“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:4 NIV https://james.bible/james-1-4
I have struggled lately with a feeling of inadequacy. Who am I that Jesus would give his life for me. I’m not a great person, I don’t do great things. Why me. I don’t deserve his life’s blood to be poured out for me. I’m sure this is something a lot of us struggle with from time to time but I have been struggling for months with this. How could I possibly repay him for this debt.
I have realized that he never expected me to pay him back, that’s not why he did it. He didn’t do it expecting anything in return. He loves us that much!
I am living my life to spread this word so that anyone who has struggled like I have can finally understand. There is nothing you could ever do that could repay the debt he payed for us all. No matter how hard you try.
Let’s go out into this struggling world together and fight the good fight of faith and share the love of Jesus with everyone. Not everyone will be responsive but you can always plant the seed and pray that it grows.
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12 NIV https://1timothy.bible/1-timothy-6-12
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it touches you in a positive way!
I’ve been away from my blog for a while. I’ve been struggling with some things that life has thrown at me and my family. I’ve made a personal choice to put my faith totally and completely in God.
I’ve been struggling with my relationship with a family member and praying that God will heal the relationship. It has been strained for as long as I can remember. I’m at a point now that I feel like I need to love this person and continue to pray but not allow the negativity to take up space in my life anymore.
When you live your life walking on eggshells to keep the peace but your completely uncomfortable every time your around someone, it’s exhausting. The stress it creates is not healthy.
I would appreciate any prayers to help me navigate thru this.
2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” James 1:19 NIV
Sometimes it’s hard to listen, especially to things we don’t really want to hear. Bad news from your Dr., something sad that you just don’t want to hear about.
The Bible says we should be quick to listen. That is putting someone else’s need to be heard before your own feelings.
I am guilty of doing the opposite. Rushing someone along with what they’re trying to say because I think my time would be better spent elsewhere. I’m really working in this, personally . Trying to stop and listen with intent. To be a friend and not someone so consumed with my own issues that I miss the opportunity to help someone.
I feel like this is an area where God is really working on me .
“To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.” Proverbs 18:13 NIV
I want to be the person that anyone can come to and know they will be heard, because I feel that is how God wants me to be, not self absorbed but an attentive listener so that I have the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with a hurting world.
If I we’re someone who never listened then why would anyone want to talk to to me or hear me. That would make it impossible for me to share Gods word.
My prayer is that God will give me ears to hear and a heart to listen and share his love and his words.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
It is inevitable that things change. Jobs change , circumstances change. Things always change here on this planet earth in this thing we call life. Plans that we have for our lives will change.
Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior our lives will change dramatically. He will send you places you never dreamed you’d go and he will equip you to do things you thought were impossible.
“So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:7 NIV
A few years back God called me to be a part of a mission team going to Peru. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I was afraid , I prayed many, many nights about this and making sure it was Gods call on my life and not just something I wanted to do for myself. That trip blessed me in so many ways. I can’t even begin to tell you.
I had never been much of a public speaker but I was chosen to speak to the youth group the night we got there. I thought I knew exactly what I was going to say , but… the Lord knew better, I couldn’t even tell you most of what I said. He changed it all up . I never would have believed that I would have been able to speak to a group of children and teens much less in a foreign language, but God supplied all of our needs with a wonderful interpreter who was able to make my words make sense in Spanish.
That night after speaking , once we were back at our hotel, we were awakened by an earthquake. I fell down some stairs and injured my back. That was our first night there. We still had a week of work left to do. I prayed so hard that next day for God to give me the strength to be able to do what he had called me there to do. I didn’t come all that way to be laid up the whole time. He answered my prayers and I got thru the rest of our time there and was able to be productive.
One of our stops on that trip.This is the group I was blessed to speak to. ♥️ They will forever have my heart.
When I got home my back was bothering me so I saw my Dr. and found that I had multiple compression fractures to my spine. He said he had no idea how I managed to get thru the week. I said “God”. This injury gave me so many opportunities to talk about Jesus and his love . Different Dr.’s I had to see wanted to know how it happened then that opened up the dialogue for me to share my Jesus with them. One more change the Lord made in me. The ability to tell people my story and how his grace and mercy saved me and enabled me to do something that I medically shouldn’t have been able to do.
“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.” James 5:15 NIV
I’m not any different than anyone reading this. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and he has supplied me with every need to do his will in my life. I know he is preparing me for something more and I will be ready to go wherever he sends me and do whatever he calls me to do.
Change is sometimes scary but if God puts a calling on your heart it’s because he has great plans for your life to further his kingdom and as my Pastor says , We are here to plunder hell and populate Heaven!
“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:4 NIV
Thank you for reading and I hope it can bless you in some way.
I am a little late writing this blog this week. It has been a trying couple of weeks. As most of you know from the previous blog post, my husband has been ill and praise God he is recovering.
Thursday night my brother in law went to be with Jesus after a long battle with cancer. He shielded everyone from the fact that his time was getting close. I am rejoicing that he is in Heaven and that all of his pain is gone, but I am broken-hearted for those left behind to try and figure out how to do life without him here.
There are so many questions. Why did he not receive his healing that we’ve all been praying for , why did someone so young have to pass away?
I don’t have the answer for this. I know that his earthly vessel was worn from the cancer and the years of chemo. I rest in the knowledge that he is with our father in Heaven and he is no longer bound to that earthly vessel that was causing him so much pain.
Maybe there aren’t any real answers, just faith that we will all be ok.
There is one thing that I know. He set an amazing example for his children and his grandchildren. He has been a loving and devoted father, husband and pappy to his family and his legacy will live on in them. He has been such a blessing to so many.
I know I will see him again in Heaven and having that knowledge will have to be enough.
I thank you Jesus for the sacrifice you made for us all and I rest in knowing that my brother in love is safe and happy and no longer in pain. I pray for the family left here to figure things out without him. I pray specially for his wife and children and grandchildren. I ask for peace and comfort Lord.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen
I pray that anyone reading this knows where their eternity will be spent. I pray you know Jesus and have accepted him as your personal Lord and Savior. I know life is a struggle but you have a Father in Heaven who loves you beyond measure. With such a love , that is uncontainable! He will move Heaven and earth to bring you out of bondage and pain.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this blog.
Hebrews 11:1- Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
This has been a tough week. My husband was hospitalized on Tuesday with DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis. He was extremely ill. An infection had taken hold in his body and spiked his blood sugar to the point his blood was so acidic that it was trying to kill him. I have probably prayed more this week than I have in a long time . I prayed for healing, for strength and for knowledge. I have complete faith in God to take care of my husband and without that faith I don’t know how I could possibly live.
While praying, God spoke to me during this trial. Like the infection trying to take hold in my husbands body and ultimately kill him. Sin is the same, it tries to take hold and take over our lives. Sometimes we go thru trials here on earth that test our faith and without God, sin can take hold and cause doubt and unbelief . When we allow this to happen in our lives , it’s like an infection invading our mind and telling us that we aren’t enough or that we have no worth. God tells us the exact opposite.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved.
God loves us so much that he sent his only son Jesus to live a sinless life and die for the sins of the world.
The sin that tries so hard to defeat us has no power over us when we have God. He gives us strength and encouragement to know that we are his and we have worth. God gave us mercy and grace when we didn’t deserve it. He loved us when we didn’t deserve it.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you In every good deed and word.
Sin has no control when you realize your worth in Jesus! He thought so much of you that he died for you. He loves you so much that with him you can overcome sin and fear and doubt.
It is my prayer for you that you realize your worth and accept that Jesus paid it all for you, yes you! He loves you and wants to be part of your life.
1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Romans 8:31 What then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
I’m so thankful to God that my husband is much better now and will continue to get his strength back. I’m also thankful that during this trial God gave me these words to speak to you. I pray that you will be blessed.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Luke 12:25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life.
Fear and anxiety are some things I have delt with most of my adult life. I remember being in my early 20’s and feeling like my life was so out of control. I was married with young children and felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I knew about God and Jesus and had been saved and baptized as a teenager but I did not have a relationship with God. I only prayed when I had a need and I allowed anxiety to become a part of my daily life. At one point it became debilitating and I didn’t want to leave my house, I always thought something horrible was going to happen. Flash forward.
My marriage ended. The anxiety got worse and I struggled for many years to force my self to get up and go to work and take care of my children.
I knew I needed help and was finally brave enough to get it, and tell someone what I had been dealing with in silence. I started feeling better and began going to church again. That was what I needed, to be part of something bigger than me and take my mind away from focusing on my imagination and all the what ifs.
I started to rebuild my relationship with God and understand that I didn’t have to go through this pain anymore and there was finally hope.
I believe my faith is what has helped me overcome the years of horrifying panic attacks and depression that went along with it. I found my faith again, in a God that loves me, unconditionally and completely.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God
The Bible talks about anxiety and fear and how to overcome these things that the devil uses to confuse us and keep us from becoming what God has called us to be.
With Gods help I am so happy to say that I am learning to depend fully on him which is alleviating my anxiety.
I have been happily married now for 22 years and I have dedicated my life to God and spreading his word and love to as many people as I can. I want everyone to know the peace and joy I feel now.
My prayer today for anyone reading this and dealing with anxiety and fear is that you will allow God to come into your heart and fill you with Holy Spirit and make a change in you that is so amazing and supernatural that it can only be explained as God.
Always remind yourself :
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who gives me strength.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
I want to have a conversation about rejection. This is something we have all felt at some point in our lives. Whether it be from a parent , spouse, friend or co worker. That feeling of not belonging or feeling as if you have been cast out.
The spirit of rejection is a a poison. It eats away at your very core. It causes problems in relationships of every kind. Some of us build a wall around our hearts to avoid being hurt or rejected again. Some give in to the despair and become depressed and withdrawn. Then some of us become angry and rebellious.
Proverbs 15:13- A happy heart makes the face cheerful but heartache crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 18:14 The human spirit can endure in sickness,but a crushed spirit who can bear?
How do we overcome these feelings and the spirit of despair? These feelings of rejection, sadness and despair take root in our spirit , they are deep wounds . In order to overcome these feelings we must start at the root.
Matthew 3:10 The ax is already at the root of the trees. And every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
This scripture talks about cutting the tree at the root. Once we can get to the root cause of the feeling of rejection we can cut it down. Once we realize that God is not a God of rejection and he loves us right where we are we can begin to forgive whoever or whatever started growing this spirit of rejection. We must realize that forgiving that person won’t make it disappear but for our own personal growth and benefit we forgive as God forgave us.
You are a beloved child of God and once you accept that, you can have the strength to move on from this hurt and rejection and live the life God intended for you.
If you will pray the prayer of salvation and allow God to take root in your life he will heal you and rescue you from the spirit of rejection and all the symptoms it produces. You will become stronger and healthier and happier. You will have the life you were intended to have.
Father God I pray that anyone reading this will come to you and lay down the burden of rejection at your feet. I pray that you will give them the strength and courage to forgive and overcome. I pray they realize their value in you. In Jesus name I pray Amen
If you have never prayed a prayer of salvation I would be honored to pray that with you.
Father God I know that Jesus came to pay for the sins of the world and that he lived a sinless life yet paid for my sins. I accept that precious gift and ask Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins and make me a new creation. In Jesus name Amen
Saved and Inspired By Grace 