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 💖
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Need Encouragement?
It's been a busy week around here, but I've been thinking about my next blog post. So many awesome things to talk about from the Word! I finally settled on some scriptures that I have found to be incredibly encouraging whenever I've read them. I'm kind of preaching to the choir in this blog post. In case you didn't guess, I happen to be the choir 😏.
Psalm 44;3-6
Our forefathers didn't win these battles by their own strength or their own skill or strategy. It was through the shining forth of Your radiant presence and the display of Your mighty power. You loved to give them victory, for You took great delight in them. You are my God and my King! Through Your glorious name and Your awesome power we can push through to any victory and defeat every enemy. For I will not trust in the weapons of the world!
Psalm 55:22-23
So, here's what I've learned through it all: leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you. He will watch over His lovers, never letting them slip or be overthrown.
Psalm 65:1-2, 6-8
You are the God Who answers prayer. You answer our prayers with amazing wonders and with awe-inspiring displays of power. You are the righteous God Who helps us like a father.
What jaw dropping astounding power is Yours! You are the mountain maker Who sets them all in place. You muzzled the roar of the mighty seas and the rage of mobs with their noisy riots. O God, to the farthest corners of the planet people will stand in awe, startled and stunned by Your signs and wonders.
Sometimes I have to read these over and over and it never gets old. These are great reminders to ponder on every single day.
You wouldn't know this, so I'm gonna tell ya 😊... I happen to keep a three ring binder, well, actually two three ring binders. Both have page protectors in them so I can slip my pages inside for safe keeping. The scriptures quoted above are written in my Bible Study binder. I write scriptures in that binder that encourage me and believe me when I say that it often helps to go back over those and re-read them. The great thing about keeping a bible study binder is that when you need to locate those encouraging scriptures later, there they are, right in your binder! Not to mention that it's a great place to dwell for a spell! You can even decorate your pages if you want to. I do! That part of writing your encouraging scriptures with your doodles is called Bible Journaling. You can google Bible Journaling and it will bring up all kinds of great examples.
My other binder is titled, wait for it.....
The War Room. Totally inspired by the movie with the same title 😀😀😀😀. The two women in that movie wrote their scriptures on sticky notes and put them on the walls of their closets where they went to pray. I don't have a closet that big to put sticky notes on the walls or to sit in for that matter, so I created my binder. I have prayers written inside that binder that I pray over myself and my family and whoever else might be on my list to pray for. Those prayers are all rooted in scripture. Did you know that you can pray the Word of God over your family and your situations? You totally can! That is the subject of another blog post right there.
I hope that you have found encouragement in the Psalms that you read today. If you have, jot them down and put them in a binder of your own. You will not regret taking the time to do so!
Remember... it's all about the grace 💖
The above verses are all quoted from The Passion Translation by Dr. Brian Simmons. If you haven't checked out The Passion Translation yet, you might want to look into it. It's one of my favorite translations.
Psalm 44;3-6
Our forefathers didn't win these battles by their own strength or their own skill or strategy. It was through the shining forth of Your radiant presence and the display of Your mighty power. You loved to give them victory, for You took great delight in them. You are my God and my King! Through Your glorious name and Your awesome power we can push through to any victory and defeat every enemy. For I will not trust in the weapons of the world!
Psalm 55:22-23
So, here's what I've learned through it all: leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you. He will watch over His lovers, never letting them slip or be overthrown.
Psalm 65:1-2, 6-8
You are the God Who answers prayer. You answer our prayers with amazing wonders and with awe-inspiring displays of power. You are the righteous God Who helps us like a father.
What jaw dropping astounding power is Yours! You are the mountain maker Who sets them all in place. You muzzled the roar of the mighty seas and the rage of mobs with their noisy riots. O God, to the farthest corners of the planet people will stand in awe, startled and stunned by Your signs and wonders.
Sometimes I have to read these over and over and it never gets old. These are great reminders to ponder on every single day.
You wouldn't know this, so I'm gonna tell ya 😊... I happen to keep a three ring binder, well, actually two three ring binders. Both have page protectors in them so I can slip my pages inside for safe keeping. The scriptures quoted above are written in my Bible Study binder. I write scriptures in that binder that encourage me and believe me when I say that it often helps to go back over those and re-read them. The great thing about keeping a bible study binder is that when you need to locate those encouraging scriptures later, there they are, right in your binder! Not to mention that it's a great place to dwell for a spell! You can even decorate your pages if you want to. I do! That part of writing your encouraging scriptures with your doodles is called Bible Journaling. You can google Bible Journaling and it will bring up all kinds of great examples.
My other binder is titled, wait for it.....
The War Room. Totally inspired by the movie with the same title 😀😀😀😀. The two women in that movie wrote their scriptures on sticky notes and put them on the walls of their closets where they went to pray. I don't have a closet that big to put sticky notes on the walls or to sit in for that matter, so I created my binder. I have prayers written inside that binder that I pray over myself and my family and whoever else might be on my list to pray for. Those prayers are all rooted in scripture. Did you know that you can pray the Word of God over your family and your situations? You totally can! That is the subject of another blog post right there.
I hope that you have found encouragement in the Psalms that you read today. If you have, jot them down and put them in a binder of your own. You will not regret taking the time to do so!
Remember... it's all about the grace 💖
The above verses are all quoted from The Passion Translation by Dr. Brian Simmons. If you haven't checked out The Passion Translation yet, you might want to look into it. It's one of my favorite translations.
Friday, December 6, 2019
God Considers Us Worthy and Holy
There's been something rolling around inside me for a little bit. We visited a new to us church about three weeks ago and something that the pastor said, just didn't connect with me because it was opposite of what God has to say. He said that we are not worthy, we are not holy, and we are undeserving. The undeserving part is probably true, but I don't think that is the mindset that God has regarding us. I am not criticizing the pastor at all, but I have to say that it does make me sad to think that people might believe that God finds us completely unworthy and completely unholy. I think too, that the mindset of "look at me, I'm such a snake in the grass, so unworthy of God's love, I could never be a holy person," has been a church thing for a very long time. Maybe we think it makes us humble? But, is it correct? Does God really see us as unworthy snakes in the grass that are just unholy messes?
Let's think about this real quick. I find God to be exceedingly logical (that's the analytical me 😄).
1. Why would He have created us to start with if He really didn't want to mess with our human imperfections? Rest assured that He knew what He was getting into at the get go, even before Adam was created. He was still willing to go ahead and create the human race. That is pretty awe inspiring in itself. That says a lot about God right there. Just think of the patience it requires to be God. Seriously, just take a minute to think about that. God has some serious skills too (!), not just patience.
2. He obviously believes that we are worthy, because really, why would He send His son Jesus to share His heart with us, send Jesus to die a horrifying death on our behalf if He didn't consider us worth it? Why would Jesus have agreed to do it if He didn't think we were worth it? There He was in heaven being Jesus and He volunteered to come here and become a human so that He could experience and identify with the human experience. You have to place some great big value and worth on something to die for it... just sayin'.
With that said...
I'm not going to quote the entire chapter, but I do encourage you to read it and let it really sink into your spirit. It's really good reading. Bold, underlining, and italics will be mine. I will probably add comments in parenthesis in blue too.
Ephesians Chapter One:
Eph 1:4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love (there's that word pertaining to us- HOLY - and blameless to boot!)
Eph 1:5 He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— (In other words, He was happy to do it)
Eph 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
Eph 1:8 that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,
Eph 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, (again, He was happy to do it for us)
Eph 1:11 In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, (See? I told you He knew what He was getting into, but better than that, He chose us, predestined us, already planned for us to be born before He even created the world- see verse 1 again.)
And if that isn't enough:
Colossians 1:22-23 But now (present tense) He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Hebrews 10:8 First He (Jesus talking here to the Father) said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them"—though they were offered in accordance with the law.
Hebrews 10:9 Then He said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. (I LOVE this in Hebrews! Can you believe that Jesus actually volunteered to do this?!) (Sets aside the first to establish the second is setting aside the old covenant to establish the second/new covenant.)
Heb 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (there is yet again- we have been made holy through the sacrifice that Jesus made)
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
I'm pretty sure that we have established at this point that God sees us as His holy ones. So, while you're going through your day, remind yourself that God thinks of you as holy. He is not thinking of you as a snake in the grass. He deemed you worthy enough to send Jesus to die for you. Jesus deemed you worthy enough to volunteer to die for you! It's all about the grace 💖
Here is my prayer for all of us today:
Ephesians 1:17-19 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
Let's think about this real quick. I find God to be exceedingly logical (that's the analytical me 😄).
1. Why would He have created us to start with if He really didn't want to mess with our human imperfections? Rest assured that He knew what He was getting into at the get go, even before Adam was created. He was still willing to go ahead and create the human race. That is pretty awe inspiring in itself. That says a lot about God right there. Just think of the patience it requires to be God. Seriously, just take a minute to think about that. God has some serious skills too (!), not just patience.
2. He obviously believes that we are worthy, because really, why would He send His son Jesus to share His heart with us, send Jesus to die a horrifying death on our behalf if He didn't consider us worth it? Why would Jesus have agreed to do it if He didn't think we were worth it? There He was in heaven being Jesus and He volunteered to come here and become a human so that He could experience and identify with the human experience. You have to place some great big value and worth on something to die for it... just sayin'.
With that said...
I'm not going to quote the entire chapter, but I do encourage you to read it and let it really sink into your spirit. It's really good reading. Bold, underlining, and italics will be mine. I will probably add comments in parenthesis in blue too.
Ephesians Chapter One:
Eph 1:4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love (there's that word pertaining to us- HOLY - and blameless to boot!)
Eph 1:5 He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— (In other words, He was happy to do it)
Eph 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
Eph 1:8 that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,
Eph 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, (again, He was happy to do it for us)
Eph 1:11 In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, (See? I told you He knew what He was getting into, but better than that, He chose us, predestined us, already planned for us to be born before He even created the world- see verse 1 again.)
And if that isn't enough:
Colossians 1:22-23 But now (present tense) He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Hebrews 10:8 First He (Jesus talking here to the Father) said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them"—though they were offered in accordance with the law.
Hebrews 10:9 Then He said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. (I LOVE this in Hebrews! Can you believe that Jesus actually volunteered to do this?!) (Sets aside the first to establish the second is setting aside the old covenant to establish the second/new covenant.)
Heb 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (there is yet again- we have been made holy through the sacrifice that Jesus made)
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
I'm pretty sure that we have established at this point that God sees us as His holy ones. So, while you're going through your day, remind yourself that God thinks of you as holy. He is not thinking of you as a snake in the grass. He deemed you worthy enough to send Jesus to die for you. Jesus deemed you worthy enough to volunteer to die for you! It's all about the grace 💖
Here is my prayer for all of us today:
Ephesians 1:17-19 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
Welcome!
Hello there! This blog has been on my mind for several months now and today I woke up and decided to start All About the Grace. Just so you know, I am not a pastor. I am not a counselor. I am an ordinary person. By that I mean that I do the human thing- I've had ups and downs, bumps and bruises, I've struggled with things, I've made mistakes in life, I have a past that has both helped me and hindered me- caused me fears, caused me to have doubts, affected me in positive and negative ways. In myself, I am soooo not perfect. But ya know what? In God's eyes I am perfect. So are you.
A little tiny bit about me. I am one of those analytical thinking kind of people. It's the way God made me. Most of the time it's a great trait, but sometimes it has a downside. I am also an introvert. Not sure that God made me that way. That one is still under analysis 😕. I am a different person today than I was when I started, so true to His Word, God has been working on me and continues to do so. I'm a wife and a mom to an amazing husband and amazing children. I live on a farm in the Midwest. We have chickens, horses, three dogs, and a cat. The cat is probably close to as old as Methuselah. If I did my math correctly, Methuselah lived for 969 years. Ok, so we know that the cat really isn't that old, but he's old.
What's this blog about you ask? Sharing the good things that God has written to us in that amazing letter, the Bible. It is so full of rich, uplifting, and encouraging words. The Bible is God's heart speaking, whether through the words that Jesus left us or the words of the disciples or the words of King David, Solomon, Isaiah, etc.... God had quite a few people contribute to His letter to us 😃. I believe that each one of those people were inspired by the Spirit of God.
How often will I be writing here? At this moment, I have no idea. Sometimes I have a lot to say and sometimes not much. My family tells me that I am a "long winded pray-er (pray ur)." I don't mean to be, but that's the details side of me coming out, so be aware, that sometimes it may be long reading over here. Well, depending, it could possibly be long reading more often than sometimes. I'm really just flying by the seat of my pants over here! My hope though, is that you will be able to take something away from here that will encourage you and lift you up. That's what God wants for us too- to be encouraged. He did spend quite a few years writing His letter to us after all. He has a lot to say too, so I guess I'm in good company 😃.
Note: Sometimes my youngest daughter may be contributing to this blog. She has a lot of good things to say.
This is your official welcome to All About the Grace.
A little tiny bit about me. I am one of those analytical thinking kind of people. It's the way God made me. Most of the time it's a great trait, but sometimes it has a downside. I am also an introvert. Not sure that God made me that way. That one is still under analysis 😕. I am a different person today than I was when I started, so true to His Word, God has been working on me and continues to do so. I'm a wife and a mom to an amazing husband and amazing children. I live on a farm in the Midwest. We have chickens, horses, three dogs, and a cat. The cat is probably close to as old as Methuselah. If I did my math correctly, Methuselah lived for 969 years. Ok, so we know that the cat really isn't that old, but he's old.
What's this blog about you ask? Sharing the good things that God has written to us in that amazing letter, the Bible. It is so full of rich, uplifting, and encouraging words. The Bible is God's heart speaking, whether through the words that Jesus left us or the words of the disciples or the words of King David, Solomon, Isaiah, etc.... God had quite a few people contribute to His letter to us 😃. I believe that each one of those people were inspired by the Spirit of God.
How often will I be writing here? At this moment, I have no idea. Sometimes I have a lot to say and sometimes not much. My family tells me that I am a "long winded pray-er (pray ur)." I don't mean to be, but that's the details side of me coming out, so be aware, that sometimes it may be long reading over here. Well, depending, it could possibly be long reading more often than sometimes. I'm really just flying by the seat of my pants over here! My hope though, is that you will be able to take something away from here that will encourage you and lift you up. That's what God wants for us too- to be encouraged. He did spend quite a few years writing His letter to us after all. He has a lot to say too, so I guess I'm in good company 😃.
Note: Sometimes my youngest daughter may be contributing to this blog. She has a lot of good things to say.
This is your official welcome to All About the Grace.
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