2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. He gives beauty for ashes and just as He made light shine out of darkness, He can make good come from what seems like a dead, hopeless situation. So long as there is God, there is hope.

The Lord Will Fight For You

Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Such a reassuring verse! To know that the Ruler of The universe cares about you, little, insignificant you,
(compared to His majesty and the universe).

Take heart! The King of kings and Lord of Lords has taken up your cause! But you must keep an open mind, and especially and open time frame. God is in not subject to time, but He knows you are and the only waiting you will do is that which is good for you and all others affected by your circumstances.

Even though it is about your circumstances, to God, it isn't all about you.

Be blessed beloved!

Trusting God is often easier said than done

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

There is so much we do not know, compared to God's knowledge. He can see the past, present and future all at the same time. When He allows certain unpleasant circumstances, a denial of a request made for a job, financial help, even health matters, we tend to think that it is because He is either displeased with us or doesn't  care.

The truth is, nothing could be further than the truth. He is saying, " I have something better for you, and everyone else it will effect", or " I don't want you to hurt yourself", or "I am preparing you for something that requires you to go through this pain for a season". OR, "This is for My glory". Sometimes it will be a combination 2 or more of these basic reasons for a negative response to a prayer.

But even though we do not understand, we know that God never waists our pain and He even feels the pain along with us. It's good to remember that He is walking through our trials, disappointments, and failures with us.

We just need to resolve to "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. And He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:3-5. You will need to lean on this verse many times to come through difficult times and resist the temptation to be angry with God.

After all, we are His, bought with a price. The blood of His precious Son, Jesus Christ. So we know He is not taking our troubles lightly.

We can go about it our way and get God's second best for us or we can trust Him and obey and leave all the consequences to Him.

John 15:13, Luke 23:34

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. Often our family life, work life, will call for us to put the needs of others first. Many times when we have unmet needs.  But to lay down your own life for a friend? While many of us might consider it for someone who is innocent and cannot do for themselves, such as our own child. But Christ died for the unrighteous. While we were still His enemies, while the very people He was dying for were insulting Him, beating Him, spitting on His face and pulling His beard out. His response was truly amazing grace! "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do". Luke 23:34

I pray... He May Strengthen You With Power..."

Ephesians 3:16 "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being." It is amazing what just a little open mindedness toward God can do! When we turn and take a step of faith in the right direction, God usually starts to effect the change we've been hoping and praying for in our lives. It's like getting approved for credit! God blesses on "credit" because He can see what we are going to do already. He is just waiting for our hearts, minds, attitude to get in line with His plan for our lives! He already knows we will blow it at times. Perfection is not the goal, but progress is sufficient!  We just need to have the right attitude and we can even pray "Grant me a willing spirit to sustain me..", as David did in Psalm 51:12 "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me". This is all in line with the mindset of repentance. In other words, "Okay God, we've tried it my way, I am ready to do it your way". Then the pathway to receiving His glorious riches is unobstructed, you are ready to receive strengthening, power and anything else God has been waiting to give you.

He gives strength to the weary...

Isaiah 40:29 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." I don't know about you but this is very comforting. To know that God loves the underdog, the long shot. Those of us who life seems to have been especially difficult for. With so many people suffering right here, in these Unites States  of America. Hunger, disease of all kinds, financial difficulty of epic proportions, just to name a few. Let's not be weary of doing good. Sometimes this blessing is right around the corner, so to speak. If we endure and do not give up hope in Him to be our shield, our refuge, a very present help in time of need. Some people site this as reason not to follow Him. But He said, "in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Hope is only as good as the One we place hope in. Sometimes God WILL allow more than we can handle to bring us to the end of ourselves, to empty the vessel so He can fill it with something better. But we must stop relying depending only on what we can do, which is finite, and start depending on Him to do what He knows is best for us. His resources are unlimited. The increase in power comes when you look to Him to do what you cannot do, to fulfill needs daily. So try it.  Daily ask, and believe you receive and He will come through in an amazing way. Many times it will be through a person or source you would least expect it to come through. Sometimes He will point out something that needs to change in your life first. You may have to give up depending on the "idol" that has helped you and say, " Okay Lord, you win, I want what You have for me! I am willing to trust that it is better than the thing I am giving up" It is my prayer that God will touch you today in such a way that you cannot help but be grateful for the need you suffered through, because the reward was so worth it. I pray that He you see blessings begin with the first step toward doing it His way. May God richly bless you, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. And for those who may be sitting on the fence, come down and taste and see that The Lord is good!

We love because He first loved us

1 John 4:19

We love because He first loved us.

God has this amazing ability to love us while we are hating Him. Any parent of an unruly child can relate.

But think of this: Would you be willing to give up your only son, who had never disobeyed or displeased you, knowing you would have to witness his death, in order to save, say, they neighborhood bully? The worst behaved child you had ever seen? 

God did something very similar by giving up Jesus, His only Son in exchange for our eternal souls to be saved. 

What's more, once we are saved and in God's family, we still have the dual nature.  The old sin nature that will go in the ground when we die and the new "spiritual man", the one that wants to please God and the 2 natures are at war with each other.

Even so, it is God's Holy Spirit that now resides in us that enables us to love Him back. So, "We love because He first loved us" and continues to do so every second of every day. Without Him, we cannot love God with all our heart, mind and strength for 5 minutes, let alone a life time. Amazing love!