You Are Loved! (2)

I have been praying for the words for my next blog post. But I kept going back to the last one. So I think I need to share it again. There must be someone who needs the encouragement.

You Are Loved!

Do you ever reflect on all that God has provided for us. This beautiful earth to live on. The animals and plants to provide food for us. Our homes, cars, jobs, and the list goes on endlessly. There are so many reasons to thank God for. It makes one sit back and wonder why we deserve all of this.
There is not anything we have done to deserve all that we have. But God has graciously provided everything we have because He loves us. Out of everything God has created,nothing measures up to us. He created us out of pure love. A love we cannot even comprehend the depth of.
And knowing this, we continue to destroy the beautiful earth He has created for us. We take for granted that we will always have what we have now. We cannot get along with one another. Constantly trying to outdo one another. Trying to prove we are better than the next. Countries at war. Even people in the same country fighting with one another. More and more we see the elected officials abusing the power entrusted to them. Passing laws to kill babies. Yet allowing convicted criminals to go free and receive more than the honest working person. They pass laws that try to keep us from praying or worshipping God. These officials are constantly trying to remove God from our lives.
I think of these things and wonder what God must think. He must be so disappointed with us.
Yet He never gives up on us. He never stops loving us. No matter how much we may have denied Him, or walked away from Him, He never closes the door and locks us out forever. As long as we are alive and breathing we still have a chance for redemption. God says repent, ask forgiveness, and He will welcome us with open arms. He loves us that much!
Romans 8:38  For I am persuaded that not even death or life,
angels or rulers,
things present or things to come, hostile powers,
39  height or depth, or any other created thing
will have the power to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Nothing can separate us from God's love. Nothing!
This is the promise of God to us, His children.  So the next time the enemy tries to convince you otherwise, stand tall and rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Because we have the promise of God.
Lately there has been a lot of use of the "rainbow" for reasons other than what God intended it for. God gave us the rainbow as a reminder of His covenant to us and His promises to us. This is what the rainbow means. And for me it will always be a reminder of how much God loves us.
Genesis 9:12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 
13  I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 
14  Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 
15  I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.
 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.” 
17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”
God loves us! Plain and simple. So much so that His only Son suffered and died on the cross for us. So that we can be redeemed and have that close and personal relationship with Him.
Faithful readers remember this. When you are facing trials and hardships, remember God's promises.
Remember that we never walk alone. He is always with us. He paves our way, clears our path, and walks with us always.
As you listen to this song, read the words. The promise the Lord has given us, He is always with us.
He loves you!

You Are Loved!

Do you ever reflect on all that God has provided for us. This beautiful earth to live on. The animals and plants to provide food for us. Our homes, cars, jobs, and the list goes on endlessly. There are so many reasons to thank God for. It makes one sit back and wonder why we deserve all of this.
There is not anything we have done to deserve all that we have. But God has graciously provided everything we have because He loves us. Out of everything God has created, nothing measures up to us. He created us out of pure love. A love we cannot even comprehend the depth of. 
And knowing this, we continue to destroy the beautiful earth He has created for us. We take for granted that we will always have what we have now. We cannot get along with one another. Constantly trying to outdo one another. Trying to prove we are better than the next. Countries at war. Even people in the same country fighting with one another. More and more we see the elected officials abusing the power entrusted to them. Passing laws to kill babies. Yet allowing convicted criminals to go free and receive more than the honest working person. They pass laws that try to keep us from praying or worshipping God. These officials are constantly trying to remove God from our lives.
I think of these things and wonder what God must think. He must be so disappointed with us.
Yet He never gives up on us. He never stops loving us. No matter how much we may have denied Him, or walked away from Him, He never closes the door and locks us out forever. As long as we are alive and breathing we still have a chance for redemption. God says repent, ask forgiveness, and He will welcome us with open arms. He loves us that much!
Romans 8:38  For I am persuaded that not even death or life,
angels or rulers,
things present or things to come, hostile powers,
39  height or depth, or any other created thing
will have the power to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Nothing can separate us from God's love. Nothing!
This is the promise of God to us, His children.  So the next time the enemy tries to convince you otherwise, stand tall and rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Because we have the promise of God.
Lately there has been a lot of use of the "rainbow" for reasons other than what God intended it for. God gave us the rainbow as a reminder of His covenant to us and His promises to us. This is what the rainbow means. And for me it will always be a reminder of how much God loves us.
Genesis 9:12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 
13  I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 
14  Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 
15  I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.
 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.” 
17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”
God loves us! Plain and simple. So much so that His only Son suffered and died on the cross for us. So that we can be redeemed and have that close and personal relationship with Him.
Faithful readers remember this. When you are facing trials and hardships, remember God's promises.
Remember that we never walk alone. He is always with us. He paves our way, clears our path, and walks with us always.
As you listen to this song, read the words. The promise the Lord has given us, He is always with us.
He loves you!

When God Calls Us, He Equips Us!

My last blog I wrote about God asking us to serve. Jesus asked us to make disciples of all men (Matthew 28:19-20).  There are many ways to serve. We all are gifted in different areas. I can list many ways that we are used differently. After all we do serve a creative and mighty God.
Even though we have read this in the Scriptures many times, we have heard different messages preached, we still tend to think of ourselves as inadequate. We tend to look at ourselves as not equipped as the other, or not as capable as the other, or not as "gifted" as the other.
That may be true for specific things, but it is not true when God has called you to do something specific for Him. God promises in His Word to equip us in the area He has asked of us.
One of the keys is feeling confident. We often question ourselves, did God really ask me? Did God tell me something different? Was that God or was it something I ate the night before? Yes, I've asked myself the same questions.
Philippians 1:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6) I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].
These are the words of encouragement the Apostle Paul gave to the church in Philippi.  Jesus knew the church needed to hear these words. And His Word remains true to this day and forever. He knew we also would need that encouragement.
Whatever God has placed on your heart, whatever He has asked of you, He will equip you. He won't begin equipping you and stop midstream. He will finish what He has started in you. He will teach us, make us grow, and definitely use us.  He will not ask us to accomplish anything impossible. He will not ask us to do a work we are not equipped to do.
How do we become equipped or able? I am convinced that our life's lessons equip us and prepare us. We do not start out in life knowing all of the answers. When we decide to follow Christ, we do not know all of the answers immediately. As we read His Word, and study His Word, He teaches us, He fills us with wisdom and knowledge. The Scripture in Philippians tells us Jesus will continue to perfect His work in us and complete it the day of His return. So our entire life, Jesus is teaching us, molding us, preparing us for the work He has asked us to do. If you remember from my last blog, He never leaves us, we never walk alone.
We all have gone through trials in our lifetimes. We have faced tragedies, illness, loss, hardships, and so on. All of those things, along with the good things we have experienced, Jesus will use them to teach us and equip us. We must remember to thank Him for the wisdom we will gain during the bad times. So often we only remember to thank Him during the good times in life.
We never walk alone! He is always by our side. He is always guiding us, paving our way. And one huge thing to remember, we will not fail. Even if we did not accomplish what "we think" we were supposed to, we did not fail. Jesus is never disappointed in us, especially when our intent is to serve and obey Him. We are not perfect, we will make mistakes. but Jesus is still by our side and loves us regardless.
Faithful readers, I pray these words encourage you. I pray that as you go through life, and you feel deep in your heart that Jesus has asked something of you, that you feel honored as His servant that He trusts you, and that you feel encouraged and hopeful in that new task.  Hang on to the words above in Philippians. They are true and for you.