Today's message comes with a warning. I am about to share something that I don't think I've shared with anyone. I debated about sharing it here, but Jesus has totally redeemed that old part of my life. And I truly believe what the Word says in Revelation 12:11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and this is a huge part of my testimony.
Worry is a lot like those smudges on my glasses. It distorts how we see what's in front of us. It distracts us with its blurriness. It keeps us from seeing clearly what the Lord is doing in our lives.
As an only child, I had always wanted a constant companion. A sister. A brother. Someone. I mean after all Pooh had Piglet, right?
Jesus is showing us here in this Scripture that the body of Christ needs to function together under His authority in order to function as a whole.
What we view as impossible becomes possible with God. When we have faith and trust in Jesus we can toss mountains into the sea. Because it is His power moving the mountain not ours.
God has a path for each of us. He lights it up for us to follow. But it is our choice whether we stay on His path or veer off to the left or right. I am a cautionary dumb blonde tale NOT to follow others down the wrong path.
I started thinking about how noisy the background noise is in my life. Social media, the news, well meaning family and friends, neighbors, kids, pets, etc all pulling on our attention/energy and making noise.
A couple weeks ago, I spoke about the Lord loving us simply because we exist. I mention David as the Biblical example of being a man after God's own heart even though he was an adulterer and murderer to show that even when we do horrible things we are loved and can be forgiven when we repent and confess our sins. I got a text after that episode that said, "But, you did not mention that God had their first child die. That was a consequence, right?"
How often do we try to do life on our own. Tearing at it until we get frustrated
See there was a part of my heart that still believed that God would only love me when I was being the perfect daughter. And that as soon as I messed up He would hightail it out of my life as fast as possible.
Did you know that God has given you a sphere of influence? You might not think that you can do a single thing that will change a person's life, but Jesus would beg to differ. He is in control of your sphere of influence.
Oh boy, was I convicted when I heard that! Because there was no way I wanted to be magnifying or praise the the problems in my life.
Everyone thinks I'm this amazing prayer intercessor who prays not stop for other people. Well, that is really not my gift at all.
I also struggle with the whole read the Bible in a year concept. I'm not saying that it's wrong. You can never go wrong reading God's Word. And maybe it's just me that has this issue, but the volume of the daily readings is too much for me.
What if, what we have done on our worst day was really really horrible? What if we abused someone, or committed adultery, or what if we killed someone. Would God still love us then simply because we existed?
If I were to tell you that the Lord was pleased with you and that you bring Him great joy would you believe me?
At that thought, I sat still. There really was no way that was going to happen. I was no longer that girl who was at his beck and call. I am a new creation in Christ.
It talked about the Hebrew word, Netzer which means "shoot or branch." Many scholars believe that the word shoot refers to the Messiah and as Christians we believe it points to Jesus since He is in the family lineage of Jesse.
Guess what. We all have a "master password" for every situation in our lives. It is a five letter word that unlocks and gives us access to all the blessings available to us in heaven and on earth.