Tag: amazing grace

How often do we overlook God’s current provisions because we are looking to the right or to the left? How often are we looking around to see what others have that we want, or conversely, do we look back to what we once had? This my friends is a sure way to stay distracted from all the Lord is blessing you with TODAY!

“The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!””
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭11:4-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In Numbers 11:4 the term rabble refers to, “The mixt multitude – The word in the original resembles our “riff-raff,” and denotes a mob of people scraped together. It refers here to the multitude of strangers (see Exodus 12:38) who had followed the Israelites from Egypt.”

In Matthew Poole’s commentary he describes it as this, “The mixt multitude, consisting of Egyptians or other people, which being affected with God’s miraculous works in Egypt, and thereupon believing the promise of God to carry them to a land of milk and honey, for their own advantage joined themselves to the Israelites, Exodus 12:38, an now, finding themselves sadly disappointed, they discover their evil minds.”

Corrie ten Boom, a Nazi concentration camp survivor, once said: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” God’s character never changes and his promises never fail. It stands out to me that even though the Israelites had just witnessed and directly benefited from God’s deliverance and continued provisions, they complained as if they still didn’t know HIM. The Israelites were taking their eyes off of a faithful God and in turn began to act faithless.

You must be faithfully focused in order to guard your heart, mind, and soul. In these times when we are surrounded by so much uncertainty we have the tendency to start to wander in the wilderness like the Israelites, looking back and questioning the Lord – BUT – we MUST cling to what is certain.

While we may be in this world right now – we are pilgrims on our way to our forever home with our Father. Do not give in to thief of comparison. The devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy- our Joy belongs to the Lord so do not let the enemy steal it!

““As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be COMPLETE.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:9-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

While we are called to love one another, we also need to be discerning and careful not to take on the beliefs of the world or others around us. This gave me some pause for thought this morning when I began to think about those who believed for their own advantage… not for the glory of the Lord, not because their heart needed to change, but for their own advantage… how often do we fall into this trap of having a one sided relationship with the Lord?

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Romans 8:31-33

Our relationship with the Lord should never be contingent. Our God has taken the initiative to come down to us and pay the price for our sins – while we were still sinners and so undeserving! He deserves all of our hearts, minds, and yes 🙌 Lord’s.

HIS past faithfulness demands our present FAITH and TRUST…

““I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
‭‭John‬ ‭17:13-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:8-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:30‬ ‭NIV

Christians, we have every reason and hope to be hilariously-joyful!! We are blessed beyond measure by the saving grace of our Lord Jesus. Be intentional to stay faithfully focused today, holding fast to what is true!

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Today Matters for Eternity

Today matters for eternity. Let us not be so arrogant to think that we will joyously run to our Father in heaven, when we can’t or don’t spend time with HIM while we are here.

“Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today matters for eternity is a statement that should remind us that we are pilgrims passing though, that our days are numbered, and that we should be sharing the good news with as many people as possible due to how quickly this life and world will fade away.

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-18‬ ‭NLT

‬‬ “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today matters for eternity should give us the perspective needed to finish well and to know that Jesus is coming back! This should fill us both with a strong HOPE and a sense of WARNING.

“Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90:11-12‬ ‭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.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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This is the Gospel

How it started: Fourteen years ago, TODAY I was lost in addiction, self-harm, living a sin-soaked life and daily wondering will this get better? I now know I was asking spiritual questions but was looking to the world and man’s answers trying to find the cure. Fourteen years ago, today was the last time I used.

How it’s going: TODAY I am walking with the cure! And His name is Jesus!

The greatest physician, counselor, father, all sufficient God who sees me, created me, & loves me.

Today I am not seeking the next fix – I am seeking Him! A closer relationship to Him and getting to know Him more all the while learning to DENY myself. I am learning that in obedience to Him, I have ALL I need; He is sufficient!

Are you asking yourself the same spiritual questions?

– When will this get better?

– Will my marriage continue to fall apart?

– When will the world no longer be broken?

Ask Jesus – Ask Him to show Himself to you, invite Him into your heart, & admit how much you need Him. In your rock bottom, you can rebuild with a stronger foundation, and Jesus is that foundation, the cornerstone on which ALL stands & is held together. He loves you; He will receive you and deliver you!

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NLT

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23 NLT

This is HOPE, this is REDEMPTION, this is the GOSPEL.

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

Matthew 7:24-25, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (NIV)

Psalm 40:1-2, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (NIV)

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