Category: encouragement

Let your stones fly
Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · free · Jesus · lent

Let your stones fly

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Lent devotional 30

Do not let your giant’s shadow block out the light from the Son- He is there and He knows you and He wants you!

Ah the giants. We see them, hear them and manifest them in our own minds. They are big, ugly and can proliferate into thousands of clones that kill all the good around them. Where do our giants come from? They come from a dark section of your mind that fills you fear and nausea until you can’t think. That section could be caused by what you see in the world around you, or by a life circumstance that has you afraid, it could be because of a lack of faith that God can take care of things, or by lies that you have been told that bang around inside your mind and make you doubt who you are or where you’re at or the goodness of God. But He is good. Your giant may look like a huge oozing mass of all your fears staring down on you ready to destroy you, but God has given you armor. You are protected by His Spirit, by His Salvation, by His Faith, by His Righteousness, by His Truth, by His Readiness. He fills you, He enters your heart and mind and fights for you. Your Goliath cannot defeat you if your eyes and mind are fixed on Jesus. He is there taking care of you. Have Faith in Him and courage because of Him. Don’t let your giant win, no matter how big he may seem, your God is bigger.

Finding Jesus
Christianity · encouragement · free · Jesus · Love · Prayer · searching · The Bible

Finding Jesus

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Where is Jesus?

His knees ached as he prayed, he swung back and forth in agony as his soul searched for something, anything. Around him others prayed to their gods and the pain was clear in their mumbled as they searched for the same thing. A woman was kneeling beside him, a book clasped in her hands as she prayed silently, a dim smile spread across her face. He leaned over to her. ‘What god do you pray to?’
She whispered back, ‘I pray to Jesus.’
‘Oh, what is Jesus the god of?’
The woman thought a moment, ‘well, He’s the God of everything. There isn’t anything that He isn’t God over.’
‘Really? Who is He?’
‘He’s the one who died for you. He came to earth from Heaven and was sacrificed for our sins. Then He rose again and took deminion over death. Now we who love Him can join Him in Heaven.’
‘Interesting. How did you get to know Him?’
She began to answer but a rod came down with a crack between them, ‘no talking!’ The guard bellowed, ‘just do your worship and leave.’
The woman went back to her praying, the book clutched against her heart. The man looked around him, some people beat their heads and chests in anguish, some had knives and drew blood from their palms, some merely mumbled to themselves the same things the man had heard them say every time they had come, he looked at the statue of the god he was praying to, it seemed so indiferent to him to his needs, it never died for him, it didn’t care about him. Then he glanced at the woman again, she was smiling, then she laughed softly, she cried but it seemed like a happy cry. He glanced at the guard, the person had moved on. He leaned forward, ‘how do I contact her god? Do I need a sacrifice? She seems to have just come here. He whispered again to the woman.
‘How do I get to know your God?’
She grinned, ‘just talk to Him. Call Him by His name, Jesus, God, even Father.’
‘That’s it?’
She nodded. He began to pray, ‘um…Jesus. Are you there?’ Suddenly a wave sweapt over him. Peace. Fear of the power that surrounded him seized his soul, but the peace chased it away. Then he began to cry as another wave hit him. Love. It was sufficating and beautiful.
The guard rang the bell that said free time to worship was over. The man got up and saw the guard take the book from the woman as he collected all the religious items from the worshipers. He saw her stop herself from reaching after the book. She left. He left. But the feeling of her God didn’t leave him. It followed him as he went to his house. On the road he saw the woman again, he rushed over to her and she startled back from him.
‘Don’t be afraid. But I have to know. Why does it feel like your God is following me?’
She smirked, almost laughed and then said gently, ‘because He loves you.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. He wants you and is with you wherever you go. I don’t have to attend the worship hour in the chamber to be near my God, He is always with me, I go because they keep the Bibles and I love holding His book in my hands.’
The man didn’t know what to say, the woman suddenly whispered, ‘guards coming.’ And dissapeared.
The man returned to his home, sat on his bed and said ‘Jesus. Are you here?’ The peace and love swept over him again and he decided that day that he would aim to get a Bible too during the allotted worship hour, then he could learn more about this God who clearly loved him. Now when he prayed he knew someone was listening and cared about what he had to say, now when he cried he knew someone was there to comfort him. Now he was loved. And had purpose, if that purpose was simply to worship the god called Jesus.
He never saw the woman again, but as he learned about Jesus and gave his life to Him he knew that some day he would meet the woman again in Heaven, and then he would thank her.

Bringing in the lions
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus

Bringing in the lions

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You may look foolish, silly, naive or even crazy at times, but your Faith in God will never leave you void. Today I was reminded of Perpetua. Beautiful woman who found Jesus through her slaves and was arrested, beaten, tortured and killed, yet she refused to deny her Jesus. Jesus sent her dreams to comfort her, He stood beside her in the Coliseum and she felt no pain as the cow gourd her until finally the Pro councel was bored and had her cut down with a sword. Moments before she stood cleaning her face, so the record says, because she refused to go to Jesus looking as though she were sad.
To have that Faith.
We have been attacked as Christians here in North America, we have been harrassed, insulted, made to look like lunitics or worse, like some sort of cult that lures people in. Why? A young Korean boy named Ching once asked the same thing. Why if our government is so powerful and we are so happy do we fear a little book about God? Why? Because evil runs from God and attacks things that represent His power. Any one not of God is controlled by the devil, so these people fear Christians and want to make us look like the enemy.
We don’t like to think that people who don’t follow Christ are following the devil, we like to imagine that there’s an in-between, a gray Zone, but there isn’t. There is no middle world where you’re not Christian but you’re not following the devil either, we like to believe there is, even some Christians like to claim that there is, but there isn’t, and I am sorry because that is so sad to think about.
When we are persecuted, do we give in? Do we fall to the fads? Do we bow to Caesar? Do we stand and tremble before man or do we tremble before God and refuse to deny Him as He is? When brought before the lions do we curse God and flee from Him or do we stand and say “I go to my Jesus with my head held high, broken in body and mind but unyielding in spirit”?
Where will you stand when the lines are drawn? But for me and my house, we stand with the living God.

Counting on you
Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · Love · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Counting on you

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Counting on you

We as Christians count on God for so much. We count on Him to be good to us, to forgive us, to love us, to heal us, to help us. But can God count on us for…well…anything?
We don’t think about God counting on us. In fact, we don’t really think that God needs us, do we? We realize that He is God and He can make His plan work no matter what we do or don’t do. But that’s not the point. God doesn’t rely on us, He doesn’t have to, but He does count on us. He counts on us to do His will, to obey His commands, to care for our fellow Christians, to show His love to the lost and broken, He may even have appointed you a position in which you can do these things. He counts on us doing our part. If we never step out our front door, if we never take the chance, if we squelch the voice of God inside of us, aren’t we letting God down. We like to dance around the circle of ‘it’s a partnership, God and I are working together,’ because it makes us think that God is helping us in fulfilling our goals and our dreams, and that is what the outer ring of the circle sometimes looks like- but what about the inner circle, the inner Sanctum if you like, that’s where God is, the place where it’s not our will but His. The place where the fire burns so hot that it hurts sometimes, the place of surrender, are any of us willing to enter that circle? Or do we prefer the edge where it’s safe?
Can God count on us?
Can God say, “I can always count on Lauren to do the right thing?” Or I can always count on Larry, or Lynne, or Tanya, or Carole, or Mark, or Matthew, or whatever your name is, fill in the blank, can God say “him or her, I can always count on”?
I hope so. I hope that we all aim to live within the fire, near the heart of God, so He can count on us.

Counting on you
Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · Love · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Counting on you

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Counting on you

We as Christians count on God for so much. We count on Him to be good to us, to forgive us, to love us, to heal us, to help us. But can God count on us for…well…anything?
We don’t think about God counting on us. In fact, we don’t really think that God needs us, do we? We realize that He is God and He can make His plan work no matter what we do or don’t do. But that’s not the point. God doesn’t rely on us, He doesn’t have to, but He does count on us. He counts on us to do His will, to obey His commands, to care for our fellow Christians, to show His love to the lost and broken, He may even have appointed you a position in which you can do these things. He counts on us doing our part. If we never step out our front door, if we never take the chance, if we squelch the voice of God inside of us, aren’t we letting God down. We like to dance around the circle of ‘it’s a partnership, God and I are working together,’ because it makes us think that God is helping us in fulfilling our goals and our dreams, and that is what the outer ring of the circle sometimes looks like- but what about the inner circle, the inner Sanctum if you like, that’s where God is, the place where it’s not our will but His. The place where the fire burns so hot that it hurts sometimes, the place of surrender, are any of us willing to enter that circle? Or do we prefer the edge where it’s safe?
Can God count on us?
Can God say, “I can always count on Lauren to do the right thing?” Or I can always count on Larry, or Lynne, or Tanya, or Carole, or Mark, or Matthew, or whatever your name is, fill in the blank, can God say “him or her, I can always count on”?
I hope so. I hope that we all aim to live within the fire, near the heart of God, so He can count on us.

Hanukkah- Final day
Christianity · CS Lewis · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible

Hanukkah- Final day

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Hanukkah- final day

Shamash
On each day of Hanukkah an additional branch of the nine branched Hanukkiah is lit with the candle in the middle, the shamash, the helper or servant candle.

As we end our journey through Hanukkah I want to focus on the first candle lit. The helper candle. We don’t realize how important this candle is. In Judaism certain men who work in the temple are also refered to as Shamash, one important job they have os the reading of the Torah.
We too have a helper inside our temple, the temple of our souls. Jesus left His Spirit with us to be our helper candle. We cannot be lit without the Spirit, we cannot truly find God without the Spirit and we cannot serve God to our fullest without the Spirit. We need God’s Spirit to do anything. He tells us where to go, what to do and what is wrong and right. We see a world full of people who ignore and throw the Spirit away, they don’t like that voice that says they should act a certain way and give up certain things that offend God. Because of this we see a world that is dark and broken, void of God’s light. We need the Shamash, we need the helper candle so we can be set on fire for Jesus. The thing is, we see how we work to serve God, but without Him helping us we can’t serve Him. Like C.S. Lewis said, “it’s like a child taking money from their father so he or she can buy him a gift. We take what we have from God and use it to serve Him, but it was always His to begin with.”
We need the Holy Spirit to keep us from riding in the middle complete darkness and complete light, there is no Twilight Zone with God, you either serve him or you don’t.
Look to our helper today and ask Him to guide you in your life.
Happy Hanukkah

Merry Christmas
advent · Christianity · Christmas · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · Love · The Bible · True Joy

Merry Christmas

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Which is your favorite gift under the tree?
We all have that one gift. The one we have been eyeing that has our name on it. Be it big with a red bow, or small with sparkly paper, there is usually a single gift that stands out above the others. We don’t know why. It just speaks to us. Then the day comes when we open it and get to see what we have been dreaming of.
Jesus is the greatest gift from God. The only gift that came to us willingly and because He loves us. He’s not under a tree, He’s near our hearts, knocking and waiting for the door on them to be open. He’s the only gift that so many ignore and refuse to open. He’s the only gift that so many others cherish above all joys, friends, family and even life. Someday He will return and we who love Him will get to see whom we have been dreaming of. He came once to save us from our sins, that was Christmas and Easter. But He is coming again to redeem us from this world, that will be our Revelation.

Merry Christmas!

Hanukkah- Day 5
encouragement · Jesus · power of God · searching · The Bible

Hanukkah- Day 5

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Hanukkah- Day 5

When the Maccabees recaptured the Temple, through the help of God, they had to fix all that was ruined and cleanse the temple after it had been defiled. They also cleared the temple of the idols of the Syrians. God had commanded in the Torah that the lamp of the Menorah should burn continuously. They wanted to light it, but they found only a single jar of clean oil, and that would only last one day. In faith, they relit the Menorah. They waited for the oil to rin out but day after day it kept burning. It burned for eight days, till they were able to get new oil. That is the miracle of Hanukkah.

It is so easy to believe that the evil in the world has corrupted and destroyed the pure things God put in place. In many ways this is true. Yet, just like in the miracle of the oil, God will make a way for all things that are Holy to be redeemed. That may come in the form of God causing a derelect church to be rebuilt, or a lost soul to find it’s way out of darkness back to Him, or in the form of a small portion of oim being streached for eight days, or something else. One thing we know for sure is that Jesus is coming back one day to redeem all that the devil has tried to destroy. That day will be wonderful for those who have stood with God and followed His laws as best they could. That day will be the worst day possible for those who didn’t stand with God and denied His laws. God will provide for us, as He did for His temple with the oil, and He will redeem us when we come into His kingdom. The devil cannot destroy that which belongs to the King.

There must be more
advent · Christianity · Christmas · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · power of God

There must be more

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There must be more to Christmas
I really think we’re missing something
There must be more to Christmas
But what?
-veggietales

Lights. Camera. Action.
Isn’t that how Christmas seems to go? And that’s fine. There is nothing wrong with fun and decorations and a little healthy gift wrapping. But. We can’t forget the reason for it all. Not just now, but all year. I know we talk a lot about how people have missed the true meaning of Christmas, but if we’re honest what people have missed is the true meaning of life. Jesus wasn’t meant to stay under our Christmas tree, He was meant to be a part of our day to day lives. In Evie’s song a Shepherd’s prayer, the little shepherd begs to be moved closer to the savior. He wants to touch Him, to hold His hand. He isn’t satisfied by looking at the baby from a distance. We need to be like that. Not satisfied with just a short service at Christmas to remember Jesus, but instead to be obsessed with being with Him. I know talking about obsession isn’t popluar, and being a fanatic is claimed as wrong, but to have a sole focus on Christ isn’t a bad thing, if He is all we see then we will live better and do better. There must be something more, but what?
It’s not what, it’s who.
Jesus is our something more. We need Him, but we forget that and only give Him what is basic. He didn’t forget us, and He gave us everything not even sparing His own life. There must be more to Christmas. There must be more to this life. And that more, is Jesus.

Promises, promises
advent · Christianity · Christmas · dreams do come true · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting

Promises, promises

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And what of your promise now? -Judah
All I can say is, I don’t understand, but He must have a reason for this.-Man of God
At the foot of the cross.

It’s so hard when the promise’s outcome isn’t how we envisioned. Imagine how the deciples must have felt when they saw Jesus lifted on the cross.
There must be a mistake.
Must have been their thought. How could everything they had seen and experienced and been told, have led to this?
If they had read the prophecies they would have had the answer. But in that moment of agony of spirit the last thing on your mind is a prophecy from so long ago. Just like our promises. We read promises from God that He proclaimed some 2000+ years ago, and we are expected to believe them and hold to them. When things get hard and nothing makes sense, and the promise leads to something you don’t understand it’s hard to not feel like there must be a mistake- and what of your star and your promise now? Yet God has a reason, for all of it. What Isaiah foretold about Jesus coming, probably never crossed the minds of the weary shepherds when the star appeared. What had been fortold about Jesus’s death was no where in the minds of the deciples in the Garden, or at the tomb, maybe not even in The Upper Room. But God fulfilled His promise in every occasion. Just as He will fulfill His promise to you and me.
He’s coming back, just as He promised. Are you ready?