Live in Love

I love this passage and the Holy Spirit through Apostle John says it perfectly.  His words ring confident hope for the day I face my Heavenly Savior. It inspires me to live out His love and to show truth and be His light.

 "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.  God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.  So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world."  1 John 4:16-17

I pray you feel His love and live it out each and every day.

Peace On Earth

Confession:  Just a few years ago I used to think the Christmas Story was boring, over told; however, I find it absolutely fabulous now.  And this is the Christmas Story of the bible... Not the movie with the bare legged lamp. Still find that a tish boring.  The truth story where God finally fulfills his promise. The promise that he constantly made in the Old Testament, even way back in Genesis.  Yes! Believe it God already had a plan in place as soon as sin entered into our world and he slowly revealed "clues" to us on who this savior would be.

• Gen 3:15 we learn our savior will be a male
• Gen 15 3-7 that he will be from Abraham
• Gen 28:10ff he will be the Son of Man
• Gen 49:10 from the tribe of Judah
• Exodus 12 our Passover Lamb
• 2 Samuel 7:16 from the line of David
• Psalm 110 prince of peace
• Isaiah 7:14 virgin birth

And more and more and more... Jesus' birth was one of the most anticipated moments in history because they have been talking about it for over 2000 years.  (Abraham lived around 2000BC).  So can you imagine when the Angel finally gets to say for the first time that their Savior was born how excited they were! 

"I bring you good news of great joy. The savior, yes, the messiah, the Lord has been born today..."

I'm pretty sure this angel had the perma grin on with tears of joy, hands lifted high full or worship and praise. This angel experienced a moment that is 10 times more joyful than any moment we will ever experience here on earth. He was finally able to announce the birth of our Savior.   Then to add to it a beautiful choir of angels come, a gospel choir, singing until their lungs burst,

"Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth and goodwill towards men."  Luke 2:14

Those words they sang fulfilled the promise the Jews were waiting for. Peace.  Finally peace. God is going to redeem his people. Save them from the Roman rule. Make them into the nation they once were under King David's reign. They were to rule again.

Wrong.

We know now because it's easy to look back that God was bringing a much greater peace. A type peace man can't provide. A peace that was incomprehensible then.  Jesus provided a way to restore his people with God.  A relationship that Adam and Eve broke was finally being mended and not just mended. Made whole. Jesus, this tiny baby, came as the ultimate sacrifice.  He came to cover our sins so sin no longer separated us from our Holy God. We know longer had to go to a High Priest to sacrifice and use him as our mediator with God as it was in the OT.  Jesus became that High Priest for us. (Hebrews 4:14ff)

So as this Christmas season comes on us and these stories are read. Take a deep breathe, even close your eyes,  and relish in the words that were sung by the Angels "Peace on Earth."  God kept his promise and has restored us to him so we can feel the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. We are no longer separated from the God Almighty but have him, the Holy Spirit, living within us.

And knowing that he fulfilled a promise he made 2000 years earlier gives me so much hope that he will keep his promise to restore us to him in Eternity.

Let his peace guide you this Christmas.

Habakkuk 3:19 - Surefooted

Photo by www.sarahmariephotographymn.com

The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.  - Habakkuk 3:19

Habakkuk saw his own limitations in contrast to God's unlimited power.  We see in Chapter three, he understood God was in control of all the world events. This passage gives us hope as his followers. It reminds us that God will give us strength and confidence in difficult times. We will run surefooted as deer during rough patches in our life. God will bring about justice.  We cannot see all that God is doing or all that he will do. We simply need to live in the strength of his Spirit and be confident in his ultimate victory over evil.  God will conquer. 

We know... yet we miss.

Do you remember the story of Nicodemus? Where he came in the middle of the night to speak with Jesus?  

As you read starting in verse one of John chapter three, Nicodemus is basically praising Jesus and acknowledging that God sent him. Then Jesus tells him he must be born again and Nicodemus is confused.  I always thought, rightfully so. Being born again and the concept is quite confusing. Then Jesus continues and rebukes him in verses 10-15 questioning how do you not know these things?! 

I always felt this was a little harsh especially since he's seeking out Jesus unlike the other religious leaders.  But new light was shed on this passage.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee.  They knew scripture better than anyone else. They knew it like the back of their hand.  They knew all the signs of the Messiah's return.  They knew God was going to establish a new covenant because of Jeremiah 31:31 where Jeremiah reveals for the first time a New Covenant that God will bring which we know is Jesus Christ.   They new God was going to send his Spirit to fill our hearts Ezekiel 11:19-20 who is the Holy Spirit.    And these are just two of the many Old Testament scriptures that for tell of Christ's first coming. They knew all the signs, they studied what God would provide, they read about the restoration for their people.  They knew a Spirit was coming to bind our hearts to Him.

They knew.  Yet they missed.

But you know what... We know, and yet we miss. 

We know of his love. We know of his promises. We know there is eternal life. We know he takes away our worries. We know he provides us an incomprehensible peace.  

Yet we miss.  We miss everyday bc we let this world take over. We let this world and the things it provides be our god.

This time of year challenging for me.  This world takes over and clouds out the greatest miracle.  God coming down to live with us.  I pray we know of the greatness in this miracle.  God, leaving his throne, humbling himself, being born as a baby, to a lowly family.   

I'll still enjoy the presents and the insane amount of food and tinsel.  Because I love all things Christmas.  But focus is shifting this year for me.  God sent Jesus as the ultimate gift.  We know that, but praying we don't miss that in this Season.  Praying we remember instead, Christmas is a promise where we can look back and see God fulfilling his promise of the Messiah.  It gives us hope when we look to the future that we can be sure that he will keep his promise to restore his believers.

Scripture Verse Cards

A couple years ago, a dear friend challenged me to get into God's word: to start each morning with just 15 minutes a day seeking His will and reading His word.  If you know me, you know I like a good challenge…yet the "buts" of life, the excuses, kept me from accepting that challenge for months.  However, I finally did and I'm so glad I did.

Starting each day in God's word brings so much clarity to the struggles of life.  He equips me each morning with the tasks ahead.  He speaks words to quiet my soul, words to spark a fire, words to calm my emotions, words to draw patience and understanding.  These words turned into much more than just words.  They are my encouragement and inspiration.  My hope.

God wants us to connect with Him; to be in relationship with Him.  We do just that through prayer and by reading His word.  His word is our hope and encouragement (Romans 15:4).  We are to meditate on His word and write them deep within our hearts (Proverbs 7:3). God wants us to know him!  He wants us to memorize His word so that, in those difficult moments of life, we can remember His promises that He wrote down for us.  His words are a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalms 119:105).  They direct and guide us; they quiet our souls.  

So I put forth a challenge.  Scripture memorization.  Nine verses.  That's it.

But this is scripture memorization with a purpose.  A reward.  A “pay it forward” type of reward.  There is an organization in Haiti called  Future Hope. Its goal is to provide opportunities for individuals to earn a fair wage to provide for their families while growing in their relationship with Christ.   You can read more about them at their website.  

One way they make a big impact for the people in Haiti is by providing them bibles.  But, they don't just hand out bibles, they have a bible program!   If Haitian people memorize nine bible verses, word for word (and yes, the families recite in front of Future Hope individuals) they are given a Bible of their own to take home.  To purchase a Bible in Haiti is equivalent to paying $500.  Crazy right?!

So here is where you come in:

1.       Accept the challenge.

2.       Buy your nine bible verses here and memorize as they do.

3.       Once you dominate this challenge of memorizing, email me and let me know.  Scouts honor.

I'll then send the funds to Future Hope, who brings the Creole bibles down to Haiti.  Then, follow them on Facebook and Instagram and see the lives that you are changing by one act of obedience through the Lord's calling.  

I love this mission. It allows you to grow closer to God and meditate on His word, while providing you a chance to change a life. God calls us over and over again in the Bible to help those who are less fortunate.  He calls us to show truth and love.  He calls us to be the hands and feet.  

He calls us to make a difference... here is your chance.

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Scripture Verse Cards - Purchase here.

These nine verses are ones that have touched my heart.  Each card has your memory verse with a write up of my own thoughts.  I'm not a Pastor, I haven't been to seminary school, but I love the Lord and seek his ways.  I truly believe he spoke the words and I just wrote down in obedience.  They are God's words through a simple person.