduce you to a woman who is also blind. This woman has a great attitude on how she looks. Though she can't see how she looks physically, she sees a much deeper beauty. Welcome via vidio, Jennifer Rothchild!
http://youtu.be/76u5aanB7o0

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Give Thanks

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thesolonians 5:18

I know that's easier said than done. The key is that it doesn't say to give thanks for our circumstances, it says to give thanks in them. No matter what we're going through, we still have a reason to praise the Lord. Praise Him for what He's doing in your life. I had a friend tell me, "you won't feel anything at first, but soon, it will come." This same friend also told me "it's always darkest before the dawn!" I've had to put this into practice a lot over the last few days. I'm not going to say it's always easy, but I tell you, it's always worth it! Ladies, let's praise God today! I'd love to hear what you're praising God for, what's He doing in your life?

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Touching Story

In our church service yesterday, our pastor shared a sermon from the story of the woman with the issue of blood. I can just picture her in that huge crowd trying to touch Jesus! She knew He was there, and she knew that He could heal her. She had the faith! She'd tried every other method, only to have them fail. When Jesus said in Mark 5, "Who touched me?" can you imagine what the disciples thought? There were a lot of people, and He was wanting to know who that was. Jesus knew that something had transpired when she touched his garment. I love the part that says "Your faith has made you well!" I love the next thing he says. He calls her "daughter." Ladies, isn't it great to know that we're daughters of the King! I'd love to hear your comments!