I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer most known for his search for the Fountain of Youth. Convinced that if he found it, he would never die, he spent his life vainly looking for it. If only he had opened and studies a Bible!
The Scriptures clearly tell us that this world is going away but if we do what pleases God, we will live forever. So, how do we please God? Repent, accept Jesus as Savior and live with Him as your Lord. The secret to eternal life is not finding a non-existent fountain but in finding the Living Water that provides eternal security with God.
Have a blessed day and may your day be filled with the knowledge that you will be with the Lord forever!
I am not writing to debate about the reality of the spiritual gifts. They are in the Bible, so I do believe that they exist. Not only that, the Holy Spirit distributes them and decides which gift (s) each person receives. We cannot go to God and demand one gift instead of another; God always has a reason for what He does.
My focus today is not on the gifts themselves but on what we are supposed to do with them. There is a story in Acts 8 about a man named Simon who wanted the same power that the apostles had, to lay hands on people so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. Simon tried to pay for the power of God. His gifts cannot be purchased but are given freely so that we can use them correctly to further His kingdom. What is the instruction given to us about how to use the gifts?
We are told to use the gifts God has given us in order to serve one another. We are not to bring attention to ourselves and expect praise. We are not to use God’s gifts to enrich ourselves or those around us. We are just to serve. No matter the gift, it is to be used to serve others. Isn’t that why Jesus came? He came to serve and showed us the supreme example of sacrifice and service. It only makes sense that if God is giving us gifts to use in the Body of Christ, the purpose of those gifts would be to serve others.
Have a blessed day, my friends. May you use whatever spiritual gifts God has given you to do the work God has planned for you to do in His Body.
I love my husband, my children, my grandchildren, and my friends. But I don’t even begin to touch the depths of what love is until I ponder God’s love. His love is all-encompassing, forgiving, sacrificial and always there. His love has sustained me through difficult times in the valleys and highs on mountaintops. God’s love is consistent, insistent and exists whether I feel it or not. His love is faithful and never wavers even when I stumble or fall. His love is forever!
Whenever I am walking on uneven ground, I instinctively reach out for the arm of my husband. I know that he will help me not to fall and to reach the place where the ground is even again so he can let me go. I have been on uneven ground a lot lately, with all kinds of medical tests going on and with them the unknown answer to the question of what is going on with my body. But I am holding on tightly to God, knowing that He is faithful to take me back to a place where I can be more sure-footed. I did not arrive at this assurance of His faithfulness overnight; rather, this assurance has come through many trials and much dependence on Him.
God promises that He will take care of me, so I believe it. That is a promise that is settled in my heart. Thus, I can hold tightly and not waver, not allowing the seeds of doubt to be sown in the soil of my mind and heart.
God is always the same, never changing and not breaking His word. He said it. I believe it. That settles it. Yes, the doctors are assailing me with one test after another and offering little in the way of answers to my queries. But God is there with me, faithfully calming me and comforting me and speaking to me words of wisdom from His Holy Word.
God continues to accomplish wonderful things in my life and He is not finished with me yet. How do I know? Well, I’m still here, so that tells me that God still has things for me to get done. I’m excited to see the outcome of all of these tests, knowing that no matter what, God will get the glory!
May you be blessed as you hold tightly to the One who created you for a purpose and will fulfill that purpose in you.
When I woke up this morning, I had a prayer on my lips and a bad attitude in my heart. Once again, I had slept badly and was tired, but I knew that I had to get up to begin my morning routine so that we can go to church. I know I grumbled to myself and sighed deeply more than a few times, but I made it through the preparations to start the day. Then, I sat down with my devotional and all I could think is how grateful I am to be alive, to be able to go to church and to worship the King, my Savior and my Creator. Once my focus changed from me to Him, so did my attitude.
Proclaiming God’s love to others is what we are called to do, but this morning, I just needed to speak about God’s love into my own heart. Sometimes we have to be ready to receive before we can give out to others and this morning was a time when I needed to receive. If you are having a tough time with circumstances in your life, just sit back, focus on God and His love for you. It puts things into a new perspective, one that is manageable and not so overwhelming. God is there, all the time, ready to hear and answer, but He really loves it when we come without a list of requests, just ready to worship.
As part of the Body of Christ, we are brought together for one common purpose: to spread the Gospel and to support each other during trials and tribulations. God did not create or ordain denominations and divisions in the body. He wants us to all get ourselves where we are supposed to be and to fulfill His purpose where He has placed us. Like a puzzle, once it fits together, it is beautiful and totally worth the time to assemble it.
Just follow the link and put the puzzle together. You will find this picture once you have finished it.
We are all part of this Body of Christ and need to work together, to get along with each other and to find what we have in common (Jesus) instead of focusing on differences.
I hope that you enjoyed the puzzle and will think about what your role is and should be in the Body where God has placed you. You matter to God and to others and we all need each other!
Have a blessed day. May it be filled with treasures from Heaven and a sense of fulfillment as you seek His purpose and walk it out.
Have you ever watched a new infant and how intently he/she watches you? The eyes are fixed on you, following the sound of your voice as you move around them. As the child grows older, their attention may be momentarily called away to another object, something shinier or more interesting to them. But if you say the child’s name, like magic, their focus returns to you. At least that is the way I have noticed things happening until the child is about six or so and then all bets are off about whether you can get and hold their attention or not.
What is our focus when we are talking about our spiritual walk? As a new Christian, I was eager to learn all I could about God and His love for me. I didn’t want to miss a single minute of His guidance or plan for my life, so my eyes were fixed on him. Then, as a child maturing, my focus was captured by other “shiny” things, this pastor or that evangelist and a new message that they were giving. Or sometimes, my focus was captured by friends, family, trials and sicknesses. In other words, as I aged, I took my eyes off the One who created me and started paying more attention to the creation. God has reprimanded me and let me know that is the wrong path to take and I am working on forming new habits.
Another reason to come to the Lord as a child is the total trust we have in Him and the way we don’t let Him out of our sight. No matter what room I moved to when my children were young, they were right there beside me. I called them my shadows because they kept their eyes on me and when I moved, they did, too. That is the way I think we should keep our eyes on God. A steady looking at Him for our guidance and for direction for what our next steps should be. When we keep our eyes on Him, all of the problems we have seem to fade into insignificance because we know that they are temporary but He is eternal.
