Ascension Day

Jesus had risen from the dead and spent 40 days with His followers, proving Himself alive and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). After those days Jesus was taken up to heaven and a cloud received Him, out of their sight(Acts 1:9). And so today, we celebrate Ascension Day! The day when Jesus went up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father.
Ever wonder why Jesus could not have just stayed on the earth and continued to preach, heal and turn the world upside down for the kingdom of God? John 16:7 says, "...It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper(Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you....He will convict the world of sin, vs. 8 ....He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.(vs. 13-14)
So Jesus left so that we could receive the Holy Spirit-the very spirit of God! And be led into all truth and He will tell us things to come.
To think, Jesus wants to share what is His and make it known to us!

Pray this:
Father God, thank You for Jesus and all He has done for me. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit that You have sent to me to convict me of sin, lead me into all truth and show me things to come. May I have ears to hear what He has to say. Thank You!!! In Jesus' name-Amen.

The Book Of John

The Bible is an awesome book for so many reasons. There are 66 books contained within and some are easier to read than others. I definately have my favourites.

The book of John brings me closest to Jesus. It helps me get a grasp of who He is and reaveals to me what this journey through life with God is supposed to be about.

The book of John reveals who Jesus is and in coming to know Him, we realize that He and God the Father are one along with the Holy Spirit. I'll let the verses speak for themselves, "If you had known Me(Jesus was speaking to His deciples), you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe for the sake of the works themselves.....John 14:7-11

My Dad is a good man and I love him alot. Because of my good relationship with Him, its not hard to see God the Father as a good and loving God and be able to relate to Him.

Jesus on the other hand was harder for me to relate to. I had a relationship with God the Father as a youth, but Jesus? NO.

Reading the book of John made me realize that in watching Jesus, I was seeing God the Father in human form, going about doing good. I finally made the connection.

Running On Empty

Lately my posts on this here blog have been scant.
Sometimes its because life is so full, and time used up, other times its because I have no inspiration.

My inspiration comes from spending time with the Lord, reading my Bible, praying, journaling, allowing Him to impress on my heart-His thoughts, ideas....

Mornings when I sleep in, I forfeit that quiet time with Him.
The business of the day quickly kicks in and off we go. Chores...school...housework...
That's not to say I don't get to read my Bible everyday.
We have the custom of reading it after breakfast, lunch and supper. We feed our physical bodies and then we feed our spirits. It gives our minds and spirits something to chew on as the day goes on.

I also converse with the Lord through the day too...thoughts arise and I talk to Him about them.

But there is something special about setting time aside and meeting with the Lord, just Him and me. I speak to Him ... and He speaks to me through His Word the Bible... and He also speaks to my heart in a still small voice. It's not that His voice is small, its just that He likes us to quiet ourselves and listen to Him, blocking out the noise of this world.

When I miss these special times, I start to 'run on empty' on the inside. Sometimes I start to feel down and I realize its because I am missing Him. His 'presence', graces my life. It makes me strong on the inside and also fills me up so that I have something to give to others.

This all makes me think of John 15:4&5 Jesus says to us; "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for with Me you can do nothing.

A Little Sin'll Do Ya

"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." Genesis 4:7

I once heard a teaching likening 'sin lying at the door' to a big evil dog at your doorstep, leaning heavily on the door. Once you've opened the door a crack, the sin-dog heavily shoves the door open and wants you for lunch.

The end of verse 7 says we are to rule over the 'sin-dog'. We do not rule over it by letting it in and beating it into submission. Rather, we are to 'do well'. If we do well, that 'sin-dog' has no reason to be leaning on our door waiting for us to open it so he can devour us.

Genesis 4:7 was God's words to Cain the son of Adam and Eve. Cain was angry and jealous because God accepted his brother Abel's sacrifice and not his own. God knew what was in Cain's heart and warned him of what sin would do. Cain killed Abel anyways and was cursed as a fugitive and a vagabond.

If we think a little sin won't get us into a little trouble, we'd better think again. "The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Wages are what we earn. When we sin, we earn death.

Commit adultery and you'll earn death to your relationships-your spouse, kids, family, friends, and especially between you and God. God does forgive and forget, but still, there are consequences here on earth....

Revelation 22:14 and 15 talk of how blessed are those that obey God's commands and how they may have the right to the tree of life and enter the city of God. But out side are the sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and who ever loves and practices a lie.

Pray this:
Father God, forgive me for taking sin so lightly. Your son Jesus had to die because of it, so that He could wash me clean and make me right so that I could be with You forever. Help me to never take Your forgiveness for granted. Help me to hate sin and live instead, for You. Thank You for giving me the right to the tree of life and that I may enter the gates into Your Holy city. In Jesus' name.

God is Good

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:3,4

Last week I was doing barn chores and happened to look out to the pasture as Kate my mare was rolling in the grass. She'd roll and stop, snatch a bunch of bite fulls of lush green grass and then roll some more. She continued this eat and roll thing for about two minutes. I could read delight all over her. She was filled with peace and thoroughly enjoying herself. It filled me with great satisfaction to know that my dear horse was so content and happy.

As I thought about this, the Lord reminded me of this scripture above. It made me think of how I am like my horse, trusting the one who cares for me, dwelling in the land, feeding on His faithfulness, delighting in Him and on top of it all, He gives me the desires of my heart.

We are so blessed to live in this time of grace and goodness. It's like a taste of heaven on earth. Thank You Father!! May we never take Your provisions and goodness for granted.

A Glad Heart

"A glad heart makes a cheerful coutenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken." Proverbs 15:13

Sometimes my heart doesn't feel very glad. And when I stop to think about it, there is nothing to be down about.

Many years ago, someone suggested to me that when I feel down, I should sit down and write down all the reasons I should be thankful. I call it my 'thankful' list. Once I am done compiling all the things to be thankful for, I have 'a glad heart'.

Today I will share with you the beiginnings of my list.

I'm thankful for:
My God who loves me.
I'm going to heaven! and
So is my whole family!! (not because we are so good but because we know Jesus made the way)
The sunshine and warmth
Everything that has become green
Fly spray for my horses and fly masks too.
My husband who works so hard to provide for us and gets up so early!!
My kids who keep me going and growing
My friends who accept me the way I am
My neighbour who supplies us hay every year
My steady eddy mare who teaches and challenges me.....
The freedom to homeschool
The freedom to talk about God and worship Him the way I want........

So....what does your list look like? How does it make you feel?
If this helps you, let me know. I'd love some feed back.

Have a great day,.... what's left of it!

What is Love?

Love is patient,
love is kind and not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant,
it does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own,
and is not provoked,
it does not take into account a wrong suffered,
nor does it rejoice in unrighteousness(sin),
but love rejoices with the truth;
and love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things,
and endures all things.
Love never fails.... 1 Corintians 13:4-8

Do we love like this? We can certainly try. The Bible says that God has shed His love abroad in our hearts. His love is put in us by His Holy Spirit. We have full access to this kind of love, but it means denying oneself.

Denying ourselves does not mean we become doormats for everyone to wipe their feet on. Instead we become a people with a strong resolve that is embedded in God's love, and we are filled with a peace that is hard to understand. We develop a foresight that sees the end from the beginning, enabling us to hope and love the way God does. In that, His will becomes a reality in our lives and in the lives of those we love-sacrificially.

The 'God kind of love' always invovles sacrifice, and its reward is huge.

How many of us would lay our life down for someone else? Jesus did. For sinners-people who miss the mark-regularly. And His reward is exceedingly great. He is now the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords and has for Himself a people called by His name.

Father God, thankYou for Your love that you have put in me. Help me to love like You, to see others with Your eyes. And when people see me, may they see the essence of the one who lives in me-may they see You and be drawn to You and Your love for them. In Jesus' name, amen!!

Does God Hear Me?

Sometimes I wonder if God really hears my prayers.

1 Peter 3:12 says, "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers."

So if I'm righteous in His eyes, He sees me and hears me. Hmm. So how do get righteous? The Bible talks about the self-righteous people, and not in a good way. Self-righteous people are those of us who try to make ourselves 'right' by being so good. (Ya right! That's always doomed to fail because we always miss the mark some where!)

The good news is that "..He(God) made Him(Jesus) who knew no sin(He didn't miss the mark, ever!) to be sin for us, that we might become the righteouness of God in Him(Jesus)." 2 Corinthians 5:21

So, who ever believes in Jesus, and that He paid for our sins and follows after Him is not only made righteous, but is actually 'the righteousness of God"!!!!!

Dear Father God, thankYou for making me the righteousness of You in Christ Jesus. It's so good to know that when You see me, You don't see my shortcomings, but instead, You see me in Christ Jesus, washed clean. I'm also glad to know that You also hear my prayers. In Jesus' name, amen!!

All Roads Lead To God

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And there were judged, each one according to his works.

Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:11-15

I guess when folks say that all roads lead to God they were right. But by the sounds of it, those roads don't stop there.

People question, " How can a loving God send people to hell? Didn't Jesus pay for the sins of the whole world?"

From the time of Adam and Eve, God had a plan. He loved mankind. He promised that the Messiah-the one who would save mankind and make all things right, would come.

But God is not a 'welfare' god.

Salvation is not a 'free for all'.

Salvation is a gift. It's not something man can demand from God.

Salvation is not mankinds right.

Salvation is God's gift to mankind. Mankind can only receive it with humility of heart. With heart bowed low, putting Jesus who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, first over all things in ones'life.

The gift of salvation must be received in order to save a person.

Those who see the gift but have no interest in receiving it as their own, have no right to it's benefits.

Those of us who believe in Jesus as our Saviour have the responsibility of "opening people's eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are set apart by faith in Jesus." Acts 26:18

Father, help me to trust in Your Word and know without a doubt, that Your Word is true.
Thank You for the gift of salvation through Jesus and His suffering, dying and rising up again-for me! I know the only works that I can do that would save me, is receiving this gift of forgivesness and life. ThankYOU!!! In Jesus' name.

Blessed Sleep

Caffeine after 6 PM is bad for me. Went to bed at 11 PM and couldn't fall asleep. All through the night I seemed to be vaguely aware that sleep was escaping me....just because of that warm cup of tea. It wasn't worth the pleasure of drinking it, that's for sure!

There are other nights where sleep seems no where in sight, but there is usually a cause. Sometimes there are aching body parts other times a mind that is so busy thinking that I've seemed to have lost the 'off button'.

Periodically there are high winds that beat against the house and make the shingles flap so loudly that I'd almost prefer listening to my husband's snoring instead. At least when he snores, I don't have to worry about a side of the house getting ripped off.

When worry or anxiety is the root of sleeplessness I like to comfort myself with these two verses, " I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8
and
"...He gives His beloved sleep." Psalm 127:2

We are His 'beloved'.

And He gives us sleep.

I think I'll write these verses down on a cue card and tape them to my bathroom mirror or in the fridge by the milk, just in case I forget them the next time I can't sleep.

Thank You Lord that You give Your beloved sleep! Thank You that I will both lie down in peace and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. In Jesus' name. Amen!

Dry Times

Do you ever tired and empty to the point of wanting to withdraw from the things and people that you used to enjoy?
This feeling goes beyond physical fatigue.
God created us in His image, in His likeness (Genesis 1:26) We are spirits, like God is a spirit-except He's God and we're not!! We have a soul which is made up of our mind, will and emotions and we live in a body.
We are pretty aware of our physical bodies, we feed them, clothe them and so on.
Our soul realm which is our mind, will and emotions is that part of us that we feed with books and entertainment, we use it when we react to things, and we also can desire with it, etc.
But our spirit. Our spirit is what is reborn when we come to believe in Jesus. Thus the term 'born again'. The Holy Spirit comes to live with our spirit on the inside of us. When we die, it is our spirit and soul that leave our body and are ushered into the reality of heaven.
Now, we can nuture our bodies, and our souls can be unscathed, but if our spirits are unfed, we can struggle with a fatigue that seems to go so deep, its hard to express. So we say we are depressed and withdraw.
So how do we feed our spirits? How do get refreshed? How do we prevent this fatigue from
happening again? Well, if our spirits are reborn and alive to God, they need spiritual food that only He can give. That's why Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."Matthew 4:4
Spending time reading God's Word the Bible and letting it penetrate deep into our hearts by thinking on it and mentally chewing it, is key. As we practise this, the Holy Spirit is able to speak to us by bringing God's words into rememberance at the right times, giving us guidence in all areas of life, but not only guidence, but words of love and encouragement and yes even correction.
As we feed on God's words, our faith grows by leaps and bounds as we put His words into practise. Our bodies and our souls benefit also.

Spending time talking to God is another key. It's such a release to express all the things that are in our hearts, the good and the bad. When we give Him our burdens, He, in exchange gives us His peace.
When we exercise trust, He shows Himself trustworthy.
When we obey His commands, He orders blessing to come on us.

For the heart that is feeling tired, crushed or dry, time with God brings the refreshment that is required.