A Day for Love

Valentine's Day is soon approaching...are you ready to share your feelings with that special person in your life? Show the kids how much you love them? I think most of us do that every mid-February. After all, at least for we northerners, we need something to focus on other than the temperature and wind chill!

There are several ways to show love...a gift, a special dessert, bringing a meal to someone in need, a special card in the lunch box, a night at the movies, dinner out, roses, etc. There are a host of things we do to show someone we care for them.

God demonstrated His love this way...it says in 1 John 4:9-11, "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world; that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

You can see that I emphasized the words, 'God so loved us.' I did that for a reason. I think so many people just skim over this fact...that God loved [and loves] us. The Bible says that 'while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' [Rom. 5:8] He chose to love us as sinners, (we had no way to clean ourselves up in order to be holy, righteous or clean enough for Him) because He is Love.

It's tough to really get a grasp on that concept, isn't it? We tend to think of love in terms of things or an emotion, rather than a Person. But Love is a Person...the Person of Jesus Christ. Ask Him to reveal His love to you today. Seek to know [through His Word] how much He loves you. Don't worry about your [amount of] love for Him...that will follow naturally.. once you understand how much... 

He loves you. 

His Grace Abounds

There are those who would say they have a 'good handle' on grace. Others say, "Oh yes, our pastor is a 'grace' preacher." Or, "Our congregation understands grace."

Upon listening to the pastor, or talking with the people, we've discovered that...no, they don't have an understanding of the grace of God. If they did, they would not have uttered what was just said. I don't mean for this to sound 'high and mighty' or arrogant at all, by the way.

Everyone is on a journey of learning and exploration. Some seem to really press into the word of God. And that's great, but it's not the 'be all and end all.' What we've discovered is (not to say we have arrived by any means) that grace has to come by revelation! Paul makes this statement more than once. See 2 Cor. 12:7, Gal. 1:12, Eph. 1:17, Eph. 3:3 and others.

God says in His word.. 'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.' Jer. 29:13 We had such a longing for truth, and especially truth in this very area of grace and wanting to know God's true character. Were we sinners or saints, was God good or sometimes just an angry God? We had sincere questions that we needed sincere answers to, and God has delivered in many ways and will continue to answer as we ask Him.

We won't know everything while we are here on the earth. Maybe we won't even know everything in heaven. But I do know He answers a hungry heart. I know that He delights in us when we seek Him. I know that He is good, because his word tells me so.

Delight yourself in Him. Meditate on His word. Ask Him those things you are puzzled about and need answers to. He won't let you down.

Through It All Andrae Crouch

I'm sorry to say that I wasn't very familiar with Andre Crouch and his music and ministry. I'm not sure why...I think I've been missing out.

Today is the first time I remember hearing this man's testimony and I really enjoyed it. It's so interesting to see the way God moves in each person's life. He was born again at the age of 9 and had a stuttering problem, but that was no match for what God intended to do in his life.

Watch, listen and enjoy his redemption story...another one of many great testimonies to God's power and grace. Blessings!

Welcome 2015!

A new year!
New possibilities, new relationships, new challenges...it's all here.

As we ring in the new year, I hope that you can say you are 'in Christ.' I wouldn't want to face anything, including a new year, without Christ living in me. It can be a tough world out there.
Yes, many good things can happen and there are many good people out there, but as we all know, life can be very challenging at times. Work and family relationships can be trying. Things just naturally go wrong...we live in a fallen world where satan is the ruler. But he is only ruler of those who have not received Christ as Savior and Lord. He has no authority over the "believer."

As I said, I hope that you can say, with assurance, 'I am safe and secure in Christ. He is my Rock and my Fortress, my Strong Tower.' If you have not received Him as Lord yet, today is the day of salvation. God is a NOW God; He is in the present. He is there with you right now, calling you into His kingdom. He loves you with an everlasting love. He is LOVE.

2 Corinthians 5:17New King James Version (NKJV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The Bible tells us,

Romans 10:9-10New King James Version (NKJV)

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

So, if you have believed from your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, go and tell someone about what you've done. As you confess what you believe, your salvation is being sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Welcome to the new you in the New Year!

He Became Our Sin

I am sharing Joseph Prince's devotional message today. I felt it was worth sharing here. Please read it with an open heart and receive the truth of the word of Christ. HE took it all upon Himself, so that we wouldn't have to bear the suffering and punishment of sickness, pain and poverty. He died young, so that we could live a long full life in abundance! What a Savior!
www.josephprince.org

Meditate On

He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

1 John 2:2, NLT

The Price Has Been Paid!

When guilt and condemnation weigh heavily on their conscience, many feel the need to pay for their sins. To appease the sense that they have failed, they punish themselves by mentally berating themselves repeatedly for their failings, and some even go so far as to cause injury or harm to their own bodies. And when things don’t work out in their studies, work or relationships, they tell themselves that they deserve the negative outcome. They don’t feel that they deserve to succeed in what they do.
My friend, the answer to our consciousness of guilt, failure or inadequacy is the cross. The cross declares, “Jesus, the sinless, spotless, beloved Son of God, died in your place. There is your punishment! He was pierced. He was cut. He was wounded for your transgressions. He was crushed so that you don’t have to be crushed. He died young so that you don’t have to die young!”
Our conscience is satisfied when we look at the cross and see Jesus Christ hanging there, suspended between heaven and earth. He who knew no sin became our sin, and He bore the fullness of God’s holy and righteous indignation in His very own person on our behalf.
When we look to the cross and realize, “There is my punishment. There is my death,” our conscience says, “Peace. It’s paid.” We don’t have to wound ourselves. We don’t have to beat ourselves. Jesus suffered it all for us so that we can have His every blessing and reign in life. He alone is the sacrifice that atones for all our sins. Hallelujah!

Let's Put an End to Domestic Violence!

It's sad that I feel I needed to blog on this today, the Christmas season, where there should be peace and love in abundance. But, unfortunately, that is not always the case. And it seems that it is not always the case in the Christian realm as well. I wish I didn't have to type those words, but we live in a fallen world where bad things still happen. My hope for you (or someone you love) is healing, in the name of Jesus! We are Healing Heart Ministries and we love and care for you with the heart of Jesus.
Some say that nothing happens apart from God's will. I emphatically do not believe that. His will is for us to be in health and to prosper, not to be harmed or killed in a domestic violence situation. Know that if you are being abused, this is not something you deserve. God is not punishing you for some sin or transgression that you may have committed. No, He loves you! He is the Healer and Comforter.

This is an excerpt from a book titled, "No Place For Abuse"

"Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury and death to women worldwide. Nearly one in four women around the globe is physically or sexually abused in her lifetime, and gender violence causes more death and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war. Regrettably, the church is not immune to this problem. Numerous studies suggest that incident rates among active church-goers are nearly the same as those among the general populace."


I'm happy that these two women decided to write this book, It's time for the hurt to stop and we all have a part in helping to stop it. It starts with awareness and giving voice to what is (and has been) happening for far too long.

I urge you to get a copy of the book today... here is the link. I hope this information will help someone.

http://shop.cbn.com/product.asp?sku=9780830838387

The book can also be purchased in (e) form on Amazon...here is that link: http://www.amazon.com/Place-Abuse-Practical-Resources-Counteract-ebook/dp/B001Q3L9T6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417714487&sr=1-1&keywords=no+place+for+abuse

This is the Kindle version.

Christmas Peace

Only Christ can bring peace to the heart of man (woman).
Violence and hatred are polar opposites of peace. We are seeing examples of this in Ferguson, MO. We hear stories of violent acts every day on our news channels. All of them can be attributed to a lack....specifically, a lack of Jesus.


When we come to Him humbly, knowing we cannot save ourselves and cannot find our own way, He comes in and exchanges His life with ours. He gives us new life in Him. Therein is the only way to find peace in your heart. I found my peace with Him...I want you to find yours as well. Then it will truly be a "Merry Christmas!"

Please see the commercial at the bottom of the blog titled, "Only Christ Can Bring Peace."