Because receiving God's love is just that simple... It begins with an invitation to know Christ; then the acknowledgment that you are a sinner (which simply means you acknowledge you have done some bad things - haven't we all?) and then recognizing that as a result, your life isn't all it could or should be. Even if you don't see yourself as a "sinner" and think you're generally a "good person"; it's about recognizing that there is a God and He's higher than you and you could really use His help. I know I can!
Maybe you stumbled upon this page by "accident"( or Divine appointment? hmmm?) Or maybe you came here from another webpage or after reading my other blogs and, intrigued, you wanted to see more(yay!). Either way, welcome! and please know that I give all honor and glory to the Lord. He's the reason I write, paint, do poetry - live...
So here it is... I invite you to make the decision to follow Christ, I extend this invitation to you because it is the only invitation you will receive in your life that has an eternal reward...truly!
If that's what YOU want then just say this simple prayer -- with your heart wide open:
Dear Jesus... I know I am a sinner and I repent (deeply regret)my past deeds. I believe you died on a cross for me and my sins are forgiven by my faith in you. I believe you are the son of the Living God - Please come into life - I make you my Lord and savior! Amen!
Once you've said this prayer ...let someone know or a bunch of people even... find a good bible based church - and start reading your Bible right away!... don't have one: http://www.bible.com/ is the bible online - complete with study guides!
If you prayed this prayer - Welcome my Brother/Sister into the Kingdom - the heavens are rejoicing just for you!
If you didn't - please reconsider - "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand " Matthew 4:17
Wednesday
Where is your Joy?
Recently, however, while I was praying, I heard the Lord say -'Where is the Joy?' The Word say says ..."the Joy of the Lord is our strength" (Neh 8:10). It also says "Rejoice in the Lord...Always" (Phil 4:4) and by always He means ALWAYS, but I know first hand how hard that can be. Yet, the Lord in His Love and His Mercy is showing me that it's okay to be joyfull because it's all a part of His plan and His plan is always for our ultimate good.
So, I had to do some soul-searching and some research. I prayed and asked for guidance and understanding, but most of all I asked for assistance in finding His Peace and His Joy in the midst of what appears to be pure chaos. I found a book that seems to be helping me understand Revelations/prophecy better it's called "The Merciful God of Prophecy" by Tim LaHaye, the writer of the Left Behind series. While I haven't finished it ,yet, I can say it's very encouraging.
That's why I'm writing today and going back to writing in general. The first step in finding Joy (after receiving Christ) is serving others and I hope that through my obedience by writing, I am serving anyone that stops by this blog and is in need of an encouraging word or just food for thought.
See just like all of you, I go through hard times and I have moments when things aren't the way I want them to be or the way I think they should be, but that's when I have to turn to the source of all and remember: HE HAS A PLAN. It's not easy, I know, to trust the plan, especially when you don't know all the details and that's okay. Just know that all will unfold just as it's supposed to. Your job is to keep your eyes focused on the "prize" and find Joy in the midst of it all. Encourage a friend or stranger, have dinner with your family, listen to a baby laugh or scroll through pictures of animals with funny faces; whatever you need to do, just find a way to smile and know that our Father in heaven loves us (yes, even you) and He loves to see us smile.
If you're going through something today, know that you didn't stumble on this post by accident. I pray that our all knowing, all merciful God will help you find your way back to letting Joy into your life, again. Children don't need a reason to smile, they just do. I pray you find that child-like part of youself and see the bright side of life, again. In Jesus, name, I pray. Amen.
If you're one of those people that have the Joy of the Lord always or you always see the bright side of things - Great! Now, share some that with the rest of us!
Either way, Be Blessed!
Saturday
Re-Post: A smile or a fingernail?
The following a re-posted entry from my other other blog:
Butterfly wings from the Flames of bird
I thought it would be relevant here as well...
Since I was a little girl I have always been a stargazer. I remember watching my first lunar eclipse (as much as I could stay awake for) when I was about 12 years old…amazingly it was centered right at the very end of Flatbush avenue, I felt like God did that just for me - just so I could see it.
I’m still a stargazer, to this very day and it doesn’t matter to me, whether it is during the day or late into the evening. I’m always excited when I spot something that appears new or unusual (to me) and just as I thought as a child, sometimes I feel like God is showing off…just so I can see…
Needless to say, I’ve raised my children with this same stargazing mindset….we take finding shapes in the clouds to completely new levels and we get excited, collectively, when we hear of some phenomenon going on in the sky. If I’m outside and see something interesting – I’ll run inside and call them out – if they see something interesting they do the same for me. {As matter of fact, about two years ago, they saw a bright comet in the sky one night and called me out to see it….silly me, I assumed that it was a falling star and I’d miss it any way so I didn’t go out, but apparently it wasn't and was bright in the sky for a long time! I ended up missing it! :-( ... But I digress…}
With this in mind, imagine my excitement when my eldest daughter – now, married and living out of the house – called me one night to tell me that I had to run outside and see the moon! She said that it made her “happy” because in her words: “God’s smiling at me”. So despite the cold weather, I got my slippers and wrap and quickly went outside to see “God Smiling”. Talking to myself, I asked God if He was going to smile at me too. But when I get out there I saw no moon. I continued a little further out, hoping it wasn’t lost behind the trees or a building and there; behind the house was this big ole “Cheshire cat grin” crescent moon. It‘s rare for me to see the crescent moon in that way, but it gave me reason to smile and laugh along with my baby girl because God "smiled" at me too!
The next day, I told her of my experience and asked her if she shared the Smiling moon with her husband and she said she had, but that he didn’t see a smiling moon – what he saw was a "fingernail", as if God were pointing downward…like “look at you!’’.
Now, I’m not saying my son-in-law believes God was judging him, or her for that matter, but I found the response rather odd and it made me think what about others? I just assumed that everyone would see the moon and think “smile”; a fingernail was the furthest thing from mind…
So I pose this question to you…how do you see God? Is God a "smile" or a "fingernail" to you? Do you think He’s taking every opportunity to smile at you? Or do you think He’s pressing down His finger of judgment?
Do you think He delights in you? Or do you think He's fault-finding?
Don't get me wrong, sometimes we mess up, but if our hearts are sincere and we ask forgiveness and turn away from the ways that would bring disappointment, then He smiles with us...and at us...
Here's to God "smiling" down on you!
Be Blessed
Butterfly wings from the Flames of bird
I thought it would be relevant here as well...
Since I was a little girl I have always been a stargazer. I remember watching my first lunar eclipse (as much as I could stay awake for) when I was about 12 years old…amazingly it was centered right at the very end of Flatbush avenue, I felt like God did that just for me - just so I could see it.
I’m still a stargazer, to this very day and it doesn’t matter to me, whether it is during the day or late into the evening. I’m always excited when I spot something that appears new or unusual (to me) and just as I thought as a child, sometimes I feel like God is showing off…just so I can see…
Needless to say, I’ve raised my children with this same stargazing mindset….we take finding shapes in the clouds to completely new levels and we get excited, collectively, when we hear of some phenomenon going on in the sky. If I’m outside and see something interesting – I’ll run inside and call them out – if they see something interesting they do the same for me. {As matter of fact, about two years ago, they saw a bright comet in the sky one night and called me out to see it….silly me, I assumed that it was a falling star and I’d miss it any way so I didn’t go out, but apparently it wasn't and was bright in the sky for a long time! I ended up missing it! :-( ... But I digress…}
With this in mind, imagine my excitement when my eldest daughter – now, married and living out of the house – called me one night to tell me that I had to run outside and see the moon! She said that it made her “happy” because in her words: “God’s smiling at me”. So despite the cold weather, I got my slippers and wrap and quickly went outside to see “God Smiling”. Talking to myself, I asked God if He was going to smile at me too. But when I get out there I saw no moon. I continued a little further out, hoping it wasn’t lost behind the trees or a building and there; behind the house was this big ole “Cheshire cat grin” crescent moon. It‘s rare for me to see the crescent moon in that way, but it gave me reason to smile and laugh along with my baby girl because God "smiled" at me too!
The next day, I told her of my experience and asked her if she shared the Smiling moon with her husband and she said she had, but that he didn’t see a smiling moon – what he saw was a "fingernail", as if God were pointing downward…like “look at you!’’.
Now, I’m not saying my son-in-law believes God was judging him, or her for that matter, but I found the response rather odd and it made me think what about others? I just assumed that everyone would see the moon and think “smile”; a fingernail was the furthest thing from mind…
So I pose this question to you…how do you see God? Is God a "smile" or a "fingernail" to you? Do you think He’s taking every opportunity to smile at you? Or do you think He’s pressing down His finger of judgment?
Do you think He delights in you? Or do you think He's fault-finding?
Don't get me wrong, sometimes we mess up, but if our hearts are sincere and we ask forgiveness and turn away from the ways that would bring disappointment, then He smiles with us...and at us...
Here's to God "smiling" down on you!
Be Blessed
Friday
Are you that woman?
Proverbs 2:16-20:
16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. 19None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life
Proverbs 7:25 -27
25 Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path.
26 For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims. 27 Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death.
Maybe you are reading the above passages and saying… nope, that’s not me, but let me ask you…are you living with a man? Are you sleeping with a man you’re not married to? Or have you had intimate relationships with men you were not in a committed relationship with? Or maybe even a married man? Or maybe you’re married yourself and having an affair? Then you’re that woman…
Now before you start getting offended and leave comments about how I don’t know you and I don’t know your situation… let me be clear…I’m not saying it – the Bible is.
I can’t lie I was her, too. Mind you, I didn’t think I was, even though whenever I read these passages and others like them, I would feel “convicted” in my spirit. I used to think I was OK because I was “in love” or in a very intense “like” leading to love, at least in my mind. So I didn’t see myself as a woman that was purposely trying to lead a man astray, no, especially not my man.
But what does the Word of God say? It makes it very clear than sex is to be saved for marriage, anything outside of that is fornication and leads to destruction – not just your destruction –his destruction. Until recently, I didn’t even know that, under the Old Testament laws, children born out of wed-lock were also considered cursed and their children’s children would be cursed for 10 generations – that’s over 400 years!
Face it - many women know that they have “something special” between their legs. Many use it as a weapon or a bargaining tool…(sounds like that woman in proverbs, no?). Some dangle it in front of man’s face just to get what they want and many hope that if they share "it" –“it” will keep him from leaving. See a pattern, yet?
Now, if you were that woman and aren’t any longer…Praise God! If you’ve never been that woman – Praise God even the more for saving yourself the heartache! But, if you know deep in your heart you could be that woman –Praise God, still, that’s the first step toward change - recognizing the problem. The best part is – it’s not too late! Jesus is the great redeemer. He can give you another chance and a new lease life on – believe me, I know. More importantly, He wants you know that the "special thing" you have isn’t between your legs, it’s in your heart and it’s so special any man worth his salt is going to want it all for himself and he's going to do all he can to keep it that way (ie: marriage). Waiting gives you the satisfaction of knowing that: not only does that man think you’re special someone, you think he’s special enough to keep him on the straight and narrow path.
Just a thought…
Be Blessed
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