What Does It Mean To Have Freedom In Christ?

Faith in Jesus Christ's sacrifice will redeem your soul and restore you to fellowship with God.  

It will also free you from all that binds, controls, restricts, hinders, blocks, confuses and destroys.

Choose to trust Jesus today. Tell Him that you choose to start living in faith in what His sacrifice has provided for you. 

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to commit to this everyday and to live it throughout the day. 

Thank God for giving the pure blood and unblemished body of His Dear Son in order for you to be free.

Welcome to a life of true freedom everyday in every way!

John 8:36

Can The Bible Help Me?

I cannot stress to you enough the importance of reading the Bible scriptures at least once per day.

Read:

• even though you don't understand most of them,
• even though many of them don't seem to pertain to you,
• even though some of them make you angry,
• even though they often make no sense to you,
• even though you are often tired,
• even though most of the time you don't want to,
• even though you don't see why you need to
• even though you feel or see no change happening.

I cannot stress to you enough how the scriptures show up in your spirit, your mind and your heart exactly when you need them, when no person or no thing can help you.

The scriptures are alive. They are living. They are infused with God's Holy Spirit.

Open the Bible each day and read something:

• If you don't know where to start flip the pages and let them fall open where they may. Begin to read there.
• Look at the names of the Books of the Bible and pick a name that resonates with you, that you like. 
• Read a sentence, a paragraph or a Book. It doesn't have to be a certain length of reading. 
• It doesn't have to be a set time but try to choose the same time whenever you can. 

That's the only effort that you have to make to receive the powerful help that Our Heavenly Father freely gives to us through the powerful scriptures.

It may take a while for you to begin to receive the transformation and remarkable help that The Bible offers but keep reading it. You will see that you will get the most important help when you most need it.

I wrote this short post in 2024: Why Read The Bible Daily?

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Guiding with Grace: How to Offer Compassionate Christian Advice

We all do it, judge others by comparing their lives to ours. We don't mean to judge but through our comments it can sound like we are. The comments we make are often because we think that we have the answers for others' issues.

We are on the outside of their lives looking in. It can give us a more pure perspective. Still, none of us have the answers to another person's problems, even though we think you should or should have done it like I did. That doesn't mean that it would have worked for him/her.

Sometimes, we are so concerned and so badly want others to do well that we come off as judging when we make suggestions. We forget that we have issues that, should we share them, others would want to give swift answers to also. We would then understand how some of our responses sound. 

We don't always listen carefully when others ask for opinions or suggestions. Because of this, we can be guilty of giving the same answers over and over, cliches, standard comments, time-worn suggestions, etc.  People already know the stock answers and are seeking more than that. 

Platitudes are not working for them anymore, if they ever did. They feel judged when they are callously told to do more of what they have been doing, such as believe, accept, hope, adapt. There are, however, two things that will help if suggested, even if they are already doing them.

The only perfect answers to give anyone are to read the Bible more often and study it more deeply. The second suggestion is to pray more candidly to God, to be more honest as never before. Those are answers that will help anyone and everyone. 

If the praying and Bible reading is not helping, then the only perfect answer is between that person and God. God will have to reveal, through His Holy Spirit, what the answer is to their dilemma. We can only give comforting sympathetic or empathetic, unique words of faith. 

While it is motivating and encouraging to us to give advice, we must be careful that we are not discouraging and overwhelming others with ultimatums of performance. Our comments, suggestions and guidance should uplift, inspire and edify through God's grace. Ephesians 4:29

Aging And Faith

Age brings change, no doubt, but it is said that we automatically accept that certain things will happen when we grow older, that we accept them as a given. Much of it is all in the minds, say psychologists. Some say we get what we expect. Others insist that we can't stop the hands of the clock nor advancing time, or its effects on our bodies and minds.

Well, I believe both. I believe that if we replace, with positive words, the words about what we feel is unavoidably negative, it can effect change. Though it won't change the inevitable, it can counteract it for a time and make life more hopeful and enjoyable.

I do believe that because of fear, resignation and lack of vision, we accept situations, conditions, disabilities and sicknesses that we might not have had to suffer. Essentially, we can also create them with our consistently hopeless thoughts and words. When they pertain to health, doctors call them psychosomatic illnesses. When they pertain to situations in our lives, I call them creating what we repetitively fear. These are facts to seriously consider.  

It is better to work on building our positive, God-inspired attitudes everyday and to turn our thinking and speaking habits to what the Word of God declares. Our thoughts and words will then line up to produce a hopeful, healthy future for our remaining time here on earth. It's not easy for our depressing ways of thinking and speaking to change, but it is possible. 

Jesus said,

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9:23

In Proverbs we are told,

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

And in Matthew,

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. Matthew 15:18

Obey God And Prosper

We often think about having all that we need and perfection in the New Heaven and the New Earth. Why try so hard to build up a much better life now? We're all going to leave this earth anyway, so why try to do so much better in this dark and dying world? If it's all prepared for us later, what can we expect here? Are we entitled to prosper and do very well here in this earth?  I read in the Bible that the blessings of the Lord are not only for the world to come, but for this world as well. Luke 18:29-30 

One reason to reach out and claim all that God provides here is that we can inspire others to follow Christ when our lives visibly improve. A second reason is that we feel more like worshipping and praising God when we see improvement in our lives. Thirdly, we can leave a better legacy for our children. 

Another important reason is that how we learn to access and utilize God's provision today will have a direct bearing on our positions and rewards in the New Life in Eternity. This is because as we grow closer to God here and learn to relate and receive from him, we are increased spiritually. God always grows us spiritually as he blesses us materially, physically and mentally. Our acquiring here also stores up riches in Heaven.

Christian author and pastor Joseph Prince said God's desire is for us to realize health and provision. Like The Widow and The Syrian in the Bible, we will have to let The Provider into our innermost abodes and do as we are told to realize the miracles of provision and healing that we are entitled to today.

The Words Of Your Mouth

That Tongue! The power of life and death. Choose life. Choose to speak positive words. Choose to speak the scriptures. Choose life. Choose to be quiet. Choose to speak faith. Choose life. Choose to cut it short. Choose to shut up. Choose life. It's the difference between positive and negative words. 

That tongue of yours can create or it can destroy. It can build up or tear down. It can heal or it can hurt. Your tongue can do what it does to others but mostly, it is doing its thing to you.

Negative quotes. Negative statements. Negative clichés. See them for what they are. Negative pronouncements that bring things to pass. Those depressing things that your mouth says creates what it says. Whether you know it or understand it or accept it, your words create. They bring things to pass. 

Whether idle words or words spoken on purpose, those words, fragments and sentences create stuff. What does this mean? It means that your words are valuable because you are valuable. You have the power to create life or death. You have a wealth of power. The power of life and death is in your tongue. 

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Will God Bring Me Friends?

Mom was lamenting that her nail polish did not match her blouse, after all. The color looked different outside and she was quite annoyed. To quell her unrest, I said that it was okay, that probably no one would notice. 

Throwing up her hands, she said jokingly but seriously, No one notices me anyway. I soothingly replied, People will notice you more when you start going out to more places other than just to the doctor.

Though the Lord can direct a new friend to arrive at wherever we are, it's good to make a habit of getting out. Go to the places that you like and some new places along the lines of what you like to do. If you like to do nothing, go to a place and do nothing. Sit, look and smile. 

Say a simple prayer in faith before you go. Continue to go whether you meet anyone at first or not. Go for your own encouragement and to be ready for the Lord to bring new friends into your path.

The scripture ....we should not stop gathering together with other believers....(Hebrews 10:25 God's Word translation) can also encourage us to go out in the hopes of making friends. If you want a friend, go out and be friendly. If you want to have friends, go out to meet friends.

Trust God to lead wholesome, positive, spirit-filled people into your path. He'll lead Christians to you so that you can receive strength through their strong faith. 

He'll lead non-Christians and babes in Christ to you so that you can be a source of strength to them. How exciting it will be to be giving and receiving strength through new friends.

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Image Credit: Active Rain

God Help Me To Love Myself

The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5), so love does begin within. This scripture can be interpreted several ways. I see one of the interpretations as God's love in our hearts teaches us how to love ourselves.

We often give so much on behalf of others that we don't allow God to work on ourselves with ourselves. Sometimes, we need to be separated from others in various ways and for various periods of time in order for God to work exclusively with us about loving ourselves. 

Of course, God is also doing a work in us as we interact with others. Our Father, however, wants to reveal to us how we are not valuing ourselves as He is. We neglect ourselves because we believe that our confirmation of being in Christ is confirmed through our unceasing, loving activities for others.  

We don't realize that we never learned to unconditionally love ourselves. If the love that we think we have for ourselves is a scam and a sham, a false illusion, then nothing that we do for others proves that we love them. 

How can we love then when we haven't learned to love ourselves? Until we begin healing towards ourselves, our relationships with others will continue to begin and be maintained by our fleshly reaching out.  

Our efforts for others should be a reflection of our inner love for ourselves. As we learn to love ourselves as God loves us, we won't be motivated through ulterior motive, inverted pride, secret goals and selfish orchestration. These are the facts that the Holy Spirit wants to help us to accept. 

Once we begin to see ourselves with the respect, admiration and validation with which God sees us, we come to love ourselves in a way in which we never learned. We did not learn through our families, church members, spouses, friends or through any other person. 

No matter how good they may have seemed, we could not learn to love ourselves through them. Some of them were not good at all, for they took away what love we could have learned to have for ourselves. As we grow in The Lord, we become able to accept the brutal truth. 

Godly love for ourselves comes through acceptance of the truth about our deficiency and personal revelation from God about who we each are. When we start loving ourselves with the spiritual dedication provided for us by the Holy Spirit, then we can act upon a true love for others. This will result in wisdom, circumspection and restraint about what we do on behalf of loving others.  

The God-established love for ourselves is one of the pillars that we must sink into our foundation on the Rock of Jesus Christ. It is what helps us to build a stable Christian life. It is how we exhibit solid and unselfish service to God. We learn to be obedient to God rather than being self-sacrificing busy-bodies. (1 Samuel 15:22)

How Can I Be Obedient To God?

We can be obedient in our Christian walk. Scripture says that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Galatians 5:15) Our faithful walk, however, is interrupted daily by the world, the flesh and the devil, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. 

Despite these challenges, we can reposition ourselves and get back into the Spirit. We can insist on obeying God and going to His Word for fortification. (Psalm 119:105) I don't mean being persistent in trying to obey the Ten Commandments. 

To say that No we can never be obedient, if it was humanly possible then Jesus wouldn't have had to come, refers to fulfillment of the Ten Commandments. It is true that we can never fulfill the requirements in the Ten Commandments, no matter how good we strive to be. God never expected us to. 

The Ten Commandments was given to show up sin, to illuminate it, to show man the truth about the works of the devil. (Romans 7:15-20) We don't have to fear the Ten Commandments, an edict that we can never fulfill. Jesus fulfilled them all on our behalf. That's why He gave His Pure Blood and Unblemished Body on The Cross.

When it comes to daily obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we can then choose to obey or not. Obedience is always available to us. We can obey every single time that we perceive that God is speaking to us, however He may do it.

Grace And Truth Came Through Jesus

The Law Was Given Through Moses, But

Grace And Truth Came Through

Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

This means that we are no longer debtors to the Law but we are now free, delivered and redeemed through the given shed blood and unblemished body of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on Calvary fulfilled the Law of God and destroyed the power of the Law to kill us. 

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

This is what Jesus did for us. We can't understand, in the flesh, the magnificence of His obedient and holy gift. We can only catch glimpses of it as we seek God's face.

Expect Doors To Open

Learn what makes your heart sing, what makes you truly happy. You can feel it in your emotions and spirit today and you can find traces of it in your childhood. It has to do with if you could have things exactly as you want them, what would you be doing? Where would you be? What would your life look like? 

Fill your life with videos of others who are doing it. Replace as much entertainment with educational videos and podcasts as you can. Commit to lifelong learning about what makes your heart sing. Keep learning from others who are living it and never stop learning from them.

If you think you want to live somewhere else, anywhere else in the world, go ASAP. Go now, not only because money is unsure but because it gets harder as we age. It's never too late to do anything but some things we won't feel like doing later in life. We'll always want to though, and wish that we had.

Limit time, whenever possible, with people who don't support you, who depress you and who don't seem to have your best interest at heart. Be strong, be consistent in this but choose to forgive them. Learn not to buy friendships and don't pay people to like you.

Believe in the impossible, every day, and that it is for you. Expect doors to open.

Save and keep saving while you can, always live within your means, try to live debt-free, try not to pay interest. 

Don't become a miser, reward yourself within reason and enjoy life.

Forgive yourself for everything. God's Holy Spirit will help. Just ask. Believe that Our Heavenly Father is aware of all that has to do with you and He always has your best interest at heart.

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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 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.

Do You Understand Your Worth?

You are worth a lot to God. Do you know how much?

Do you see the value in yourself that God sees?

How can you be in relationships with people who don't when you have a choice?

There needs to be a transformation so that you can see you how you really are in the Kingdom of God.

Romans 12:2

Psalm 119:105

You mean SO much to Our Father. You don't deserve inferiority or mediocrity. Nothing like that is worthy of you. Get it right and see yourself like God sees you! You can learn. He's given you his Word to teach and elevate you.

Take the journey upwards now. Step on the elevator of God and be uplifted to the heights of understanding where he intends for you to be. You mean something to God, more than you've ever known before.

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Image Credit: Google

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. 

Giving Is A Choice In Freedom

The practice of tithing was under the Law of Moses. Christians today don't have to fearfully practice it because we don't have to do anything to be accepted by God after we accept his Son Jesus as our Savior. The tithing principle, however, is a good guideline for those who need structure in giving. 

While tithing required 10%, the scriptures teach that it is good to give more than that when we feel free to do so. However freely we give it will be freely given back to us (Matthew 7:2). This is a statement on how much we can expect back, not on how much we need to give. 

Today, it's not about tithing. It's about giving abundantly to others out of our own feeling of abundance. It's giving in freedom. The type and amount of that free-spirited giving varies from Christian to Christian. Our Father wants us to give from the heart, in the amounts and the frequency that we feel comfortable to do. Give how, when, in what way, in what amount and to where you are inspired to give.

If anyone attempts to make us feel ashamed because of our monetary giving or the lack of, their spirit is not of God. If you are not giving today but would like to, don't despair. God sees your heart and he will surely help you to get to your goal. He works with us, not against us. He does not push us, he understands us. Giving is a choice in freedom. Be comfortable and at rest in your freedom in Christ Jesus.

Prayer Can Give Us Intelligence

Consider this. Some unwanted events happen in life because we neglect to do things a certain way. Often, we don't understand what we are supposed to do. Sometimes we do know our roles but in ignorance or self-centeredness we choose not to fulfil them. Prayer can heal all of that.

• Prayer is submission to God. 
• Prayer can help us to allow God to help us do what we stubbornly don't want to do. 
• Prayer is an avenue in which God's Word can be illuminated and brought to life in us.
• Prayer can give us intelligence where we did not realize we were ignorant. 
• Prayer is hope when we feel hopeless. 

God has provided a way for us to receive the benefits of prayer, even when we don't feel like doing it. It is through asking His Holy Spirit to pray for us when we can't find the words. It's not a crutch. It's a real source of supernatural help when we can't do it ourselves. 

The Holy Spirit is faithful. He will utter words for us that we don't know how to say. He will talk to Our Father for us until we can form the words again for ourselves. In this way, we don't have to miss our prayer time with God, even though we may be tired and weary.

Forgiveness Gives Us Power

It feels better to forgive than to be angry, frustrated and resentful. We who love God forgive because we can, not because we have to. Because of Our Lord and Savior's sacrifice, we can choose the power of the Holy Spirit in our everyday interactions. Forgiving is a powerful tool of the Holy Spirit and that power can be felt! 

They say that unforgiveness hurts us the most, but that truth is not enough for us to claim the power to forgive. We are used to hurting ourselves in subtle and non-subtle, covert and overt ways. Our society promotes and applauds it. The power to forgive at every turn comes through the fact that Jesus Christ has provided a way out for us.

~ Worry is the root of all unforgiveness. ~  

We don't have to bear the burden of unforgiveness as the only solution to hurts, afflictions and the wicked intentions of others. Forgiveness is the answer to the pain of worry, which is the root of all unforgiveness. We have an answer. That answer is that God truly knows, sees and hears all and it is going to be ok. 

~ Unforgiveness is seeking an answer to fix what we can never fix through our flesh. ~

We don't have to find an answer to what has happened to us. Forgiveness removes the burden from the shoulders of our minds to have to fix things. That is what unforgiveness is, seeking an answer to fix what we can never fix through our flesh.

Forgiveness gives us the power to rest and to move on, in a Godly direction, to other things.    

Let The Old Man Die

Let's be obedient to God to our hurt. To the hurt of our flesh. Jesus was obedient to God to his hurt. What he endured for us was hurtful to the human part of him, as well as to the spiritual, divine part. His flesh shrunk from what he had to do. He came here to do it but he experienced dread, just like we do. 

He was so distressed that he asked his Father three times if it could be done some other way. Like the obedient Son that he is, he ended his supplication with Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done. 

We are not even being asked to allow our bodies to be abused, scourged and nailed to a cross. We're only being asked to allow our old man to die. Daily.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Romans 6:6-12

II Corinthians 5:17-19

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It's All About God The Father

Jesus always pointed to his Father. He never uplifted himself. He only firmly and confidently stated who he is. His words and actions always directed us to God. Our Christian lives are hid in GOD through Christ. It was The Holy Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, not Jesus himself. It's all about God The Father and his provision to restore us to himself through giving us the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. 

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