New Hope...Friday

7/25/14 

I have just returned from an eight day vacation in which I visited my parents and siblings that I had not seen in almost two years.  I normally come home from there feeling very sad and filled with a lot of guilt due to the fact that I don’t get there more often.  This time I returned home with a renewed hope for myself.  I believe the difference this time is that I got enough rest and relaxation time with God in the middle of it that I was able to sit back and enjoy the precious moments of my vacation with family, instead of dwelling on the past and beating myself up for not spending more of the past thirty years there.  I allowed myself to be grateful and full of love for everyone, and not be focusing on what I have missed during that time.  The simply and wonderful answer to that is Jesus.  I walked with Jesus during every moment.  It is amazing to see the beauty of life when you have Him sitting with you and walking hand in hand with you.  I feel a renewed hope within me.

“You are God my Savior….my hope is in You all day long.” 

Psalm 25:5
NIV

I now feel ready to move forward with my life in a way I could not see before.  I am capable of making the necessary changes to my career in order for me to be working with a much needed passion once again.  I don’t know what those changes will be or exactly where I will be going, but, what I do know for a fact is that my Savior will be in the center of it.  I know that He has so much in store for me, and He is going to bring about my change from the inside out.  That is how He does it…..from within my heart.  Just knowing that and keeping my focus on Him and the way He will change the way I think about myself; I know that I will be living my life being the person He created me to be.

“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset 

to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. 

The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original 

and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision 

of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. 

After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. 

And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, 

gloriously completing what he had begun.” 

Romans 8:29-30  

The Message (MSG)

Written by 

Kelly Dobyns

"Free Will"...Part 2 of 4...Thursday

7/24/14
If you would like to reread Part 1 of this series here is the link...
      http://paintgodintoyourday.blogspot.com/2014/07/free-willpart-1-of-4.html   
         
             (Please copy and paste it into your browser to read.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I have been led to believe is the following;

If God was in control we would have no free will, we would not have a choice.  Does God not give us a choice to choose his son Jesus Christ?  Did he make you choose him?  Or did you come to Him by choice?  As for me I chose Him, he did not make me. 

Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden did God take away choice from Adam and Eve?  NO.  Was not Adam told not to eat of the tree of Good and Evil?  But he did anyway.  If we did not have a choice even back then why didn’t God come down and say no or remove the tree from them? 

From the beginning of time God has given us free will, a choice.  So my question to you is if we have free will and a choice how could God be in control of everything?  If He has given the earth to us how could he be in control of what happens here on earth? 

Do I believe God is Sovereign? You bet! If you use the word correctly, which is supreme ruler-head-authority-rank then to say God is sovereign then you are correct, but to use it any other way is incorrect. 
  
Do I believe God is the head?  You bet! Do I believe God is the supreme ruler? Yes I do.  But unfortunately religion has come along and changed the true meaning of what sovereign means which states that nothing can happen without His permission.  This means God allows for bad things to happen to us.

It was not God who ate of the tree of good and evil, it was man.  It was man that brought death, sickness and wickedness into this world, NOT GOD.

God came to deliver us from sickness and death.  Satan came to kill, steal and destroy.

 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  

John 10:10

If we really believe that God was in control of everything, what is the point of doing anything?  Why do anything because God’s will will come to pass?  It can only be one way or another.  Either God has given us free will, choice. or he has not.  Where would your free will be if he controlled everything?

Is he not a God that does not lie?  He is a good God, he wants only great and wonderful things for us.  Why do you think he sent his son to die for us, so we would have a choice to choose Him or our own way
.

God by grace provides everything, but you have complete freedom of choice whether or not Gods perfect will comes to pass or not.  It does not happen without your co-operation.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly 

abundantly above all that we ask or think, 

according to the power that works in us,  

Ephesians 3:20

Do you see it say that we ask or think, not what God thinks or asks, but what we ask or think.

God’s will does not come to pass automatically.  God is only in control if we give him permission.  He cannot move without our permission.  Does it not say that he waits for us?

So then you ask if God is good why does he allow murder, allow people to be raped, why does he allow children to be molested.  Yes God is sovereign all knowing, omnipotent, he is a sovereign God, he is sovereign raining over his creation, BUT within his sovereignty he created a man that is you and me, he created human beings and he created them in his image and in his likeness and he made them little sovereigns, he gave them a free will out of his love for man he chose to not make us robots, he chose to not make it instinctively on the inside to serve him and instinctively to worship him.  He truly gave us a free will.  For there to be a free will for us to be sovereign creatures under the most high sovereign there must be choice.  We must be able to choose, it is the love of God for man to choose.  Man is making bad choices.  It is not God allowing murder, it is us, it is not God allowing all this wickedness it is us.  We can sit back and blame God all we want, we can wonder why God this and why God that or we can live righteous lives and we can embraces righteousness and holiness and God's Word and we can resist and stand up to wickedness and unrighteousness.  If we do not stand up then wickedness and unrighteousness will rain and we will have more murder, rape, pornography, children molested and sexually abused why we sit in our religious life’s wondering why God is allowing this.  God is not allowing this we are.

God has given the sons of man the earth.  We have authority on the earth, we have dominion in the earth, we have to subdue things on the earth.  We have authority as the people of God. We are sovereign creatures under the ultimate sovereign God.  We have to take some responsibility for what goes on in the earth and execute our authority and dominion righteously here on the earth.  God gave us the earth.

As for me I believe I serve a good God.  As for me I choose for God to direct my life.  As for me I choose to take authority over the enemy and his works.  As for me I to take responsibility for what God has given me.  I choose not to blame God.  God has shown me time and time again that he loves me, that he cares for me, that he provides for me.

Written by
Kathryn Hanson

Which Lane Am I In?.....Wednesday

7/23/14

The buzz of an electric saw got my husband's attention, chatting over the fence he discovered the neighbor building a miniature ticket booth for his 4 year olds upcoming birthday party. This prompted a trip down memory lane with our 21 year old son. It is fascinating to hear what kinds of things he remembers: a pool party, a 12' x 12' cardboard castle with turrets, and a paper fireplace for their stockings.

What I remember about the above ground pool (it was 3' high) that year was that I struggled to keep the water clear and it was often green, just like on the day of his party. Sure it was only a light green that day - but thankfully the group of 9 year old boys didn't care. Still I remember the green.

The cardboard castle set up in front of our house was part of our Medieval times study. The local appliance store kindly provided large boxes for building. His knight costume was a large t-shirt with a belt and his shield was poster board. I hope I remembered to take a picture.

The fireplace was a paper and marker creation that we taped to the wall in our kitchen. I hung their Christmas stockings on nails in front of a blazing fire of red and orange. Then I taped our Christmas cards onto the pretend mantle. As a young and growing family those were some very tight years for us financially.

When our son mentioned Christmas, I thought he was going to refer to our somewhat limited gift giving. I noticed I had remembered a negative aspect of each of his memories. He had walked down a happy lane and I had followed along except I had been one step over in a negative lane.

Do you ever remember something stupid or embarrassing you said years ago? And you are so mortified that you were mean or thoughtless? Yes? Me too! Guess what? No one who loves you is remembering that stuff. People who love us know that we are not perfect. We have permission to let go of the negative aspects of our memories. God has told us which lane to be in - not because it makes Him happy, but because He knows it will make us healthy and grateful.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is right, whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence

and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8 NASB

Did you notice the word dwell at the end of the verse? The bible reminds us that how we think is how we are (see Proverbs 23:7) What we think about is where we dwell. I certainly don't want to live in the negative, seeing everything with such a critical eye that I miss out on all the surrounding good stuff.

Dear Lord, thank You for so gently showing me where my thoughts are by showing me what lane I was walking in. Please nudge each of us out of the path we are used to and give us the strength to resist the familiar negative aspects and appreciation for all that is good. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M.Wilkins

Whom Shall I Fear?...Tuesday

7/22/14 

I was watching the news this morning and remembered why I don’t watch it too often. Even though good things do happen, it seems like bad news takes center stage. Seven babies found dead in a garage, father kills crying baby so that he could concentrate on a video game, grandmother kills two of her own grandchildren, tribal feud in Egypt sparks deadly fight, the Malaysian airliner shot down, South Korean ferry sinks; killing many high school students, earthquakes, mudslides, devastating fires, drought, the list goes on and on. In addition, there seems to be quite a lot of action going on at the Wailing Wall. Satan is really turning up the heat, so to speak. He knows that his time is very short. We can see that this is true just by what is going on in our own families. I don’t know of anyone that isn't dealing with some type of family issue, whether it be problems with an unruly child, unhappy marriage, financial issues, health issues, etc. We could become fearful, anxious, and depressed because of everything going on around us. However, we serve a mighty God who has a great deal to say about fear, anxiety, and depression.

Isaiah 41:10 reads, 

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
 I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Philippians 4:6-7 says,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and 

supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Psalms 34:17-18 instructs, 

“When the righteous cry for help, 

the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

It is true that even though we are followers of Christ, we pray, we cry out, and we trust God, we will face trials and tribulations. However, God promises to walk with us through difficult times. He promises to crush our enemies. He goes before us and stands behind us. He is our sword and our shield, a lamp unto our feet. 

The God of angel armies is truly by our side at all times. In the end, we WILL have victory.

Let’s not forget, He is Risen! If the One who defeated death is on our side, whom shall we fear? What shall we fear?

Written by

Storm Hendrickson

Song- God of Angel Armies by Christ Tomlin

"Freedom In Jesus"...Monday

7/20/14

I am ever so thankful for the freedom I have received from Christ since I have surrendered my life to Him. It was through His Holy Spirit that He revealed my need to invite Him into my life. It was by His Spirit that He showed me that only through Christ could I enter into the Kingdom of God. Before I had a relationship with Christ I was walking in pure darkness . Many people were praying for me and sharing His Word with me. In God's perfect time, He showed me rich truth that brought beautiful freedom in my life.

God's word tells us...  

"Now the Lord is the Spirit and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 

2 Corinthians 3:17

I embrace that scripture ever so tight! Where the Lord is, His Spirit is there and if our hearts are receptive, His glorious freedom will be poured out upon us!

Where the Spirit lives and works and moves there is freedom. We can have freedom from bondages, strongholds and the chains that have held us captive for so long. Where the Spirit is there can also be freedom from the slavery of sin and from its power, its guilt and pollution. Where the Lord's Spirit resides, if our hearts are wide open He reveals His truth to us which brings miraculous freedom into our life.

We are free to receive His beautiful gifts, mercy, grace, healing and the list goes on! I choose to leave the past behind, and as the Spirit of the Lord is in the midst to receive His overflowing, abundant freedom all the days of my life!

In His Glorious Freedom, 

Sandy Billingham

CLOUDS... Sunday

Devotional for 7/20/14

Clouds in the sky can be devastating in certain circumstances and delightful at other times.  Sometimes they bring horrendous storms with floods, hail, lightening strikes causing fires and the like.  But clouds can also offer refuge from the blazing sun, respite from the heat of the day, or gentle rains renewing a parched earth.  They can also bring beauty to the sunrise or sunset, adding a palette of yellow, orange and red to the sky.  And under special circumstances, when clouds are only partially blanketing the sky, bringing rain in one area yet allowing the sun to break through at the same time in another, we can get a gorgeous rainbow, or even a double rainbow!

Clouds of life can be the same way.  Our life storms can often be overwhelming - things such as loss of a loved one, financial devastation, physical infirmities, mental anguish, addictions, etc.  During these tempests we might lose sight of God or even become angry with him.  However, these disturbances also can bring us closer to God in that we can remember to pray even more earnestly and trust and rely on his righteous hand to hold and to guide us.  Even if the storm does not subside, we can find the eye of the storm, a calm within the squall.  

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.  Isaiah 60:1-2 (NIV) 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

Dear Righteous Father in heaven, as the storms of life come my way, please hold me in your hand, making your loving presence known, protecting me and guiding me through to the other side.  Thank you for all the ways you have blessed me through these trials and help me to remember when the next storm rolls in, that you will again carry me through them.  In Jesus' name, Amen.  

written by Jan Andersen

CHRIST IN ME...Saturday

7/19/14

"I have been crucified

 with Christ 

and I no longer live, 

but Christ 

lives in me."

Galatians 2:20

     

      If you are a Christian, whatever happened to Christ happened to you.  What does this mean?

      Christ was crucified for our sins.  So our sins were nailed on the cross with Him.  He paid the penalty for all of them.  Christ was buried.  We were buried with Him in our baptism.  Our sinful natures are gone.  Christ was raised from the dead.  We have been raised from the dead through faith in Him.  Now we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

So in Christ, believers have a new nature.  We no longer are controlled by our sinful nature.  We do not need to fear the penalty for sins which have been forgiven.  We do not need to fear death as it is the gateway to eternal life.  As believers, living with Christ, our eternity with Him begins now and will go on forever.

Written by 

Carol Steficek