Jesus Loves You

Any kid that's been in Sunday school or grown up in a Christian home or had a Jesus loving relative, knows the song, Jesus Loves Me. Just mentioning it now I'm sure it's stuck in your head. Do you still remember the lyrics? 

Jesus loves me! This I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

The Bible tells me so.

Now, my mom changed a line in this song because she didn't want us believing that we're weak as children. So I always knew the song this way;

Jesus loves me! This I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are His and He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

The Bible tells me so.

Personally I think my mom's version is better and more positive. Anyway, I remember this song well. Probably because I heard it so much in Sunday school and on a CD that played in the car. So this song is REALLY engrained in my mind. And you know what? To my knowledge and remembrance, I've never doubted that Jesus loves me.

You see, music, lyrics, spoken or sung words, have a way of sticking in your mind. Both good and bad. I think that's why this is one of the first songs kids learn in Sunday school or at home. Because what better message to have engrained in your mind than Jesus' love for you?

Any of us that have worked with or have children know that once you teach them a song or word, you're going to hear it for a looooong time. Over and over, that's what they're going to be singing, saying, or asking to be played on repeat so they can sing along. And when it pertains to a song like Jesus Loves Me, what an awesome thing for your child to keep confessing! Over and over they say or sing, Jesus loves me! That's awesome!

Now, somewhere along the way between childhood and adulthood, we stop singing that tune. We stop verbally confessing that beautiful truth. I don't know about y'all, but unless I could relive my teenage years with the knowledge and wisdom I have now, I wouldn't want to do it again. I was bullied in my teenage years and almost went to hear Jesus say He loves me in person. (Thank you, God, that You stopped me.) I think some of the most unpleasant times are during teenagehood. And I think some of the most hurtful words are spoken during teenagehood. When a child is young, you would consider them vulnerable because they're small and don't know the dangers of the world yet, correct? Do you think children stop being vulnerable just because they hit their teens? Absolutely not! If anything, they're more vulnerable because they're beginning to step out into the world without you guarding them. You may say, 'oh I've taught them enough', 'they know who they are', 'they'll make the right choices', but how do you know that? Up until then, you were teaching a small child. Teenagers are just as impressionable as small children, except now you need to be more focused on if they're believing the RIGHT impression.

Remember how this whole thing started? 'Jesus Loves Me'. Is your teenager still singing that song and confessing that truth? Your answer is likely, no. I know that I don't remember singing that song as a teenager. I still knew that Jesus loves me, but I was more focused on the words that my bullies were speaking into me. 'You're not good enough', was what I heard the most. And you know what? Because I heard those words spoken so often, I believed them. I saw those words as truth. So how did we get from singing, 'Jesus Loves Me', to saying, 'I'm not good enough'? If you've been in a situation like I was, you were and may still be, saying and believing those words in your adult life. So now that you're not a child anymore, does Jesus still love you? Of course! How do you know? It's in the song, 'The Bible tells me so!'.

Now, if you need to sing a Sunday school song over and over until it gets engrained in your head that Jesus loves you, sing it on repeat forever, my friend! Because you are confessing a truth into your life that will never change!

Romans 8:35‭, ‬37‭-‬39 NLT, "Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I hope this encourages you today. Thanks for reading.

-skort94/Danielle

Why?

 Hello Readers.

First time for me posting on the blog, but I'm hoping to contribute more as God has given me several topics. So let's get into todays;

As young children, if we grow up with Christian parents that teach us about the Lord, for that first bit I'd say that most of us are Christians because our parents are Christians. As we grow up though, we each have to make our own decision to develop a relationship with our Creator and Savior.

I made the decision to follow my Lord a long time ago. I truly can't remember a time when I didn't believe or know the Lord. I'm pretty sure I asked Jesus to be my Savior a few times as a young child because I was little so I didn't really understand. I don't remember those times though. I can't remember how old I was, but the time I clearly remember asking Jesus to be my Savior, I was doing my school work and I had remembered how to write 'September' without looking and I asked my mom (I think these were my words), "Mommy, am I saved?". I can't remember what she answered, but I remember she went and got my dad and I remember dad telling me to say, "Heavenly Father, I know Jesus died for me and I want Him to live in my heart." and I remember being ecstatic after I prayed because I knew I had Jesus.

Now, let's get into why this post is titled 'Why?'

So I'd say that I've followed the Lord for the majority of my life if not in its entirety. Recently, I've had several people ask me if I was Christian and I always answer, "100% sold out to Jesus". But I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and I've realized that no one has ever asked me, 'why?'. No one has ever asked me why I'm 100% sold out to Jesus or why I'm a Christian or why I believe what I do. 

So I asked myself and I honestly didn't have to think about it for more than a couple of minutes to know my answer. Now, stay with me because it's a bit of a story;

Throughout my life, there have been various times that I've audibly heard the Lord speak to me. It's gotten more frequent in the last few years because I've grown a lot in my relationship with Him. The day I will never forget hearing His voice though, was the day that I almost ended my life.

You see, I was quite sheltered as a child and I'm actually very grateful for that. I was homeschooled and we lived in an area that didn't have other kids to play with. I also had horrible separation anxiety if my mom wasn't with me. Anyway, at the age of 14, I had just gotten an American Girl doll that grew up in the 70's and loved to roller skate. I wanted to try it out, so my parents took me to the local roller skating rink. I was not a good skater that night... lol. I fell on my bottom more times than I'd like to admit and I hugged the wall like it was a long lost friend. I also didn't know how to stop which was quite problematic. So while all this was going on, one of the skate team coaches came and talked to my parents and told them about the lessons they offered on Saturdays. I was super excited to take lessons and especially learn to stop. After 3 levels of classes, I joined the artistic roller skating team. By this point, I LOVED skating! I skated every session I could. I loved being on the skate team and practicing and competing. Unfortunately, my teammates and the other coach weren't all that fond of me... I wasn't bullied in the physical sense aside from getting bumped on the skate floor occasionally, but I was bullied emotionally. My teammates actively ignored me even if they knew I was talking to them. They made it clear that I wasn't welcome to sit with them during down time or at competitions. When they did take a minute to talk or listen to me, they made sure I knew that I was an idiot when I spoke. I was the only one on the team that they didn't cheer on or watch during events. And when someone new joined the team and they saw that I was making friends with them, they made sure that they pulled those people into their group so I would continue to be alone. The only 2 people on the skate team that cared about me were my coach that first told my parents about lessons and a fellow outcast that wasn't always at practice because of work. This went on for 4 years and within that time, although I told myself that I knew who I was in God's eyes, I didn't believe it. I was extremely lonely. I was fully convinced that I was stupid. I was convinced that I wasn't a good skater (although I have a box containing a majority of 1st place medals that proves otherwise). I lost my voice and who I had always thought I was. I was very depressed, I had anxiety attacks often, and I had horrible suicidal thoughts.  One day, I had forgotten my socks, so my mom and I had to go to the store that was down the road to get some. My mom went in the store and I stayed in the car. I didn't have hope at this point. I didn't believe that the emotional pain I had would ever go away. I was crying and I just wanted the pain to stop. I was watching the cars on the road... my phone was in the cupholder and as I reached for it to call my dad and say goodbye, God's voiced boomed in my head and said, "No! Go to your mom.". I jumped out of the car, didn't even shut the door, and ran to find my mom, who was just coming out of the store, balling my eyes out and told her that I almost left. That day, I decided that it was time to quit skating. I finished out the last few competitions I had and was done after nationals (I placed 8th which I'm still very pleased with). The road after quitting skating wasn't fun... I was still severely depressed and I still contemplated suicide more than I want to discuss, but even though I believed that the pain would never fully go away, I made up my mind that I wasn't going anywhere. During this process of recovery, I found things that helped. Veggie Tales being the biggest one. God used 2 particular Veggie Tales episodes to give me hope again and to tell me how important I am to Him. The episodes are 'A Snoodles Tale' and 'Its A Meaningful Life' (both are free to watch on YouTube, so I highly encourage you to check them out). A couple of years passed and I was doing better. I wasn't dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts as much, but the pain was still there and I still had really bad days sometimes. In 2014, I went to a Christian youth camp. An awesome man and pastor named Dave Duel (you should look him up if you don't know who he was) preached every night at camp. Well, one night during service, God used Dave Duel to change my life. Dave asked if anyone had anything they needed to be set free from, so I went up to the front. I'll tell ya, never before had I felt the holy spirit like I did when Dave cut the ties to everything that happened. I cried for 5 hours straight. All the pain, the depression, the suicidal thoughts, the immense weight of 4 years of bullying, was gone! I was finally free.

That is just one of the many examples I could share, but I think its probably on the top of the list.

So, why am I 100% sold out to Jesus? Because I would not be here without Him (literally since He created everything, but also because I was going to leave that day). Because He constantly shows me that He's here and that He loves me. After everything that I have been through and experienced, both good and bad, I CANNOT say that I don't believe. I have heard His voice, I have felt his comforting hug, I have felt His love for me, and I see the amazing details that He has put into everything in creation. So if anyone ever told me to prove that God exists, I will tell them, prove to me He doesn't. Because I 100% know He does and I know He loves us with a love we cannot begin to comprehend.

In the last 5 years or so, I've dramatically grown in my relationship with the Lord. I read my bible almost every night because I want to learn more about my amazing God and who we are to Him. One of the things that comes with getting closer to God though, is realizing how far so many have gotten from Him. It makes me sad because I know about God's great love for us, and sometimes I think about how heartbreaking it is for God, who wants us to be close to Him, to have so many of His children constantly rejecting Him.

So, in case no one has ever asked you, why do you believe? Why are you a Christian? Why did you make the decision to follow Jesus? Think about it, know your answer, and keep growing in your relationship with Him.

Thanks for reading.

-skort94/Danielle

Saying Good-Bye to Mutt

 In case I haven't mentioned it before, we live on a farm. We raise chickens and our daughter has horses. We never eat our chickens. They stay here until they are old and they die of old age. While I realize that most people would think it's silly not to eat your chickens, we just can't do it. We know them. We raise them from little chicks. We care for them every single day. We would not be able to eat them because we know them. Each little personality.

They have a good life here. They have a good sized hen house to live in and they are free to roam the yard all day long. This morning we had to say good-bye to Mutt. She was an old hen- somewhere between 9-10 years old, maybe older. We also have younger chickens. We just got a new batch of pullets last fall, so they are almost a year old. But we also have other hens of varying ages from previous batches of chicks. As mentioned already, they stay here until they get old and die from old age. Even when they quit laying eggs. They are then considered retired and live out the rest of their natural lives, happily eating bugs, enjoying fresh air and sunshine, and roaming free. 

We've been through it before. An old hen will be just fine one day and then the next day, she is gone. We know the signs of a hen whose time has come. We made Mutt comfortable and we loved on her. We cried and said our thank you's for all the eggs she's blessed us with while she was with us. We told her how much we loved her. And then she was gone.

Mutt, along with the rest of the hens, was a source of joy for us. Chickens are quite funny little critters and we love to watch them during the day. They have made us laugh so many times. When we come out of the house, no matter what time of day, whether in the morning when it's time to feed them, whether we are out to gather the eggs... it doesn't matter to them. As soon as they see us they all come running to greet us. It never gets old, to watch an entire flock of chickens come running to see you. 

Mutt will no longer be among them 😢. This last week she's had cantaloupe fresh from the garden to share with her flock mates. She's had cucumbers, just as fresh. She's had garden corn from the cob. I'm glad that she didn't miss the garden bounty because chickens absolutely love cantaloupe. We will miss Mutt. I hate death. I just hate it. We hate to say good-bye to our beloved critters. Sadly, it's a part of life. I know that many people don't believe that animals go to heaven, but they are still important to God. He knows when every single one of His creatures breathes its last breath. I personally believe that if our critters are important to us and we love them, that they are important to Jesus too. So, I believe that behind my mansion in heaven there is a barn and a hen house. Inside my barn are my four horses that I have loved and chickens that we had to say good-bye to are in the hen house. Inside my mansion are my dogs. I haven't had many dogs, so there are two dogs there right now. 

We know, according to the Word, that Jesus has horses, so why would He not have other critters in heaven? Critters are a part of His creation. He took pleasure in creating them. Why would He not have them around Him in heaven? Mutt is now residing in the hen house in my backyard behind my mansion. We will miss her here, but I have no doubt that she is quickly making friends with Pony Boy, Poco, Promise, and Lilly. She is basking in the light of God's Son instead of sunshine. We love you Mutt. Enjoy heaven and hang out with Jesus.

The Silver Lining

Lately, my thoughts have been inundated with not so great memories. Thoughts that remind me of things people have done to hurt me over the course of a lifetime, but mostly memories from more recent years. Some hurts not intentional, but some hurts... very, very intentional. As I've been pondering those things I have set out to combat those thoughts. After all, we are to focus on whatever is noble, true, of good report, etc. There are times though, that it's very hard to do this. At least for me. You see, God made me an analytical person and I seek to understand things that make no sense to me. I will spend hours, days, weeks, trying to understand.

As I set about to try to refocus my mind on the good things, my thoughts perused the bible through the Old Testament and the New Testament. My thoughts went all the way back to Adam and Eve, Cain and Able. People have been hurting each other for a very, very, very long time. It's not always evident why. Honestly, there are way too many variables to try to take on that mountain. That mountain is overwhelming. That mountain can bog a person down for their entire lives if we allow it.
There are times that we can understand the reason/s that someone may lash out or do something hurtful to another, but there are times when we must realize that there are cases when there is no good reason for people to do bad things to others. If a person steals food because they have no food for their family, we can understand that. We can have compassion concerning that. Hopefully, that person tried to reach out for help first. If we can, we should help. But if a person steals just for their own personal gain, well, what excuse can be offered? And there are people out there who hurt others for their own personal gain. There are people out there who use others, again, for their own personal gain. I have a really hard time understanding that. I can't even comprehend it. And like everyone else, my life has been touched by those kinds of people. Some of those people I trusted a great deal.

Today I read a post by a sister in the Lord who finds herself needing to take a break from social media to 'heal.' I saw some of the comments that were made to her and they weren't all nice comments. She is going through a rough time right now and the last thing she needs is people who attack her with their less than compassionate comments. She needs encouragement right now, not criticism.  She is hurting deeply. I truly hope that none of those comments were made by members of  the family of God. I have no way of knowing for certain, but I'm assuming they are friends/acquaintances of hers. This is where we come in. As children of God, siblings of Jesus, we have the opportunity to lift her up and to encourage her. At the very least, to pray for her.

At first, when I started thinking about all of these things I went back to my own childhood years. I remember when the neighbors watched out for each other. I remember when poor moral character was very seriously frowned upon. It was not acceptable social behavior and was met with swift rebuke. I could not say how many times I have asked, what the heck happened to society? But the answers to that are also many. I am not implying that all of society is focused on self gain. There are a great many compassionate people out there who are doing good and make the world around them a better place.

As humans, I think one of our weaknesses (with a great deal of help from the enemy of our souls) is that we have a tendency to fall into the trap of focusing in on the negative. Why do we even do that? I think that part of the reason we do that is because we know instinctively that God did not intend for the world to be a place of hurt. Even if one doesn't believe in God, I think that is an innate concept that was placed inside us by Him, so that we would somehow recognize when things aren't right.

My conclusion to my thinking about all these things is that from the very beginning, back to Adam and Eve's time, there have always been people who choose to do evil. There have always been people who are out for their own personal gain at the expense of hurting others. This is the result of a fallen world. It will not change until Jesus returns and sets up His throne in Jerusalem. So where does that leave us in the meantime? What do we do with those hurts that pop up and plague us yet again from time to time? We must actively, FORCEFULLY, look for the silver lining in those situations. As I have gone over some of the hurts from my recent personal past I have decided to come at them from a new perspective. What is the blessing that I received as a result of this situation? I'm writing it down so that when it raises it's ugly head, and it inevitably will at some point, I can go back and look at how God brought me through it and what He did to bless me because that situation. This also applies to hurts that may go way back. I have worked through most of those, but there are still some residual affects that I have yet to conquer. It will happen because God says that I am an over-comer. This is taking those thoughts captive. This is dwelling on what is good, what is noble, what is true, what is of good report. The good report is what God did to bless us and that He brought us through it. The truth is what God's Word has to say about who we are and what belongs to us.

We cannot control what others do. We can only control what we do. This is not to say that we have to accept toxic relationships or toxic behavior toward us in our lives. We can and we should let those kinds of relationships go - guilt free - we are not obligated to allow it. Letting go of those kinds of relationships is a blessing in itself. I have not fully forgiven everyone who has hurt me. I seem to do it in stages as I work through it. And that's okay. It's okay because God knows that I want to, and He also knows that my human weaknesses and complexities have a tendency to get in the way and there are things that I can't do by myself. Let's face it, sometimes the path to 100% forgiveness is a long one. I've heard it said many times that you know when you've completely forgiven someone is when you can think about the situation without having any feelings about it. For a lot of those situations I am getting closer to that place. But just as God still loves those who hurt us, He still loves us too, and He is walking that path with us. He will not leave us, He will not abandon us. Nothing will separate us from the love of God. He promised to complete the work He began in us. If some of the people who have hurt you are Christians, He will complete the work He started in them too. But again, in the meantime, it's okay to separate yourself from toxic relationships and toxic behavior toward you from others. There are times when it's proper and necessary to confront bad behavior. Paul confronted Peter. Jesus confronted the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Pray about it, be led by the Spirit of God. Don't confront in anger - it does not lead to a good result. Be prepared that confrontation may not solve or change anything. If that is the end result of confrontation it's okay to decide what is best for you.

Those are my thoughts...

If you ever struggle with hurts ( I am pretty sure I'm not the only one 😁), actively start looking for those silver linings because God is in the midst of those clouds to make those things work out for our good. He promised.

May abundant grace, mercy, and total well-being from God the Father and the Anointed One, our Lord Jesus, be yours (ours)! I Timothy 1:2  The Passion Translation

PS Sorry if I rambled!

It's all about the grace 💖

Our Weapons- Do You Have Your Sword in Hand?

This is a scary time for the entire world. And I have had my moments of tremendous fear like many others. After one such day, my daughter stayed up late looking up and writing down scriptures to encourage me (I'm so blessed!). She not only reads her bible, she prays scripture over whatever or whoever she is praying for. Does a momma's heart good to know that your kid is wielding her sword 😊.

With that said, as I was praying this morning, the Lord popped into my prayer time and wanted to have a little chat. It's something I have long known, but He added a little more insight to this subject. I saw a Christian wearing the full armor of God. His head was covered with the helmet of salvation. He had on the breastplate of righteousness, and a full shield of faith in front of him. Of course, this is referring to Ephesians 6:10-17. All of those pieces of armor are all 'protective coverings', with the exception of one part- the weapon. The two edged sword- the Word of God. I saw that this Christian had great faith, and in battle he was using his shield, which served him well. But his sword was missing. I must ask, how much more effective is the Christian that has his or her sword in hand? It is the ONE weapon that God has given us in the entire armor. We only need that one weapon because that one weapon is powerful. I normally have my sword with me, but fear got the best of me this time and I dropped my sword for a little while. I knew where to find it though and where to go to pick it back up. This got me to thinking, how many of us have never even used our swords? Or know that God has given us swords?

My thoughts drifted over to King David. I'm sure you remember the stories of the lion and the bear that came looking for the sheep that he cared for and that David made short work of both, killing them. The most famous story of all, when David went up against Goliath. He had only a sling shot and some stones, but through God, David defeated Goliath. One of the things that stood out to me as I was mentally going over the life of David, was that yes, he had great faith in God to protect and keep him (very important), but he never went to war without his weapon- common sense, right? Just think about that for a moment. A soldier out on a battlefield with no weapon. The bible doesn't tell us that he had a weapon when he killed the lion and the bear, but it does tell us that he went after the lion and the bear. Action and faith mixed.

God has given us a weapon, so I am sure that He means for us to use it. This is what He has to say about His Word:

Jeremiah 1:12 I am alert and active, watching over My Word to perform it.

Isaiah 55:11 My Word will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

2 Timothy 3:16  Every scripture is God-breathed

Hebrews 4:12  For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two edged sword...

Psalm 33:9  For He spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast

Numbers 23:19  God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent; Has He said and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?

Hebrews 6:18  So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to His promise with confidence.

Psalm 18:30 and Psalm 30:5 All the Lord's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection. //  Every Word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to Him for protection.

God gave us His Word to use in battle. Not only to use in battle, but also for instruction and encouragement and just to let us know how much He loves us. I wrote a post a while back ago titled, 'Make the Word Personal!'. In that post I talk about how to pray the Word. That right there, is how to use our sword. The sword that God equipped us with. I'm going to refer to some scriptures here that have been helpful for me. You can make these a prayer for yourself and/or your family, friends, etc., and I do encourage you to do so- each day.

Psalm 91- very important one to pray!
Psalm 121
Psalm 46

These are the ones that my daughter wrote down for me:
Matthew 6:25-34
Psalm 91:9-10
John 14:27
John 14:1
Psalm 31:24
Colossians 3:15
Proverbs 3:5
Isaiah 41:10
Psalm 55:22-23
Psalm 33:11-22
Judges 6:23
2 Timothy 1:7

Since we all have so much time on our hands, I'm going to let you look them up 😁. It will be time well spent and if you write them down as prayers, you will be praying some powerful prayers that will not return to Him void.

PS I just want to add that I've seen some very critical posts on social media slamming pastors for shutting down their churches in the midst of Covid-19. Don't criticize them, please! It is not a lack of faith, but they are using wisdom. God does expect us to use wisdom and common sense as we go through life. Even Jesus, when the devil told Him to throw Himself down because the angels would catch Him, refrained from doing so. Did He think that the angels wouldn't catch him? Did He have a lack of faith? I hardly think so. He said, "It is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." Jesus Himself was an example of common sense and wisdom. Let us too, do the same. Stay safe.

It's all about the grace ~ 💖
Barb

Make the Word Personal!

Good Morning! We are at the beginning of a new year ahead of us once again. I used to make resolutions, not every year, but most years. I have instead implemented 'goals' for myself. Goals are easier to keep up with I think, because you know it's something you're working toward and you can take as much time as you need. You can even change your goals if you want to! If, at the end of the year you haven't quite made your goals, you can add them to the next year or choose new ones instead. There is no pressure with goals- you work them as you are able.

One resolution that I think many of us make is to spend more time reading the Word, then we might not keep up with that resolution because life gets in the way. We find ourselves, one more time, not fulfilling that particular resolution and it goes onto the pile of things we intended to do. It's very easy to get side tracked with life and new habits can take a while to become an actual habit. Normally, I do spend time in the Word each day, but several months ago, several things happened in my life in a row that threw me off my track. Honestly, I really had to take time to work through those things. While my focus was on those things I temporarily let my daily study time lapse. Guess what happened... THAT became the habit! It was hit and miss on study time in the Word. Before the end of 2019 arrived I knew that I needed to resurrect my old habit of reading the Word each day. So, I'm back on the daily read 😊. The Word just makes me feel good! I love the Word!

That brings me to the reason for my post this morning 😊. If you want to spend more time in the Word, make that a goal this year instead of a resolution. Work toward your goal. Make yourself a note or add it to your daily planner. You don't have to spend hours a day reading your bible if you don't have that much time in your day. Set aside five minutes, ten minutes, or more time each day if you can. Believe me, every little minute you spend in the Word reaps a bountiful harvest for you! If you miss a day or two, just keep working on your goal.

One of the things that I want to share with you is something that someone taught me a very long time ago that I wasn't putting into practice until a couple of months ago. I used to do it all the time and I really have no idea why I stopped doing it, but it really does make the Word come alive for you on a much more personal level. Who knows? You may absolutely fall in love with the Word and find that you can't wait to get into it each day!

What is it that you can do to make the Word very personal? I'm going to show you 😎. I've been in Ephesians for a while because that book is really speaking to my heart. Just so you know, if you are into a verse, chapter, or book in the Word that is speaking to you and ministering to you, you can stay there for as long as you want to. Actually, I encourage you to do so because that my friend, is the Holy Spirit. We don't have to rush through and read the entire bible in one year. We can camp in there!! Because I'm into Ephesians right now I'm going to use some verses from there. In chapter one 'it is written' 😁... "My name is Paul, and I was chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. (2) I'm writing this letter to all the devoted believers who have been made holy by being one with Jesus, the Anointed One. May God Himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and total well-being into your lives." The Passion Translation

Here's how you take that and make it personal to you:
"(1) My name is Barb and I was chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. I am a devoted believer who has been made holy by being one with Jesus, the Anointed One. May God Himself, the heavenly Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over me and total well-being into my life. (3) Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon me as a love gift from my wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of my Lord Jesus - all because He sees me wrapped into Christ. This is why I celebrate Him with all my heart! (4) And He chose me to be His very own, joining me to Himself even before He laid the foundation of the universe! Because of His great love, He ordained me, so that I would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence. (5-6) For it was always in His perfect plan to adopt me as His delightful child, through my union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that His tremendous love which cascades over me would glorify His grace - for the same love He has for His Beloved One Jesus, He has for me. And this unfolding plan brings Him great pleasure! (7) Since I am now joined to Christ I have been given the treasures of redemption by His blood - the total cancellation of my sins - all because of the cascading riches of his grace. This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in me, releasing within me all forms of wisdom and practical understanding."

And down in verse 11: "Through my union with Christ I too have been claimed by God as His own inheritance. Before I was even born He gave me my destiny, that I would fulfill the plan of God Who always accomplishes every purpose and plan of His heart." The Passion Translation

Wow! We just went from a general to 'all' of you to a very personal, this is about me, read! It really brings home the message that is being expressed in a deeper way. Not only have you made these verses really personal to you, you have also prayed for yourself and made awesome confessions over yourself at the same time! How cool is that?!

When I find verses like these that are working in my heart I will often write them down so I can refer to the 'personalized' version again and again. That's me though. You don't have to do that unless you want to 😉.

Try it and go on an adventure through the Word. God took the time to write to us and He wrote wonderful things about us and to us. Have a great day and remember...

It's all about the grace 💖

Christmas Blessings to All

It's that time of year when people are stressed while they are out and about and doing the many numerous things to get ready for Christmas. Some people are even saying that they are so ready for Christmas to be over 😢. I am loving the Christmas season and it's my very favorite day of the year. It truly does help to remember why we celebrate Christmas. When we focus on Jesus, Who was once that little baby that was born so very long ago, Who came to earth with a mission, it directs our focus away from all the stress. Wishing you all a very blessed and wonderful Christmas!

Celebrate Jesus!!! It's all about the grace 💖