Thus Says The Lord

Thus says the Lord, 

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight,

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

The Kingdom Of God

The Kingdom of God is within those of us who love Jesus. It is a way of thinking which alters our thoughts which then directs how we behave. God's way of thinking is not immediately evident to us. We have to come to recognize it and learn to utilize it. Most of all, we have to see value in God's way of thinking and doing things in order to learn through his Holy Spirit. 

***

Poetry: Your Glory Still Reigns

YOUR GLORY STILL REIGNS

So much beauty is the nature

That you have created.

The devil was not able

To kill its glory,

Though cripple it did he.

Its inherent magnificence

I can still see.

He never had the power

To destroy.

Wreak havoc did he.

As long as I wake up

To sun rays,

As long as I can gaze

At waving tree branches,

As long as I can

Hear birds twitter

And see a sparkling creek

Tumble over rocks,

Your glory still reigns.

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Poetry: GOD'S SUN

GOD'S SUN

I love to see the sun come in
And light my way to happy thoughts.
I'm happier than I've ever been,
When sunlight shines and rain is nought.

For though I love a rainy day,
And Autumn's gray day I adore,
The sun is lovely I can say.
I feel as I have said 'afore.

It sparkles in the brightening morn'.
The shadows sharp upon the grass.
Another sunny day is born.
With hopeful joy and faith en masse.

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Poetry: THE DEAR DELIVERER

THE DEAR DELIVERER

Oh God, did you set up

My deliverance decades ago?

Oh Father, did you set the stars

To turn in my favor?

You always come through

No matter what the challenge

Or fear.

You help and deliver,

Free and clear.

To my heart and my soul,

You are dear.

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Image: Google

Poetry: Everlasting Nature

EVERLASTING NATURE

I have beautiful mornings with you.

As I sit quietly and watch,

Nature abounds.

For you and nature are one.

You created the beauty of nature

And it is everlasting and eternal.

It comes from you

And never ends.

My love for nature will never end.

One day I will enjoy it upon

The shores and hills and fields

Of a pristine Heaven and earth,

The way you meant it to be.

Everlasting nature.

Everlasting God.

Everlasting joy.

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Poetry: NO PROBLEM TO WORSHIP YOU

NO PROBLEM TO WORSHIP YOU

Oh, to worship you!

No problem!

To get on my knees is to

Feel the loving kindness

Of a Father

Who sacrificed his Son

For my redemption.

There was no reservation

Or exception,

For I was fully embraced

And brought into

The greatest kingdom

In existence.

I will reign with Christ.

So to worship you?

No problem!

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Free Printable Bookmarks John 3:16

Free Christian Bookmarks Printable

Featuring John 3:16

Choose a white background, lavender or yellow. You can download all 3, free of charge, but each has to be ordered separately.

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God bless!

Thank You Father God

Thank you, Dear Father, for your love, which is greater than anything that we are and anything that we have endured.

Trust

 

Trust God and pray.

Poetry: God And Son As One

GOD AND SON AS ONE

How hard it must have been

For you to know, Lord,

That you were the Light Of The World

And To Walk Among Hatred And Blindness.

How hard it must have been

For you to live under

Being harassed and hated,

And to walk among

That determination to murder.

But you were determined

To enforce God's will.

Your Father, who gave you up

To a vicious world of dark haters,

Lived the horrific sacrifice through you

And with you.

***

©Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Is God Male Or Female?

I have often thought of how we (through what the Holy Scriptures share and tradition passes down) relate to God as male. Of course, Our Father sent Our Savior to be born into this world as a male.

As we understand it, the first human formed by God was a male, Adam. The Savior had to be male to repair the damage that Adam did.

I feel that God is both male and female, and more than we can perceive or understand. I believe his Holy Spirit is both male and female, and much more than we can imagine.

Our Father is not restricted by sex, age, race or any of the designations in which we have to currently live. Male and female both came from him through Adam.

I believe that for the purposes of our human race on this earth, seeing the Godhead as male serves God's supreme purpose. That purpose is in redeeming us and leading and guiding us into all truth.

I am sure that there are very good ideas presented that support the belief that God is unambiguously female. I have never had the desire to study them. I'm satisfied with relating to the Godhead as male and subjecting myself to God's supremacy.

While I have wondered about it at times, I still feel that it is in God's order, at this time, for us to see the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as male.

We can't imagine what wonders we will be shown in the New Heaven, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem. Things will be eternally different but Our Father is the God of precise order.

Those of us who believe know that our lives are hid in God through Christ, the Son of Man, the male who, for eternity, redeemed all who believe. The supreme maleness of God does not negate his love and care for women. If we allow him to, he will show us more each day his unqualified love.

Poetry: Longings Are Heard By God

LONGINGS ARE HEARD BY GOD

My longings you listen to.

And I have finally learned

To listen to my longings too,

And to give them to you.

***

©Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

How Can I Call God Father?

It's very difficult, because of early traumatic experiences, for many Christians to embrace calling God Father. My heart goes out to all, especially men, who are struggling with being repelled by God's title as Our Father. 

I recently shared with someone, who is struggling with this, that it has helped me to realize that My God in Heaven is not like the father that I had here on earth. He is the Father that I wish I had always had, the Father that I should have had.  

Thinking like this helps because it takes the focus off of the earthly father, who was never able to be the example of a perfect father. God in Heaven, the Father of Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father, has come to me to fulfill all that I did not receive through my earthly father.

I am not with my Heavenly Father physically but that is coming at the end of time. I can't yet touch him and hug him, but one day soon I will be with him in my new, physical, glorified body. 

For now, as I grow close to him spiritually, he fulfills all that I need in a father. Why call God father? He restores and repairs what was done, not done and what I did not receive from earthly parents. 

My growing spiritual relationship with God The Father supersedes the physical needs of touch as I learn to crucify my flesh and bring my body under. 

God is the key, the most important connection for us. Jesus says throughout the Word that he has come to restore us to The Father. He is the link to The Father. The only way that we can reach The Father is through him. He and The Father are also One. 

Knowing Christ and growing in Christ must include coming to accept and know The Father as The Father, even if we call Him something else because we haven't yet accepted the word father.

He is fully aware of the shortcomings of our parents, guardians, keepers and those adults who had such a huge impact on our formative years. 

He has come in the form of his Holy Spirit to comfort us and guide us into a new experience of love, fatherly love. Embrace him as Father. Call him Father, and be healed.

Feeling Hopeless And Alone?

Feeling down? Struggling? You are not alone. God The Father is aware of what you are feeling and has the answers. Won't you seek him?

God The Son Cares and wants to help you. Won't you cast all of your cares upon him?

God The Holy Spirit comforts and will guide you to a safe place in your spirit and emotions. Won't you receive him?

Choose faith in God through the sacrifice of his Dear Son Jesus and come alive in his Holy Spirit. Hopelessness and discouragement are no match for power from on High!

DoItGodsWay CallOnJesus TalkToGod spiritualanswers GodsAnswer Godwilllisten godknowswhy youarenotalone ifeelhopelessandalone IamUnHappy ifeelmiserable askjesus askgodforhelp

The Best Way To Experience Results From God

People ask Christians to pray for them when tragedy, fear, trauma and other challenges strike. They have not given God the time of day (and we remember when we hadn't) and they desperately want something for nothing. 

We have mercy on them because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. We also remember how it felt to be in that selfish and fearful frame of mind. We remember when we wanted something for nothing. 

While Our Father will listen to and sometimes honor our requests on their behalf, the best and most effective way to experience results from God is through building a personal relationship with him through Jesus Christ. 

It is faith that moves God, not desperation, piggy-backing on others prayers and attempted exploitation. That sounds brutal but the truth can be brutal. 

The Word is also quick, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) That is brutal. The Word tells us the truth about the human condition. 

The Word also shares that what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. What does it profit a person to always receive answers to prayers prayed on their behalf when they don't know God for themselves? Their end is coming, maybe sooner than they think, and their end is perdition.

We should also pray that Our Father sends his Holy Spirit to bear upon them so that they come into the knowledge of the truth. Let us also pray that God gives them a hunger and thirst for righteousness that they might live in the Resurrection of Life. 

Our prayers should also include the request that The Father of Lights will open up an opportunity for us to share Jesus Christ with them.

Victory In Advance

~ God's got the jump on what your enemies are trying to do. Consult him. Listen to him. Do what he says and you'll have the jump on them too. ~

Don't Wait To Enjoy God's Blessings

Have you ever thought to yourself that if only a certain blessing had come back at the time when you really needed it, it would have been better? Do you sometimes choose to put the use of a blessing on hold until what you feel would be a better time to enjoy it? Ever tried to wait and collect the blessings that you feel go together before you take pleasure in and use them?

I've thought like that. It seems that many things in my life did not happen when I wanted them to. When I feel that I really wanted and needed some things, the acquiring of them eluded me during what I feel were the desired times. They say that God may not come when you want him to but he's always right on time. I have to say that my years of experience with him has proven that, despite what I may feel at times of sadness and distress.

Though I can't say that I've gotten all that I've wanted, yet, or that all has happened when I felt that it most needed to, God has greatly blessed me in many ways. Those blessings came exactly when they should have, because God makes no mistakes and his plans are always perfect. This is what the Word, the Holy Bible, tells us and this is what I choose to believe.

I was standing at the coffeepot thinking about something or another that I was considering putting on hold, or feeling that I had to wait for something else to occur before I could enjoy it. Then I thought "No! God's blessings don't come to be saved. They don't appear to be stored up. They don't happen to be banked. They happen to be utilized and enjoyed as they manifest." 

God is not in the storage business. He's in the immediate-use business, the acquire-it-as-you-need-it business, the demand-and-supply business. Be inspired to live fully each day, draining out each blessing as God sends them your way. Allow each blessing from God to fully bless you, immediately. 

Our blessings are not meant to be stored up and released according to our limited, finite ways of thinking. We are to allow each blessing to flow out immediately and permeate our lives.  From us to others, our blessings are to flow out like rivers of living waters each time that we receive them. 

God Is A Reveal-er Not A Stealer

Everything that God suggests that we do is to inspire, elevate and prosper us. Everything that God suggests that we don't do is to benefit, heal and deliver us. He's the God of revelation. He reveals what is best for us. Our Father did not send his Son Jesus to take from us. He sent him to give to us and open the eyes and ears of our understanding.

Those of us who are saved can remember when we did not want to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We felt that we had to quit this, stop that and cease things. Most of those fears stem from religion. Man has turned God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ into religions. Religion binds us. The way that many Christians promote religion hinders God. 

God's purpose frees us. He is not a religion, nor is His Son or His Holy Spirit. They are. God is and he wants the best for us. He loves us. He simply wants us to come into the knowledge of the truth. 

God wants us to receive a power and understanding that we never knew existed. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and he was obedient to Our Father. All that Jesus did was for us because the Father said so. The works of the devil are to deceive, cheat, mislead, blind and keep the lights out. 

Jesus said that he came into the world as a light so that whoever believes in him will not have to live in darkness. (John 12:46). The love of God takes us out of darkness and ignorance and brings us into his marvelous light. We can then understand and receive from him all that pertains to life and godliness. (II Peter 1:3) 

When we understand and accept that God always wants to give to us, it helps us to be more obedient to the guidance of his Holy Spirit. There is nothing there to steal from us and to make our lives miserable. It's all about the revelation of light.

How To Wait On God

Waiting on God means that when opportunities appear and we make a faithful effort to take advantage of them, then they slip away just as we touch them with our fingertips, we let them go.

Waiting on God means that when doors open and we make faithful efforts to take advantage of them and walk through, and they close just as our feet touch the threshold, we walk away.

When what looks like blessings begin to not materialize, we don't ramp up our efforts and begin to strain, stress and pressure ourselves to obtain, retain and make them happen. We abandon them and wait on Our Father. 

These experiences are his way of helping us to become sensitive to his Holy Spirit's guidance. We are learning to tell the difference between the Spirit's movement and our efforts. God will impress upon us when we need to push forward. We have to learn to detect when we are determined to push forward but God has not led us to.

The difference between the prompting of the Spirit and what we are inclined to do is unmistakable. What we are inclined to do we can easily adopt as the Spirit. We have to be taught by God to not mistake our desires for the Spirit's leading. There's a fine line between them but Our Father is teaching us to recognize it.

Wait on him.