Friday, April 24, 2009
Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the Lord leads to life:
Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
It dawns upon me how true that the fear of the Lord has guided me towards life - life that is of substance. The fear of the Lord is not a guilt-driven, squimmish, terrorizing kind of feeling but of reverence and respect to who God is and His Word. When we respect someone, we honor the person's words and our Great God is one who keeps His Word and His promises are yes and amen.
Many times i see His hand upon my life or those around me and I'm amazed at the way He moves in different situations. As a child, when my mother taught me not to do certain bad things and when I listened and obeyed, there is a value added to my life. It does not makes me dumber instead I become wiser. So it is with obeying God's Word.
This verse further defines the fear of the Lord - "Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Life as a Christian is not always a bed of roses or a total absence of trouble when we fear the Lord. "Untouched by trouble" means there is nothing that God would allow us to go through without giving us the strength to overcome it. Unless we refuse His help as God gives us a right to choose. Sometimes we are deceived by the evil one that when we face hardships, we are hopeless, we should give up. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus, honoring His words, there is a power within to take us through it and over it. Evil, troubles, destructions may come, but no weapon against us will prosper. I have learned to set my mind upon Him though it may be difficult most of the times but God is always faithful and ever-present to lead me back to the right path.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Can You Stand To Be Blessed by TD Jakes
The words inscribed in this book springs a fountain of truth and wisdom. We all have a destiny that God place in our heart, a journey that is full with challenges, ambiguity, falls and rises but in all this God holds our future.
All of us who are a child of God are blessed and we as co-heirs with Christ enjoys an abundant life even life on earth and to the rest of our eternity in heaven.
As TD Jakes said in this book " We often spend hours in prayer trying to convince God that He should bless what we are trying to accomplish. What we need to do is spend hours in prayer for God to reveal His purpose. When we do what God has ordained to be done, we are blessed because God's plan is already blessed."
AMEN to that.
PREVIEW THIS BOOK
Monday, April 13, 2009
Splashes Of Grace
The title of this blog was inspired by this letter below and therefore the birth of this blog. How a trickle, a splash, or a river of God's grace does for us each day if we were to look out for them. It's everywhere and within our lives. No matter what mountains we face or valleys we are in, there is a silver lining in the dark clouds called grace, the grace of God. It was never meant to be taken for granted but to strengthen us, and it will overflow to the people around us.I thank God for a wonderful article i received from All Worship inspirational email.
SPLASHES OF GRACE
(Note: This is a letter that one of AllWorship's readers wrote to a close friend who was going through a very difficult time.)
My dear friend,
How are you, sweetie? I wanted to share an adventure with you that the girls and I had last week.
We were walking down by the water in the gully behind our house, when suddenly, a doe came crashing through the woods, headed directly towards us! It was so wild! She came to a skidding stop on her knees, right into a rotten
tree stump that was directly in front of me.
I could have reached out and touched her! She fell over on her side, jumped to her feet and ran off in the opposite direction. It was hard to tell who was more startled - the doe, or us!
Pretty awesome, huh? I felt like it was a gift from God, the experience as well as not getting slammed by a terrified, frantic 100-pound deer! I call these kinds of experiences "splashes of grace", because they are evidence to me of God's love and grace towards me, and they come unexpectedly, usually at times when I really need them. I have learned to keep my eyes open for them. They are easy to miss.
But in really hard times, when these "splashes" happen, they provide moments of joy and wonder, and when we are in pain all the time, even a few minutes of happiness can make the difference between making it and not!
For a second, while the deer is crashing towards me or the pansy petals are soft against my face or the brilliant red cardinal is lighting up my dull winter backyard or the chocolate is melting in my mouth or the smell of patchouli is steaming up from my bath...for a second I am not the hurting one, the sick one, the broken, wounded one...for a second, I am simply a beloved child of God receiving a splash of His love, meant especially for me.
I know that you are hurting badly, and I cannot imagine what turmoil and pain you are going through. I am praying that you will receive splashes of grace to equal your need, that God will provide moments of wonder just for you, to remind you of your true and eternal identity.
There is no question that, for now, you are broken and wounded. But that part of who you are is a layer, not the whole thing, and it will be peeled off in time, to reveal who you have always been, and still are and always will be...a beloved child of God, the daughter of the King, a citizen of Heaven, spotless and pure before the throne of your Father, God.
Splashes of grace poke through the layer of pain to reveal who you really are. Who you are when you are staring in awe at the prettiest flower you ever saw, or tasting the best cheesecake in existence, or melting under the butterfly kisses of a toddler...that's who you are. Splashes of grace help us remember, when the pain has stolen all memory of better days. They are God's way of bringing us to ourselves, when we think that we'll never be anything other than broken and crushed.
And most importantly, they are God's way of bringing us to Himself.
In days when most of our contact with Him consists of anguished questions and agonizingly desperate pleas for help, splashes of grace are God's way of scooping us into His arms and saying "Look, daughter...do you see it? A butterfly, just for you! Isn't it lovely? Look at it's wings. Aren't they soft? Amazing, isn't it?"
Splashes of grace are you and God looking out on the wonder of creation for a moment, in a way that allows you both to respond to what you are seeing freely, unhampered by the struggle that you are in. It may only last a moment. But what a moment!
Dearest friend, look for them. Maybe you already have been. In the darkest place, God is. And where God is, splashes of grace happen. I love you, precious child of the King.
--Kelly Stevenson
SPLASHES OF GRACE
(Note: This is a letter that one of AllWorship's readers wrote to a close friend who was going through a very difficult time.)
My dear friend,
How are you, sweetie? I wanted to share an adventure with you that the girls and I had last week.
We were walking down by the water in the gully behind our house, when suddenly, a doe came crashing through the woods, headed directly towards us! It was so wild! She came to a skidding stop on her knees, right into a rotten
tree stump that was directly in front of me.
I could have reached out and touched her! She fell over on her side, jumped to her feet and ran off in the opposite direction. It was hard to tell who was more startled - the doe, or us!
Pretty awesome, huh? I felt like it was a gift from God, the experience as well as not getting slammed by a terrified, frantic 100-pound deer! I call these kinds of experiences "splashes of grace", because they are evidence to me of God's love and grace towards me, and they come unexpectedly, usually at times when I really need them. I have learned to keep my eyes open for them. They are easy to miss.
But in really hard times, when these "splashes" happen, they provide moments of joy and wonder, and when we are in pain all the time, even a few minutes of happiness can make the difference between making it and not!
For a second, while the deer is crashing towards me or the pansy petals are soft against my face or the brilliant red cardinal is lighting up my dull winter backyard or the chocolate is melting in my mouth or the smell of patchouli is steaming up from my bath...for a second I am not the hurting one, the sick one, the broken, wounded one...for a second, I am simply a beloved child of God receiving a splash of His love, meant especially for me.
I know that you are hurting badly, and I cannot imagine what turmoil and pain you are going through. I am praying that you will receive splashes of grace to equal your need, that God will provide moments of wonder just for you, to remind you of your true and eternal identity.
There is no question that, for now, you are broken and wounded. But that part of who you are is a layer, not the whole thing, and it will be peeled off in time, to reveal who you have always been, and still are and always will be...a beloved child of God, the daughter of the King, a citizen of Heaven, spotless and pure before the throne of your Father, God.
Splashes of grace poke through the layer of pain to reveal who you really are. Who you are when you are staring in awe at the prettiest flower you ever saw, or tasting the best cheesecake in existence, or melting under the butterfly kisses of a toddler...that's who you are. Splashes of grace help us remember, when the pain has stolen all memory of better days. They are God's way of bringing us to ourselves, when we think that we'll never be anything other than broken and crushed.
And most importantly, they are God's way of bringing us to Himself.
In days when most of our contact with Him consists of anguished questions and agonizingly desperate pleas for help, splashes of grace are God's way of scooping us into His arms and saying "Look, daughter...do you see it? A butterfly, just for you! Isn't it lovely? Look at it's wings. Aren't they soft? Amazing, isn't it?"
Splashes of grace are you and God looking out on the wonder of creation for a moment, in a way that allows you both to respond to what you are seeing freely, unhampered by the struggle that you are in. It may only last a moment. But what a moment!
Dearest friend, look for them. Maybe you already have been. In the darkest place, God is. And where God is, splashes of grace happen. I love you, precious child of the King.
--Kelly Stevenson
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