https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kXV6e0HNV0
Such energy in this live video. I love how they show the cross like a clock ticking. Because it's true. If you don't know Him personally, time is ticking. You never know when your time is up here.
How is it possible to continue to praise God in dark times? First you have to know Him personally. This is the only way. Knowing you never walk alone, that He is Immanuel "God with us." His very presence you can truly feel. Personally to me, it's knowing that He is SO MUCH BIGGER than anything the enemy wants permission to throw at me. Yes, he has to get permission from my Father, and my Daddy will supply every bit of Himself to my situation. When you learn to occupy your mind with all Christ is, EVERYTHING changes. Fear starts to die, and faith rises.
When you go through trials in life, they will either draw you closer to wanting to know God, or you will blame Him and try to handle things on your own. For me personally, it drives me to want to know how Jesus did it. How, and why He ever came to save a sinner like me. How He walked this earth and just showed nothing but love and compassion for the sinners. All He was, was good, yet so many hated Him. How He suffered in the end at the hands of hateful people, when all He did was love, heal people, and tell us the way to life everlasting. I will never understand this kind of ignorance and hate towards Jesus.
One thing I do know, that Jesus my Savior taught me, is that anything I go through good or bad, I pray it brings glory to His Great Name, like He brought to His Father in His darkest moment. We will never have to experience the depths of that darkness Jesus experienced on that cross. There is no better vision of beauty that comes out of a dark moment, than what happened on the cross. (Seeds grow in dark places) It was there, in the torture of the separation from His Father, that new life was found, FOR ALL OF US!!
Yes, some days may feel like a dark tunnel and you want to rush God for answers to shine some light on your troubles. But you hear those old familiar words of His, "Be anxious for nothing, pray, talk to me, spend time with me. I am going to teach you a lot about me here." You realize you can't fight God's will and authority, so you begin to submit to it and find the rest that Jesus promises when the load is heavy. You realize "God is here." He is in this with me.
I believe like it says in Job 23: 10-11 "He knows the way I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept His way without turning aside." Great word!!!! I will never turn from God no matter what the enemy throws. This life is only temporary.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Valley-Devotionals/508413785852066
.....mvdevotional.blogspot.com
Kim
Devotionals that have helped me understand this world we live in, and the mountains and valleys we pass through everyday.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
My hope is in You Lord.....Aaron Shust
I have to be honest and say, I do get shaken up at times. It doesn’t last as long as it used to because I quickly look up to Who is in control of everything.
Pray for spiritual power to defeat the enemy!!! He hates when we rest in, and continue trusting, and worshipping our Lord. So do it ALL THE MORE, AND ALL DAY LONG!!
As believers in Jesus Christ, we have to come to realize that the hard times that do, and will come, are meant to increase our faith and trust in God. To teach us to rest in the Lord. To give up everything to Him, because it is out of our control anyway. So wait patiently on the Lord, and never give up hope. Psalm 130: 5.
The enemy wants you to think that God isn’t near to you. That He is unaware of your hurt, or fear of the trial you may be facing. This will take you so far down, and that is exactly what the enemy wants.
Speak life into your situation. What will it hurt to think and speak positive? Proverbs 18: 20-21.
I stand in AWE of God’s evident presence and joy that still flow from people’s lives that are in some kind of tragedy, or have just gone through one. Their smiles and spirits are contagious, and I am reminded in my mind and heart, that only God gives us this joy and peace that is deeper than any circumstance this life can throw at us. We have a choice to walk in His truth, or to focus on the trial and difficulties that surround us. Satan wants us to give up, and give up on God. God wants to teach us patience in the trial, and the bible states this very clearly in James 1: 2-3. Blessed are those who persevere, James 5: 11. Even though you don’t know what God is doing and why, we can still trust Him. Hold ever so tightly to Him!!
God is not to blame for the horrible things that happen in this life. We live in a fallen world, and these things are a result of the enemy, which the bible says is the ruler of this world. 1 John 4: 4…..1 John 5: 4, But Jesus has overcome this world, and you will be an overcomer as well if you choose to focus on Jesus and that His grace is sufficient for your every need, and every trial.
God is as near to you in the bad times as He is in the good. Question is, what tends to draw us nearer to Him? There is no pass for difficult times. You can bet that they are going to come Job 2: 10,Usually it is the hard times that we cry out to Him. When actually, we should cry out in thanks for the good times too. But sadly, many people only cry out or pray when times get hard. Circumstances of life shouldn’t affect our love and worship of our Lord. God never changes. He is Good, ALL THE TIME. So don’t wait till something happens to talk to God. Give thanks and talk to Him first thing in the morning, and all day long.
Don’t focus on your present situation. It will paralyze you. Focus on the Great, Loving, Merciful, Gracious God of the bible. The God Who never changes, and He lives inside of You.
P.S….God will never put more on us, then He can put IN US. (Selah)
…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com
Kim
Monday, March 16, 2015
Don't stop the Madness....Tenth Ave North
I am asking for prayer for my husband Mike, as we begin a battle with stage 4 lung cancer. I praise God that I know my husband is a child of our Great God. He has a better faith and strength attitude than I do in this. I know God has given me the gift of writing and encouraging others, but now I am asking for that prayer for me in this area of fear. I know God is good and that NOTHING is impossible for Him. So now we hold very tightly to Him, and to each other with GREAT HOPE!!! I can hear God say to me, “Will you still love me in good and bad times?” YES LORD, I WILL!
“Don’t stop the madness, don’t stop the chaos, don’t stop the pain surrounding me. Do whatever it takes to give me Your heart, and bring me down to my knees.”
God promised our pain won’t be meaningless. If we are willing to be like clay in His hands, He will take all our broken pieces and make something beautiful.
Jeremiah 18: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? Declares the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand.”
Are you willing to be like clay? God is determined and patient towards us. I am so thankful that He doesn’t throw the bad defective pieces of clay (me) away. He starts over with us as long as we are willing. God doesn’t make mistakes. Exodus 32: 9 We are the “stiff neck stubborn people.” We have a lot of defects that God will continually work on in us. The potter has the power over the clay to permit the defect or reshape it. This is a great visual of God having the power to continue to reshape us for His purposes. That is what being a Christian is. Being Christ like, is being made into His image. We should be like clay in His hands. Letting Him shape us, not us fighting against Him.
God is faithful. He will never forsake us. The things He wants for us is so much better than what we want for ourselves. His plan is to work in us and through us for His purposes. God will continue to shape and mold us until the final day when we get to go home and be wrapped up in His arms.
Another way to look at being reshaped, is in John 15: 1-11. We who are willing, are constantly being shaped, pruned, and we are either in, or we can tell God we want out. I would much rather be in, than be cast into the fire.
“Any branch in me that does not bear fruit, He cuts away and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit…..If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown……into the fire and burned.
Even though being a follower of Christ is not easy, you certainly NEVER walk alone! I’m in, are you?
…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com
Kim
Monday, March 9, 2015
Somewhere in the Middle..... Casting Crowns
Revelations 3: 15-16, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot…..So because you are lukewarm….I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Are you a fence sitting Christian? This is a person who wants both Jesus and the world. It just doesn’t work that way. What we say, and how we live our life, is the gap that makes Jesus want to spit us out. If we are not deeply rooted to what we say we believe and who we are, we are very likely to stay in the middle. Philippians 3: 16-17, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained…..and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.”
We are to live what we know to be true in God’s word. It can’t be that we live life for the god we want. We have to live life in obedience to the God Who is. He is not our genie. We glance to Him for the things we want, and turn our glance away when the truth of Who He is brings us to discomfort.
I personally don’t believe the saying, “God will never give you what you can’t handle.” It isn’t biblical. I believe He allows things like cancer, tornadoes, heart attacks,…. to show us only THROUGH HIM, can we handle these things.
We should allow God to reign over every part of our life. Not just where we are comfortable. The god most people want answers all our prayers so we live a comfortable life. The God Who is, wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit. Then when life gets uncomfortable, and things come our way that we just don’t understand, we will sit comfortably in His grace and mercy. Totally dependent upon Him. Loving and trusting Him through all that comes our way. Psalm 119: 50, “This is my comfort and consolation in my affliction; That Your word has revived me and given me life.”
He is the God Who reigns on high. Not in the middle. You know, there is another saying….. “They take their life into their own hands by living it on the fence.” I can say that I agree with that one. I don’t want to live life that way. When my time is up, it’s because my purpose God has for me is finished.
…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com
Kim
Monday, March 2, 2015
If I have not Love..... Matt Redman
I am all about helping someone who looks like they are going down the wrong road. A road that can be of great danger. When it comes to acquaintances I can plant the seed and let it go. But when it comes to my loved ones, I plant the seed and try forcing it to grow. I know I should let it go and let God, and I am learning that, but it is so hard. That must be how God feels with us. He can’t force His truth on us. It’s usually the consequences that teach us the hard way. We are created to care about this precious gift of life God has given us, not to keep abusing His goodness. Sometimes the case is, we want more for that someone that we love than they want it for themselves. Even though all this is truth, God wants us to speak in love.
Picture your pastor on Sunday sharing the word of God with you while clanging the cymbals at the same time. You wouldn’t hear it. That is how I would think we sound when we are trying to get our point across forcefully. Like the scripture says, “a resounding gong, or a clanging cymbal.” You may be right about something, speaking the truth, but yelling your point across won’t be heard.
God is always teaching me valuable life lessons of what His love looks like. Even when you’re right and standing for the truth of what is best for someone, especially those you love, Jesus says “Do everything with Love” (1 Corinthians 16: 14)
Man is this hard when those you love are making God rejecting choices. Choices that hurt them, as well as hurt you because you know it can harm them.
We aren’t helping anyone by being overbearing, or screaming our point across. Actually it does more harm than good. God teaches us how to speak in love, let go, and trust Him in everything. God knows you want the best for those you love, but so does He. Consequences that come, unfortunately are the way most people learn. It is God’s will not to harm us, but to humble us, to see our need for Him, and to walk in His ways.
1 Corinthians 13: 1, I could speak the truth of God’s word, even have faith to move mountains, but if I have not love, I am no good for God. I am not showing the character of Jesus at all. There is a way of standing firm in faith, and the truth of God’s word without screaming. Look to Jesus.
…..mvdevotional.blogspot.com
Kim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)