It seems I confused some people with my “test” post! It did make me think though. So I am flowing with it! There are many things we think about when we think of test. What is the first word that you think of when you think of the word “test”? Sometimes it is back in school days, sometimes it is a medical test and possibly it is a test we think we are receiving from The Lord. All of which we could absolutely dread taking. God DOES not tempt us. The Bible says he doesn’t and he doesn’t! But the tests of even general life can certainly feel like we are certainly being “tested”. I believe we are tested. Again, just circumstances in life or we find ourselves in will test what is really in our hearts…….. It will challenge mindsets, it will challenge our flesh and it will challenge what we really believe or not believe. In Thessalonians 2:4, it uses the phrase in many versions of the Bible that God “tests” us, or “trieth” our hearts. I looked up the greek meaning of the word test in that scripture. The greek word, “dokimazo” means to test, prove, scrutinize (to see whether it is genuine or not) It is a verb. Wow. Think about that and let that soak in. I want God to find genuineness in me, trueness, loyalty to Him, when these “tests” come. It is so easy to go through days/weeks when everything is good or even just ok in our lives. But when life comes, or those pesky circumstances, or tests, how would we be graded? God already knows what we are going to do, how loyal we are, how genuine. Is it possible that our reactions should show us what we have to give to God? What to yield to Him? What we need to study on?

Here is the good news! The great news! It is an OPEN BOOK test with God! He WANTS us to pass. He is the teacher we had in school that says “Yes, you can!” How did we love when a school test was open book! It was so much easier and we scored better if we took the time, when we went thru the book for the answers and then applied those answers to the paper. Well, we can have an open book test every single time we go through ANYTHING, small or big, and God will give us the answers through His Word, His Spirit, and even other resources He uses so we can pass. I repeat, He wants us to pass and He is willing to give us all His resources to pass with honors!

It starts with the Word. To be in it and study it. To meditate and re-read it. To have His Word become a part of us. To have His Word hidden in our hearts so that it is stored there and we will know it when a circumstance comes our way.

I am so thankful for all His resources……..His Word, His Spirit, His voice, the Godly counsel of others……..and more………… Let’s use them today! Come on, let’s do it, let’s get on the honor roll!

test

Ephesians 2:

The Bible says we all lived at one time gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, dead in our sins and the followed the ways of the world………. So true.

But the Bible also says “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 our transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

What a beautiful gift. We see again that He loved us before we loved Him. Wow. And we can’t do it without him. It is by His grace. It isn’t by any works or how “good” we are. It is ONLY because of His Love for us.

The one we need to be boasting about is Him. Again, it starts with Him. It isn’t by anything we could make up, do, say…….nothing.

Receive the gift again today. A fresh fall of his grace be on our lives. A fresh revelation of who He is and what He has done and what He wants to do. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.

It starts by receiving Him by grace and being made alive in Him.

Church……..it doesn’t mean 4 walls, it means us who have been made alive, we are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens. Christ is our cornerstone.

My prayer today, let the Lord be our cornerstone, ask what that looks like in our lives and let a fresh infilling of His grace be in our lives today 🙂

Blessings!

Kelly

Hey all……

I am reading Ephesians.  And I don’t want to just read it.  I want to meditate on it and have once again God change me into what He desires.  I would love to hear from everyone their thoughts on Ephesians as well.  Iron sharpens iron and I love that phrase because it really is true.  And someone’s revelation can be life-changing for the next.  God made us one body and He desires that we act like a body that functions together in unity.

Chapter 1:

I am once again reminded that it ALL starts with Him.  In fact, it starts, continues and ends with Him.  It is all about Him and it is ONLY through Him and In HIm that we truly are anything and it is TRULY nothing about ourselves.

Not our looks, wisdom, smarts, and/or good behavior.  It is about Jesus.  It is ONLY through HIM that we are offered forgiveness.  Because of His scarifice, we are free, but not just free, ABUNDANTLY free.  His death isn’t in vain.  He desires us to walk in freedom.

It is in Him, that we find our identity and who we are.  He has settled on us as His focus of love.  What a beautiful love story.  Anyone looking for love.  Look for Jesus.

Anyone want to know who they are……trying to find yourself?  Look to Jesus

Anyone struggling to see find their place?  Talk to Jesus

Accept His gift of love, it is unconditional and beautiful and He will show you the way, step by step.

Start with Jesus and stay in Jesus  🙂  …..

 

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

God bless!

Kelly

 

 

– Jesus said the scriptures are the Word of God
– Jesus said that the authority of the Word cannot be broken
– David tells us in the Psalms that the Word is settled in heaven and the Word is truth
– The Bible says the Word of God lives and abides forever
– The final result in a Christian who studies and obeys the God’s word is that he is equipped for
every good word
– When Jeremiah fed on God’s word, it became his joy and the rejoicing of his heart
– When the Word lives in us, the Bible says it gives us strength and we overcome the wicked one
– The Bible says that it gives us light and understanding……it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path so we know the way
– We get life and health when we study the Word
– When we claim God’s word for our lives, we are partakers of His divine nature and we escape the corruption of this world
-When Jesus was tempted by the enemy, each time he used the Word right back at him!!! And was
victorious…………………

WOW…..powerful…………So, how important do we put the Word of God in our lives? These are just a FEW things the Word does for us and in us. It also sanctifies us, cleanses us, builds us up, gives us an inheritance that is EVERLASTING……………

Let’s get into the Word! It’s LIFE!

Blessings and Love!

Kelly

We were asked in church last week to write down what we thought it meant to be an authentic Christian. Wow! They handed out pieces of paper to do it right away. I have to honest. I didn’t hand my paper in. That question prompted such a response in my heart and spirit that it was one of those that I really needed to chew on. I couldn’t just put an answer down. It stuck me deep. What does it mean to be an authentic Christian? Ok, after thinking about it for a few days (yes, I am a really deep thinker 🙂 ) I have to tell you I am STILL chewing on that! Why? I am really not sure. I do believe that a true authentic Christian should be DIFFERENT! Really DIFFERENT! That’s the short answer. But to explain a little more……………. Different than the normal response, the normal reaction, the normal talk, the normal thoughts, the normal mindsets. I could have just thrown out scriptures. I could have wrote down a bunch of good sounding sentences. I didn’t want to. I took the time so far to be seeking the Lord and saying how is it that people who don’t really know me would look at me and know that I am a Christian? My prayer is that I react and respond like Jesus. Hmmmmm, let’s see. When I am faced with someone talking about me and have just accused me of something I didn’t do………I desire to not defend but have a knowing that I don’t have to defend and I can still bless that person. When I have fear about something, to be able to express to my Father in Heaven and have Him speak to Me and turn my fear into faith. When I am faced with the situation to have to tell truth….my response is to tell truth in love since love is the very expression that Jesus died on the cross for us. That when faced with a situation that seems impossible and that I have to die to my own will to see God’s plan in it…..that my response would be “not my will, but your will be done” and have peace about that. That when worry wants to arise in me because I am faced with a medical diagnosis of myself or someone close, that my response would be to pray without ceasing and thank Him in everything and quote scripture like I truly believe every single word with confidence. When I need wisdom for a situation, I desire my response to be one of running to God, asking for His wisdom, not moving in my own initiative, but how the Holy Spirit directs me and not to TV, magazines, other people, etc. ………..I really could go on…..so many things made Jesus sooooo different and that is what we are to be aspiring for…..a more Christlike heart…..it starts with the heart. The difference that people see starts with the hearts that turn into actions. Words only last so long. Wanna know what I think a true authentic Christian looks like? When we are really really squeezed in life, when life has got you down, twisted all around, questions on one side or another………and you are STILL trusting God and still oozing with His peace and that LOVE is the very aspiration that you are living for and trying to achieve. The agape love for everyone just like Jesus. To be able to look past status, stature, fame, success, clothing, appearance, even attitudes and have LOVE for all that God has for us through all of our stuff, our attitudes, our wrong mindsets……He first loved us when we weren’t even paying attention or outright rejected Him……He still loves us……when we turn our backs on Him, curse HIm and put other things first, He still loves us………..Do we have that LOVE for all? My prayer is that each day my heart is broken more for the things that break His heart and I continue to learn to love the way He loves to show myself different even when the going is tough……I came to Christ because His love was different and when I finally realized how different His love was for me……..despite how I treated Him…hmmmmmm….I want people to know I love them as He does…..Lord, continue to show me how I can show true, authentic Christianity with the beautiful, agape, unconditional love to all.

Hi all! I am still in Genesis reading and God has been showing me deeper truths in His Word. I have been asking the Lord about obedience for maybe a year now. Allot of times in prayer even a year ago, I was getting the sense of this year being such a critical time of knowing whom we are serving. I love the scripture Joshua 24:15 “As for Me and my household, we will serve the Lord”. I placed that scripture up on the dining room wall to remind me that I truly believe it is critical to stay the course even when we might not “feel” like it. It is a declaration but not just by words. I continuously ask the Lord to be in my actions as well. Because to me, obedience is KEY! When Adam and Eve were given the garden and everything in it, they had it made! Or it was supposed to be that way. But, one commandment, ONE, mind you! One commandment and the enemy swooped in and then flesh joined right with the enemy. Well we know the chain of events after they sinned! Disobedience. Look how many that one sin affected. Wow……..my disobedience doesn’t just affect me, but God, my husband, my sons, and possibly many more. How about Noah. God had enough of the evil and He was grieved of how the people that He created had become. It hurts my heart to read that the Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth and his heart was filled with pain! (Genesis 6:6) Noah was the ONLY one who was found righteous in God’s eyes. I don’t think it was a coincidence that it describes Noah as a righteous man, blameless among the people and that he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) Or several times the Bible states that Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (Genesis 6:22, 7:5, 7:9, 7:16) and then in Genesis 8:1 it states “God remembered Noah”. Noah and his family was saved from the flood that wiped out the earth. Do you believe it was because he walked with God, was righteous and because he was obedient to what God said. I believe so. Obedience. It is the way to fullness of what He wants. Jesus died on the cross. There is no way to be obedient to be saved and have eternal life with Him. THAT IS ONLY THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS DYING on the cross. But God wants us to have fullness, in every area and to receive His rich promises. Obedience is the key. What do you think? Ok, one more example I read in Genesis. Abraham…….despite God’s swift judgment of sin, most people ignored him and continued to sin in Abraham’s time. But a handful was trying to really follow him. One of them was Abraham and because of his obedience, God appeared to Abraham one day and promised to make his descendants in a great nation. But Abraham’s part of the agreement was to obey God. He remained faithful through tests and twists and turns. Not a perfect man was Abraham but was obedient to what God was speaking to and God was able to bless through him JUST as He wants to bless through us and our obedience. So, to me, obedience is key to a rich, whole, fulfilling relationship with God and in our lives. Lord, help me today, to be obedient to your Word. Cause my heart to love the things you love and to hate the things you hate. Thank you for dying on the cross for me and promising me eternal life in Heaven. But thank you also that you desire to give us wholeness and fulfilled promises even before I get to Heaven. Thank you for your word. Help me to be obedient.

Be blessed!

Kelly

So, I was reading Genesis today and I came across a scripture I did several times and EACH time I come across this verse, I stop.  It just amazes me.  Ask me why.  I am not totally sure.  I mean, the whole Bible speaks to me and it is simply amazing of how truthful and accurate and beautiful it is.  But this verse spoke to me once again.  Genesis 6:22……”Noah did everything just as God commanded him”.  I need to work this one out with words.  Hope you don’t mind.  Noah did everything just as God commanded him.  Was that why Noah was found righteous and blameless?  Was it why he found favor with God?  Because his heart was right and wanted to do everything just as God commanded?   It reminds me of when our hearts have a different agenda, different from the Lord’s agenda for our life.  Then it reminds me of the scripture, Isaiah 55:8 “my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways.” ahhhhhhh, God wants us to spend time with him, in intimacy to hear from Him and give us His thoughts, His ways for our life and for us to have a heart that is open and right to hear Him, despite how we feel about a circumstance or situations around us, He wants to guide us…….He did with Noah and look how he directed Noah, protected Noah and Noah’s family and led him step by step, even down to how to build the ark by specifics, in order that Noah would be protected from the flood.  He told Noah what He was going to do.  Yes, I want that kind of heart.  A heart that can be found righteous, Lord help me, and a heart that will do “everything as God commanded”.  Lord, my prayer is for You to open my spiritual heart, eyes and ears to be a heart that You can talk to and I will listen.  Your wisdom is far above mine, I recognize that, and today, teach me more about Noah.