Isn't it just like our Lord?

Funny how this blog article happened.  I've been feeling anything but inspired to write because I'm going through some personal things (emotionally dark times) and seeking the Lord on that.

The importance of reading the Bible is evident in how the Lord brought this article about though... twice yesterday at different times and in different bibles I read the account of Jesus's return on the clouds in Mark 13.   

 Mark 13:24-27 (New Living Translation)

 “At that time, after the anguish of those days,

  the sun will be darkened, 

  the moon will give no light,

  the stars will fall from the sky, 

  and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

  Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 

  And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

At first I didn't see how this passage could have ANY bearing to my situation but then today, I open my Bible at Isaiah 60:19-20 and a little light bulb goes on in this preoccupied little brain of mine.

 Isaiah 60:19-20 (New Living Translation)

 “No longer will you need the sun to shine by day,

 nor the moon to give its light by night,

 for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light,

 and your God will be your glory.

 Your sun will never set;

 your moon will not go down.

 For the Lord will be your everlasting light.

 Your days of mourning will come to an end.

When we are going through dark times, through anguish..when it seems like the sun is darkened, the moon gives no light, the stars have fallen from the sky. etc. (see the Mark 13 passage I quoted in article above)...  It is THEN that you will see Jesus Christ coming in great power and glory.  

When you have nothing else to cling to, nothing else to hope on, nothing else to distract you..you will see your Saviour, the Light of the world, coming to you in power and glory.  What a glorious image! What a wonderful hope!

Just keep trusting in the Lord, waiting on Him, pouring your heart out to Him, reading His word.  He cares, He listens and He's coming!

Let your light shine? What light?

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

A couple of emails and some Bible passages I read really got me onto the topic of “Shining for Christ”.  Well, God surely is not finished on this subject with me yet!

This morning, I journaled a prayer asking God to show me exactly how He created me, as the unique human being Karin, to shine for Him with the personality, gifts and talents He gave me.

God has started answering that prayer.

I came to the realisation that I don’t believe my life is worth much unless I serve and enrich the lives of others.  You know that whole sounding brass, or tinkling cymbal thing. (1 Corinthians 13)

I want my life to make a difference for good.

That train of thought actually made me feel a little depressed, because I got stuck thinking well I don’t do an awful lot, do I? What difference am I making?

Just to illustrate how God can speak to you in funny ways so you make the connection...

I starting thinking of one of my aunts and how her sunny bright personality is one way she serves others because she is focused & interested on them and not herself and her positive energy is quite infectious!

That in turn got me to thinking about how by just being who I am, who God made me, not necessarily doing anything special, I may be serving others.

Answers started coming that showed me how I may be making a difference even though I feel I’m not.

For instance, I usually allow others to just “be”.  Be who they are.  I may not agree with their beliefs or their actions, but as long as no one is being harmed, I let them be.  I think that makes people relax and feel safe in your presence, doesn’t it?

There were more answers I wrote down and I’m waiting for more clarity, but I shared that example above to show you how it can be anything about you that makes a difference in the lives of others... it’s that something that they like about being with you.  For you your gift may be your hospitality, or your sympathetic ear, or just the way you hug people hello.  Take some time to pray and think about it how you may be making a difference in the lives of others. I’m sure God will show you one or two things about yourself that you can do more consistently and use to serve His children.

Of course, God just loves confirming messages so again, online articles/emails spoke about this issue of 1) being a light for Christ and 2) all of us having a special way to shine for Christ.

Enjoy the two pieces below and let them speak to your heart.

Below I share with you an extract of email 1 as well as the full article on LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE.

Subject: Making Jesus attractive to all this Christmas

From Brigitte Petro Petrick

Pastor Deborah had a powerful message this past Sunday, about us being the salt and light in the world.  She spoke about us being the carriers of Christ’s light.  One of the questions she asked was, “Can people tell that you are a light carrier for Christ?”  It reminded me about a scripture God spoke to me about a couple of weeks ago -- a scripture I want to take into 2010 with me as a, shall we say, main focus!

Philippians 1v11: Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. (MSG)

Can you imagine living a life that makes Jesus Christ attractive to all, that leads to getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God?  Awesome, wouldn’t you say!  It is such a huge responsibility we have… carrying the light of Christ into the world.  Have you considered the opposite: if we as Christians reflect the world rather than Christ, would people still be attracted to Christ if they can’t tell the difference between us and the world?  I don’t think so!  I think it is due to us being so different to what the world knows, that we make Christ attractive to the people around us.  Can you imagine showing love to someone you feel doesn’t deserve it, or compassion to someone you barely know?  The beginning of this scripture speaks about us living a lover’s life -– awesome -- showing and sowing love wherever we go!  Now that is what would make Christ attractive to the world!

Let us go into 2010 living a lover’s life, a life that makes Jesus Christ attractive to all, which leads to God receiving all the glory!  That will be my mission in 2010.  Remember to carry Christ’s light into every place you go!

Have a blessed Christmas
Love, Brigitte

Let Your Light So Shine by Marnie Pehrson

Link to article: http://www.shelovesgod.com/library/article.cfm?articleid=5316

This weekend I had the unfortunate privilege of attending the memorial service for a childhood friend. Lamar Combs, who would have been thirty-seven this month, was training his dog to duck hunt, when he was thrown from his boat and drowned. The community of Chattanooga poured out their love and support for the family in a search and rescue mission that lasted for almost four days.
While I hadn't seen Lamar since 10th grade and my memories of him were fuzzy, two things stood out in my mind about him. He was always smiling, and he never made fun of people the way a lot of other kids did. As I listened to his friends and family share their memories of him, it became obvious that this happy Christian young man continued to befriend and love others into adulthood. Individual after individual shared with a large sanctuary packed with people the way he made them feel good about themselves -- the way he took an interest in each of them and cheered them up when they were down. He genuinely loved and cared for other people. He was a good husband and doting father to his four-year-old daughter and was looking forward to the birth of their second child in February.
While I was driving home from the memorial service, I asked myself, What can I learn from Lamar? Surely good must come of every tragedy. Nothing is wasted if we can all learn from it. The admonition of the Savior found in Matthew 5:14-16 came into my mind:
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Lamar let his light shine. He brought glory to his Father in heaven. Sometimes I think I have to do some big or grand thing to make a difference in the world. But I learned from Lamar that an ordinary man, who loves his wife and children, who reaches out to others and shares his warmth and smile, someone who looks for ways to build others up can leave a lasting impact on the world. I was awestruck by the sheer number of people who were touched by the life of Lamar Combs -- someone the world would call an ordinary man, but who lived his life in an extraordinary way.
We each have the light of Christ within us. Jesus Christ is the Light that shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehendeth it not (John 1:5). We bring glory to our Father in heaven when we let Christ's light shine through us and out to others. We don't have to be someone we're not. We don't need to covet the talents of others. We each have unique gifts, talents and messages to share with the world. Christ's light shines through us when we are who He created us to be. We let His light shine when we give of ourselves, when we truly love others and share what God has given us. Great things happen, people are touched, and lives are changed when we let His light shine.

Why be the moth when you can be the flame?

God's been talking to me lately about shining for Him ever since my previous post His Light Shines.  

(Click here to read His Light Shines)

I've read scriptures and received emails and read some more scriptures and they all talk about shining for Christ because He shines on us and in us, and wants to draw all men unto Himself.

So bear with me and read through the scriptures and emails I've received...

2 Corinthians 3:7-8 - The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 - But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

2 Corinthians 5:20 - We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

The email I received:

December 17, 2009
A Star Is Born: Thoughts on the star which led the Magi to the King of the Jews
By Rev. Judy Bauman

Recently I have been asking the Lord some specific questions about the "star" seen by the Magi from the east. It is one thing to see a star and use it for navigation, as astronomers have done for centuries, but this star guided these men directly to one specific house. The star is reported in Scripture to lead them exactly to the house where the Child Jesus (Yeshua) is found with His mother. This was more than men using the stars for navigation; this was a supernatural sign from heaven. (See Matthew 2:1-12)

So what exactly does this mean to us now and how do we apply it to our lives? If you turn to Philippians 2:14-16a (NIV), you will see a wonderful connection to us as believers and the Star that led the Magi from the east. The apostle Paul writes (emphasis mine):

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life?

People are searching for the King, for their Savior, for a Friend, for the One who eternally loves their soul. They are seeking for the One we know, love and serve. They are looking for Jesus the King of the Jews, but they need a star to guide them! So my question to you is: Will you be one who will shine like stars in the universe and hold out the Word of Life to those who so desperately need to find Christ the Lord?

In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

When the Magi saw the Star stop over the house, they were overjoyed. Who will be overjoyed because you shined this Christmas? You were born to be a star - so shine!

May the Father keep you in His love both now and forever,

Rev. Judy Bauman

I've also been reading about Christ as our Light and I'll end of with a few of those scriptures with you too:

Isaiah 9:2 - The people walking in darkness have seen a great Light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a Light has dawned.

Luke 1:78-79 - because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

There are more scriptures that speak of God as the Light.  Go find them!  :-)

His light shines

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (Nlt)

You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

A company driver handed me a pamphlet this morning saying God had laid me strongly on his heart the last time he was at our office.  This pamphlet is for ONE IN CHRIST ministries and they do discipleship training one evening per week.

Then the next applicant, a Zimbabwean, right after the driver had left (and the above driver spoke Afrikaans so this Zimbabwean gentlemen wouldn't have understood what was said) says: "There is something very different about you.  Are you a Christian?" So I say yes, then he just says, "God bless you and your family".

Some days I don't think I'm a good witness for Christ but I'm glad His light still shines. 

Quick prayers to settle the nerves

A list of a few affirmations by Catherine Ponder. I use them as prayers.

"This situation does not dismay me. God is with me to uphold and sustain me, and to make all things right. I trust everything in my life to the tender care of the Father. I know his will for me is health, happiness, prosperity, spiritual unfoldment and all that is good."

I do not resist this situation. I put it in God’s hands of infinite love and wisdom. Let the divine idea come to pass. If this situation is the divine plan, I bless it and no longer resist it, but if it’s not divinely planned, I give thanks that it is now dissolved and dissipated.

I give this burden of _____ to God and I go free to be ______.

There is nothing to fear. God’s Spirit of love and good is at work and divine results are coming forth.

There is a divine solution to this situation. The divine solution appears now.

Jesus Christ is providing the perfect results in this matter now.

The same God that first motivated this financial transaction is now mightily at work, clearing it up for the highest good for all concerned.

I now bless everyone, everything and every situation in my life.

God doesn’t need any time and God is never too late. With God all things are possible.

I give thanks for the immediate, complete payment of all financial obligations, in God’s own wonderful way. God is the source of my supply.

Follow God's nudges

Trust God’s promptings, His inspiration!

My spouse has her own training company. Business died down after an ex business partner stole training right out from under her even though there was a service level agreement (contract) in place. That is one of the reasons he is an EX business partner. LOL! So she had to deal with the betrayal, and needed new work soon!

God’s been training me for years now to trust Him for our finances because of the fluctuations in income + work due to the nature of my spouse’s work.

So I started trusting Him for our specific needs in this instance and praying for new work opportunities.

I actually remember that right after we started finding out how sneaky the ex business partner really was, that God lead me to a verse in the Bible. That night I prayed for us asking Jesus to be my spouse’s business partner.

This is the verse I read - translated as follows in my New Living Translation Bible:

1 Corinthians 1:19

God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

A little while later my spouse has an idea to call a contact she knows in a large hotel group. She supervised training for his daughter at one stage.

After staying on her case for a couple of days my spouse finally called – and he wanted to set up a meeting.

The reason I stayed on her case to make that call was because I felt that this was a divine connection God brought to her mind.

The meeting went very well but there was talk of the training only starting next year. Nothing confirmed or final yet. We needed income for the end of December!

This is where the goodness of God just overwhelms.

The person in the hotel group phoned my spouse to let her know he had referred one of their hotels for urgent training. They need it this year still! The hotel has already sent my spouse and email requesting a quote.

PRAISE. THE. LORD!

Remember, when God gives you a hunch, or an idea ---> follow through!!!

An empty vessel

I follow a blog by Judy R Hansen. She leads people into meditative prayers to experience the love of Jesus.  Her teachings on forgiveness, for example, includes giving every emotion that is not love or loving (anger, bitterness, offense) to Jesus for his care keeping (that is what He did for us on the cross anyway, bore our sins, our griefs, our afflications) and to let Him fill us with His love.  Doesn't that sound like a beautiful thing to do? To give the ugly to God so His love and beauty can fill us?

So anyway, I'm also busy reading Message of Faith by Retha and Aldo McPherson. In the book Retha recounts how she asked God why He could only fill her with His Holy Spirit after her throne room encounter with Him when she had come to the end of her rope. She thought she had been filled all these years.  God told her it was because she was finally empty of herself. That He can't pour His Spirit into someone who is still full of him/herself.  Now I read that and I'm meditating on what that means and my flesh thinks: "No, thank you. I want to stay in control. I don't want to give up my whole life and personality and my dreams. You are filled with the Holy Spirit anyway. Blah blah blah."  The flesh can be loud and assuming sometimes!

While busy with the book, I decided to check my email and there was a new mail from a prophetic email list I belong to.

The word they sent out that day reads as follows....

(I got that spine tingling feeling you get when something just can't be an coincidence.)

          An Empty Vessel

This word is submitted by Cynthia Blaskis

An empty vessel, yes, that is how I desire for you to come. Not empty of yourself and of the things which I have created you to be, but empty of the things of this world that would hinder your relationship with Me.

You were formed by My hands, and I have filled you with deep treasures and great joys to be found. You were created with a purpose and a plan, but you will only find those things when you empty yourself of the things of this world. Seek Me to fill you, so that you may fulfill My purpose and plans.

I will never leave you less than overflowing, when you come to Me empty, as you were created to be. But you must choose to empty yourself and come to Me as an empty vessel.

You say "but Lord, I cannot let go of this thing of the world, I cannot pour it out to become an empty vessel." Then come and as you are, and sit in My fire, My fire will burn away all that is not of Me.

Just as an earthen vessel is placed within the fire to become what is desired, so will I place you within My fire so that you may become an empty vessel. I will not harm you, I will not take away those things which I created within you so that you could be My masterpiece. I will only remove from you My child the things of this world which would distract your life from becoming all that you truly are within My hands.

Do not look through your human eyes in this time. Instead, look into My face and look through My eyes, see the reflection of who you truly are while the fire burns away what you were not meant to become. You will see a masterpiece of My hands and I will fill you to overflowing.

So, come and sit within My fire. come and fill yourself to overflowing. I invite you to come and let Me show you what I see in you, for you are My precious and treasured possession.

Wow!


Retha McPherson's Website

Judy R Hansen's Blog

Come to Jesus Christ

Song: Come to Jesus Christ

By: Karin Kloppers

©2009 Karin Kloppers

Come, come

Come just as you are

Come

Come to Jesus’ arms

See

They’re open wide

For you 

Oh won’t you

Come, come

Come just as you are

He longs

To fill you up with love

Yes, come

Come just as you are 

Don’t you know He loves you

He’s waiting on you now

Don’t you know He’s worthy

So bend your knees and bow 

Before the Prince

Of Peace

(Repeat from the top...)

Always the same?

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. 
[Hebrews 13:8]


Driving home from work today, just praying a bit and looking around at the plants along my route, I had this thought of God as constantly busy creating. He is not a motionless, stagnant, stuck in the past kind of God.  He is a creator.  The Creator. I had a sense of God as a creative Energy delighting in and finding inspiration in diversity and variety.


Yes, God's character of love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, truth and righteousness indeed does not change. A fact that is immensely comforting.  It doesn't make Him some kind of fuddy-duddy though.


This God of ours calls Himself Life (John 1; John 14:6) and life is certainly always changing, growing, expanding, inventing. Never the same.


Have you put God in some kind of "boring-old-Man-in-the-sky" box?  Careful... because if you look closely you'll see that your box has been blasted through on all sides and is decidedly empty. Our concepts of who God is will never be able to contain Him.

Never Saw You Coming

I love a beautiful song... with beautiful lyrics, a beautiful melody and a beautiful voice. This is one such song I am listening to lately...  Never Saw You Coming (Written by: Norman/Ingram) I am the lonely The ones who slip away I am the secret The words we dare not say I am the promise I’m about to break…again I am the leader Who cannot find the way I am the preacher Who somehow lost the faith I am the beggar reaching out my hands…again And I never saw you coming I could never dream of running I have never known such love before My God, You come, come and breathe Your breath in me Steal away what’s left of me Till You are mine and I am yours I am the lover with no one to hold I am the seeker with an empty soul I’m everyone who’s ever lost hope And I never saw you coming I could never dream of running I have never known such love before My God, You come, come and breathe Your breath in me Steal away what’s left of me Till You are mine and I am yours Fall like stars on my shore Still You are so much more And I never saw you coming I could never dream of running I have never known such love before My God, You come, come and breathe Your breath in me Steal away what’s left of me Till You are mine and I am yours...

click here for You Tube Video of Never Saw You Coming

Hear from God lately? (Part 2)

A vision filled healing


A few days ago I posted about hearing from God ("Heard from God lately?")


I would like to share one such mystical moment I shared with God recently.


One recent Wednesday I got out of bed with a headache - probably due to sinusitis/being very tired/both - and the headache persisted throughout the day at work.  Just before someone started praying for me in a Christian chat room I visit from time to time, I got quiet before the Lord and I saw this vision of a pole being pulled loose by thin golden shoe laces. As it got loose it clonked me on the head.  The fact that it hit my head assured me that it was related to my headache.  And the fact that pole was pulled loose/free assured me that whatever was causing the headache was being healed.  I truly believe it had to do with some kind of stronghold from the enemy in my life.  I never did get more info on what the cause was BUT the headache immediately subsided and the one or two times the headache wanted to come back after that, I thought of that vision and thanked God for the victory and pretty soon the headache was just...gone.

"But I get hungry!" (fasting)

Isn't that what most of us say when the subject of fasting comes up? Or this one: "I just love food too much!".

I use both: "I love food" and "I get hungry".  So I am not a big fan of fasting (as in not eating), don't get me wrong.  Only.. it really works if you are seeking God and you do it with the right attitude.

So if it's the attitude that counts, why skip the food?  You know, there are the usual answers to that question - like it shows you are serious about your request, and every time you feel a hunger pang it reminds you to pray, etc.  But there's something, well, supernatural about it that can't be logically explained.  The right attitude combined with not eating for a certain period just draws you closer to God, helps you pray about serious prayer requests.

A while ago, God lead me to fast about a situation that had me really worried.  I deliberately fasted breakfast. By "deliberately" I mean I chose not to eat when I could have, and not that I just didn't have time to eat or usually don't eat at that time.  I prayed in the car on the way to work and silently prayed while at work until lunch time.

Wanna know what happened?

I had energy like you won't believe!  Yes, I felt the hunger pangs but they weren't overwhelming.  Where the week up until that day had been really busy and stressful I breezed through that particular day without feeling the pressure as usual.

Did God answer the issue I prayed about..eventually, yes. And maybe not exactly as I had hoped, but He's still on the job and God's timing is not our timing. But boy was I full of energy and not stressed from fasting and praying!  And I felt so joyful and close to God.

You see, that's another thing..you may end up fasting about one thing and get answers in totally different areas.   God is never, ever predictable.

So, if you earnestly seek God, ask Him to show you when and where you can fast. You'll be blessed!

**Note** Please do come comment here about your experience if you do decide to fast?  Thanks!

Hear from God lately?

"Just how do you hear from God?" I'm sure we've all asked that question.  We hear people going around saying "God told me this" and "God showed me that" and "How to make the Vision come true" and most of us are left thinking, "Vision? What vision?"


God can give you visions though..or feelings...or words. God communicates. We just sometimes have a hard time hearing Him.


What really helps is to tune your radio to the right station first and you do that in various ways:

What works best for me is to be relaxed. Focussed yes, but relaxed. Seems like a paradox, but if you strain to hear something, you are not going to get anything.  It's not by your effort but by God's Spirit. So. just. reeeelax!


Get your mind clear too.  If something's bothering you, or you are struggling with forgiving someone, you need to give it to the Lord first because that's going to block your signal. 


So okay, you've cleared your mind (and your heart) out, you're relaxed... take a deep breath, close your eyes and just ask the Lord to speak to you.


Then just breathe - and notice what starts flashing through your mind, if you sense anything, if you hear anything in your mind.  And if you do, ask the Lord what it means.


Sometimes the meaning only becomes clear later on when you get a devotional email in your inbox and it says the same thing in more detail. Or you hear a song saying the same thing. Or maybe you know right away.


Maybe you hear/sense/see nothing this time.  Just keep going to Him in a relaxed manner and eventually you'll notice a message that keeps repeating in your life.  It's God speaking. 


Are you listening?

Let's dance

Every graceful move
I clumsily follow
because I want to dance with you, my Lord
It may be painful to watch from the outside,
my uncoordinated steps,
but I don't care - my heart is sold on You.
I'm just waiting for that moment
when the music starts to play
and you slide my hand in yours
and I hear You softly say
"Let's dance."

© 2009 Karin Kloppers

Steeple - Deborah Steinmair

I have this poem in a poetry collection by Deborah Steinmair and it speaks to me every time.

STEEPLE

Your church is as old as time

Lonely as the centuries

It lifts my soul to the sky

I lower my eyes

Your church is convenient

Prayer is no longer needed

Mother Mary prays to sweet Jesus for you

And the priest blesses your bread and meat

So you don't even need to say grace at the table

Your church is very fair

You don't even need to go there

All they ask is a monthly down payment on eternal salvation

Your church is high and pretty

And visible on the outside where it counts

Where people can see

The Bible says the real thing is inside

The real thing is hidden in the heart

Where the God who is no longer dead alone sees

The real thing is loving Jesus

Not the picture of a suffering saviour

But close like the breath of a friend

The real thing is a soft heart in your breast

The real thing knows no form or status

No ritual or ancient elegance

The real thing sat down, ate and drank wine

At the table of thieves and freaks and the poor

The real thing is Jesus alive

They would not recognise Him at the church door

Your mountain

We all have mountains in our lives...and yet Jesus said:

Mark 11:22-24
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.
I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.
But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

Today I read about the awesome anger and/or Presence of the Lord.
In His presence even a mountain can melt like candle wax.
Maybe even...your mountain.

Amos 9:5
The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
touches the land and it melts,

Micah 1:4
The mountains melt beneath his feet
and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire,
like water pouring down a hill.

Isaiah 64:1-2
Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!
How the mountains would quake in your presence!
As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil,
your coming would make the nations tremble.
Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!

Psalm 97:2-5
Dark clouds surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes.
His lightning flashes out across the world.
The earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

Nahum 1:5-6
In his presence the mountains quake,
and the hills melt away;
the earth trembles,
and its people are destroyed.
Who can stand before his fierce anger?
Who can survive his burning fury?
His rage blazes forth like fire,
and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.

*New Living Translation (NLT)

God loves YOU

GOD LOVES YOU.

You.

Yes...

You!

Jesus not only healed people of their physical diseases, but from the feeling of being outcasts, unloved, miserable sinners with no hope and no cure.

Below you'll read how Jesus healed a man with leprosy. A feared disease. And before He healed him he reached over in compassion and TOUCHED the man. Unheard of! And then there was the company Jesus kept... not exactly stellar upstanding members of society.

Mark 1:40-42
A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.

Mark 2:15
Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)


Lyrics by the band Leeland - Song: Carried to the Table

Wounded and forsaken
I was shattered by the fall
Broken and forgotten
Feeling lost and all alone
Summoned by the King
Into the Master’s courts
Lifted by the Savior
And cradled in His arms

I was carried to the table
Seated where I don’t belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don’t see my brokenness anymore
When I’m seated at the table of the Lord
I’m carried to the table
The table of the Lord

Fighting thoughts of fear
And wondering why He called my name
Am I good enough to share this cup
This world has left me lame
Even in my weakness
The Savior called my name
In His Holy presence
I’m healed and unashamed

You carried me, my God
You carried me

Live loved,
Karin
"For in him we live and move and exist."
-Acts 17:28 nlt

Our spiritual nature

Genesis 1:26-27 (NLT)
Then God said, “Let us make human beings[man] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings[man] in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Jeremiah 1:5 (NLT)
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart

Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.

1 Corinthians 15: 44 (NLT)
They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NLT)
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

Romans 8:11 (NLT)
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

1 John 3:9 (NIV)
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
(NLT)
Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, becauseGod’s life[seed] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God

2 Corinthians 6:18 (NLT)
And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.

Galatians 3:26 (NLT)
For you are all children[sons] of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

John 4:23-24 (NLT)
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. ForGod is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth

I've fallen for God

Today, can you say that you love the Lord "just because" you love Him? Do you love Him without an agenda, without fear, not because you're trying to get His approval, or trying to stay in His good books, and not because you have to or it's the "right" thing to do?

Do you love the Lord just like that? Unconditionally? That's the way He loves us! I know my Lord He loves me just like that [CeCe Winans | "Just Like That"]

Well I have a theory that many of us have to go through our doubts, have to desert the Lord (for a season), have to leave the Lord behind and try living life without Him, before we can really SEE Him for who He is. And therefore just simply love Him. Just because and for no other reason.

Have you really "fallen" for the Lord yet?

Have you just slipped into pure adoration for Him?

Or does your love still have "reasons"?

One of the beautiful images I have lately is of God as a pure warm pool of water that's always there. We just have to choose to become a part of it, to slip into this water (His love & His presence) like you slip into a heated swimming pool. To just melt into His embrace.

Read how beautifully the band Leeland sings it...

A childlike love I had when we first began...We ran and I fell behind...
I’ve been stuck here all this time. You waited like a lover who couldn’t let go of his bride.
I turned my back away from You, didn't shed a tear or cry.

And I’m falling for You now. I’m coming back to the place where we parted
It’s for real this time. So I’ll be here waiting where we started.
My feet were bruised. I tried but I couldn’t fill Your shoes.
I went my way. I bought the lie that I was all grown up.
Didn’t need You in my life.
The winter left me cold and frozen. Looking for the truth, but searching for the sun.
I found the place where I met You

It feels so good to be in Your arms
You never left me, I just chose to stay behind
I want to thank You for Your love that gives me freedom,
to run back, to come back

And I’m falling for You now. I’m coming back to the place where we parted
It’s for real this time. So I’ll be here waiting where we started.

[Artist: Leeland | Song: Falling For You]

Living IN God

We know that when we believe in Jesus, God lives in us.
Have you ever wondered though what it means for us to live in God?

Wow!

Just read these scriptures..

All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
1 John 4:15-16

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit
John 15:5

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
John 17:22-23

Your spirit knows your thoughts

I watched part of sermon by Leslie Ramiah yesterday evening on Spirit Word channel.

He said something about a passage of scripture we have read so many times but I don't think we realise what we read! Well, I didn't!

No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit,
and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.

(1 Corinthians 2:11)

Your spirit knows your thoughts.

Everybody feels inclined to say, "Duh, of course!"

But stop and really think about it. We are spiritual beings who have a body, not a body who happens to have a spirit. That part of you that will spend eternity with Jesus, the bit that's "you" when your body falls away, is the "being" that knows you, that knows your thoughts.

A lot of "new agers" talk about their inner Self or their inner Being and we go "froooooot cakes!".

But like the devil usually does, he takes something with truth to it and twists it.

And God's Spirit communicates with our spirit, who then communicates God's message to us.

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 (New Living Translation)

10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.

12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. [b]

14 But people who aren’t spiritual [c] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.

16 For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?” [d] But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

Footnotes:

b 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people.

c 1 Corinthians 2:14 Or who don’t have the Spirit; or who have only physical life.

d 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isa 40:13 (Greek version).

It really helps to stay calm and believe for the best possible outcome

Our thoughts really are SO important!

"Now to Him who by the power (**dunamis) at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine."
--Ephesians 3:20 (nrsv)

**dunamis: force; specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): - ability, abundance, meaning, might, power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.

So what are you asking or imagining? Are you thinking about the things you want to happen or about all the bad things around you that are making you unhappy?

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.
Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.
Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
--Philippians 4:8-9 (nlt)

Love by another name: praise and worship

Driving to work this morning I got to thinking about that age old question...why would God create people and then want them to worship Him? It really can't be about a big ego. And then out of the blue an answer came up... what if we think of praise and worship in the wrong way? Yes, God is holy and good and awesome and mighty and deserves to be praised, BUT what if praise and worship really just boils down to adoration and love?

God IS love, created us out of love and for a love relationship. So it must feel pretty empty and lead to heartache if we don't love God back when He already loves us sooo much. I mean, I could actually imagine that empty aching place in God's heart when we don't return His love.. almost like human love relationships when the one you love doesn't love you back.

Today my heart feels the pull of God's "need" for me to love Him (although of course in the strictest sense God doesn't need anything). And it's my joy to be in this love relationship with the King of the universe.