Whatever faith you have at any given moment
Stand in that faith
Proclaim that faith
Rejoice in that faith
In the midst of undeserved angry attack
In the midst of illness
In the midst of chaos
In the midst of uncertainty
Stand in the faith that you do have
Even if it is just one attribute of God
Even if it is just one verse that comes to mind
Even though you don’t know what the answer will look like
Even though you don’t know exactly how it’s gonna go
Stand in the moment in the faith that you have
Trust in that moment the faith that you are given
Be glad for the assurance that you do have
Allow that assurance to calm you
Allow Jesus to give you peace
See Him fight your battle
And give you victory
~ Angela
Tag: Jesus
Beware the Yeast of the Pharisees
Prophetic word, exhortation:
“Beware the yeast of the Pharisees”
This has been on my heart for several days and I know the Lord wants me to share this with anyone who has an ear to hear….
Let us make every effort to go before the Lord and examine our hearts with His help to see if there is any sign of “yeast of the Pharisees” in us or in our churches. Let us make every effort to repent and to enter into the kingdom of God and His grace and LOVE.
Luke 12:1b Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be[a] on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”
What we say we believe when we are at church and what we say in our hearts or around others who do not profess to follow Christ is heard by our Lord. He knows! What are the secret motivations of your heart? Are they out of love and faith in God – or fear, pride, selfishness, complacency…?
What is the yeast of the Pharisees and the hypocrisy that Jesus was warning about? Here is what Jesus said to them:
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
(Luke 11:39-46)
46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
(Luke 20:46-47)
This is strictly between the Lord and the individual. Pray:
Father, send Your Holy Spirit to flood my being and help me to look deeply within and with Your help ask: “Do I have any self-righteousness at work in my heart? Do I have any motives that are not pure? Are there things that I am doing that are not based on trust in You (faith)?. Am I doing anything that is not motivated by love? Do I really know You as much as You want me to Lord?”
and:
“Lord Jesus, I repent for _______________ and I renounce that ________________________. I choose to surrender and submit to Your love and authority in that area of my life. I thank You for forgiveness and that You are faithful to cleanse me of all unrighteousness when I confess my sins to You. I thank You that the enemy of my soul is defeated and You have given me victory over sin and the curse of sin and death. I thank You that You will lead and teach me. I love you Lord and I thank You for freedom in this area of my life.”
Worship:
Here is a link to “Heart of Worship” with lyrics on YouTube. This is a great song to complete and expand this time of seeking the Lord and His help to cleanse your heart from anything that would displease Him or disqualify you from His grace…
What Is Your Resurrection Story?
WHAT IS YOUR RESURRECTION STORY?
For those with ears to hear! I challenge each and every believer today to walk in the resurrection power of our Lord and the Holy Spirit at work in us!
Do you not realize that as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that you who have been baptized into Christ have a resurrection story, as well?
What can you celebrate as your own resurrection story? What is your testimony of an area of your life where you were dead and now you are alive in Christ?
What area of your life have you let go of and allowed God to work in and manifest His miraculous, wonder working power in? Some past hurts? Some past pain? Some past pleasure that was sapping the life out of you that God has delivered you from and given you Living Water to satisfy your soul? Some past obsession? Some past dependency?
When we turn from our own ways and trust Jesus as our Lord and we are baptized into Christ – we die to our old life and the bondage of sin and we are raised to walk in new life – we enter into a covenant with Christ and the body of Christ – our family, brothers and sisters in Christ, we become new creatures, and our spirits are joined with the Holy Spirit. We should be walking with the Spirit leading us. Resurrected from spiritual death, we are! We will not see our full salvation/resurrection until Christ returns, but we are to walk by faith in Christ and filled with His love, power and self control. Is this resurrection power at work in you today? Here are some scriptures to meditate upon this weekend:
2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 1:18-20New International Version (NIV)
18 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, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. I Cor. 15:20-23
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
(All Scriptures posted are from biblegateway.com and are from the NIV)
Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
I made a video after my class the other day in response to what I learned at school. In class we were discussing the question of why Jesus had to die. Our professor has a Philosophy degree and is also gifted in Apologetics. He said that a question that atheists often ask is, “Why did Jesus have to die?” He said that atheists will also ask, “Why can’t God just forgive sin? Is God so angry and mean that He requires death for sin to be forgiven?” The discussion was a really good one because as Christians and as believers in Christ, we should be able to answer such questions. Our professor was encouraging us, in light of what we are learning about Jesus and the Father from the Gospels, to be able to answer such questions without using “church” terms that make no sense to a non-believer. Also, he was encouraging us to be able to answer such questions correctly! It seems as if we have simplified the gospel message so much that we have given false information! Please watch the video and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any questions, please ask and we will do our best to answer them. Thank you and God bless you!
Video: Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
Addicted Marriages
I have seen people in relationships stay together because they have both become addicted to prescription medications (or illegal drugs, or alcohol, or the money they make together, or having an appearance of success, or having perfect kids, etc…) even though they are miserable. The drugs, alcohol, pressures of earning $, trying to keep up with making your kids turn out perfectly, or pressures of maintaining a false front cause them to become so weary that they cannot keep up with the demands required of them to continue giving more of themselves to the addiction AND the relationship.
The relationships die first. Their marriage and their children suffer the most. Then extended family, friends and their jobs suffer. They also are suffering physically, mentally and spiritually from the effects of the drugs, rat-race, etc… Then they become more and more unhealthy in their physical bodies. Finances crumble and escape them. Sometimes legal issues interrupt them, sometimes it is their health that gives them a scare…
And if they wake up then they are much more likely to turn it all around. But if not, then they end up killing relationships and themselves, slowly but surely…
The addiction never dies… And SIN is what this is called. We are all guilty of it in some form or fashion. But praise be to the Lord God who gave us the answer because truly, if we come to know Jesus, then we can be made new and change this destructive cycle of living!
SIN is just a name for destructive behavior. We like to get upset if what we are doing is called sin… But God had to give a name to what He knew was behavior that would not benefit us and He calls it SIN – which means “missing the mark” or “falling short of His glory” – God’s will for us is for us to prosper and be blessed to be a blessing to others. We are not going to prosper if we continue to choose to fall short of His glory by choosing to do things that He told us and we know will kill us, steal our joy and destroy our family.
Can we be saved and keep choosing to live these lives of lies? I cannot say if you are saved or not… But let us ask this question of ourselves and ask the Lord to give us the answer: Do I trust Jesus? If we say “Yes, but…..” Then we need to work out that but… There is no sin that He won’t forgive. There is no human that He will not forgive and come into their heart to live inside of them and to help them to love and be loved.
Jesus says: “Come to Me all of you who are weary and who are heavily burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Are you weary today? Do you want true rest? Jesus will give you rest because He carried ALL of our sin to the cross and nailed it there (Colossians 2:14). He has already paid the price for your soul. He already knew you when He died on the cross. You were chosen before the foundations of the earth were laid. He wants to come into your heart and give you rest.
Many couples stay together for the wrong reasons… if you claim to love and trust Jesus and you are married then surely you can stay together and work on your relationship for the right reasons. If you truly know Jesus, then you just need to press in to Him and listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance.
If you are one of these couples that has just run out of all hope because you are both addicted to something, especially alcohol or drugs, PLEASE ADMIT THAT YOU NEED SOME ASSISTANCE AND GET SOME HELP FROM A FAITH BASED DRUG & ALCOHOL ADDICTION PROGRAM, CELEBRATE RECOVERY GROUP, AA, NA, A DOCTOR, TELL SOMEONE THAT YOU TRUST, FIND HELP FROM SOME FACILITY OR PERSON THAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE GOING TO FOR HELP….. You cannot do it all on your own and Jesus never intended for any person to go it alone, even though He is with you. Jesus gave us one another to lean on and bear each other up. So do not think that you have to do this alone!! That is part of what is keeping this phenomenon going!! Shame and guilt! But if you want out of this destructive cycle then all you have to do is admit it and seek help. Only Jesus will get you set completely free of all of the chains that bind. And He came to save, not condemn (John 3:17).
AND IF YOU KNOW A COUPLE LIKE THIS AND IT IS NOT YOU: SHAME on YOU if all you do is discuss them with others and criticize their weaknesses!! Jesus weeps for us when we are lost like this. Do not make them feel like they have no where to go for help. A LOT of people in this situation stay there because they just do not know how to get out of it. The Bible tells us that the lost are stumbling around in the darkness because they are blinded. Who is going to share light with them? Are you? Or are you going to sit back and watch them and criticize them for their blindness or laugh at them for not being able to see like you? Pray for them. Pray for the sorrow that comes from God granting them mercy that leads to repentance. Pray for grace to abound in their life so that they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Just as we have been forgiven may they be forgiven as well. (Again, I am not saying that everyone in this situation is “lost” and doesn’t know Jesus at all… some are learning and just need help growing up in Jesus and maturing as believers. Are we really discipling others?)
**disclaimer** This post is NOT about any one couple or anyone in particular. I do know a lot of people that this could apply to where they have either been there, are there, or are headed there…. or were there, were coming out of it and now are struggling with it again… Take your pick but don’t even bother with trying to figure out “who is she talking about?” If the shoe fits, then wear it if you need to until you can get past this. And yes, we have been there so I am speaking from personal experience as well.**
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