Friday, October 28, 2011

Friend to Friend Friday

Blessed are the pure in heart for thay shall see God
Matthew 5:8


The heart is important in Scripture because it is the center of our personality and the center of our will and emotions. God wants us to have pure hearts. It is attainable; otherwise Jesus never would have promised it. What exactly is this purity, as in being "pure of heart"? It is a word that means "without hypocrisy," or "single." 
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil [or "double-visioned"], thy whole body shall be full of darkness" (Matthew 6:22–23 KJV). To be "single" or pure means to have a single-minded devotion to Jesus. As the Psalmist wrote, "Unite my heart to fear your name" (Psalm 86:11).

To be pure in heart is to seek to live a holy life, and that is the secret to happiness. If you want to be happy, seek to be holy. As Martyn Lloyd Jones said, "Seek for happiness and you will never find it. Seek righteousness and you will discover you are happy. It will be there without your knowing it, without your seeking it." 

Blessings To You
Amanda 

Saturday, October 22, 2011

God's Comfort

"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."
John 14:23-31
God promises to walk beside you through even the darkest days of life.

Life is full of ups and downs. One day things can be going well then the next your world seems to be caving in on you. God tells us in His Word that life will have struggles and hardships, but He gives us a promise shown in John 14.
In some of His last words to the disciples before ascending to Heaven, Jesus addressed their fear of being alone to do His work. Think about it. Before they had been seen at Jesus' side, assisting Him in His teachings and ministry. Now Jesus told them He would be gone and they would be responsible for His work to continue.
After dealing with the death then resurrection of Christ, one can only imagine the fear and emotion these men felt at the news of Jesus' leaving. How could they do this on their own? Yet even before His crucifixion, Jesus promised them, "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
In the midst of their fear, Jesus gave them peace. In the midst of your fear today, God offers peace. No matter what you're facing or what fear you feel, God has extended His arm and said, "My peace I given unto you. Don't be afraid."
What fear or uncertainty are you facing today? What has you afraid about the future? God promises to be right beside you the whole way. He promises to hold your hand and guide your steps. With God next to you, you have no reason to be afraid for He is in control of everything. Trust Him with your future.

Blessings To You
Amanda

Friday, October 14, 2011

Friend to Friend Friday

One of the greatest gifts we can give the people in our lives is the gift of a guarded tongue. The Psalmist writes, “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD: keep watch over the door of my lips.” Someone once said, “Lord, please bridle my tongue, so that on Judgment Day, I will not be guilty of assault with a deadly weapon.”


The power of the spoken word is great in that words are like seeds. What we plant will grow. If we plant negative words, destructive and critical words, we will reap relationships that are negative, destructive and critical. On the other hand, if we consistently plant words of encouragement, our relationships will flourish.  Look for the good in your family and friends – and then speak it. Be a cheerleader for the people God sends your way. Everyone needs a cheerleader!

Blessings To You

Amanda

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

"He" is my ROCK

I have to tell you, I have been really dealing with spiritual warfare for the past several months.  Who am I kidding, the past several years.  Really, since I became a "follower of Christ"  and I have been OK with it,  I love our Savior with every ounce of myself and that is what we are called to do. (Mark 13:10)

I pray & walk out of our home every morning with my full "Armour of God" on & fight off those flaming arrows that are shot my way.  No problem, right?  Well, me and my family have been fighting one particular battle for sometime now.  Pushing forward everyday, warding off the minions who wake me up with fearful thoughts of our situation.  Praying, Praying and trusting our Savior for guidance.

Well, and I have to tell you, I am exhausted, I just don't want to deal with this any more.  And I have to admit,  I have been praying, "Lord!  make this go away."  I so want to avoid this situation.

Avoidance really is my broken way of "dealing" with things I prefer to ignore. To my "mountaintops  taking an honest look at my situation can be challenging, put me in uncomfortable situations, and cause me to look at the situation through the eyes of Jesus.

 But ultimately, as a loving Father does for His children.  He made me realize today, I don't have to be afraid, I know the Creator, isn't that amazing! I have a relationship with "Him!" He made  realize fear is the root cause of my avoidance -- fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of pain, or fear of the uncertain. Sometimes, it is fear of the action the Lord will call me to take and what discomfort or inconvenience that action might cause for me.

I know how real my fear is,  and I know it is not consistent with Scripture. 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear . . . ."

I know yesterday, today & tomorrow I don't have to fear as a child of God for He is "Love" and fear is the adversary pulling me down.  Praise Him for my burdens, and Lord thank you for your written Word and for being my ROCK.  And know I will LOVE through Jesus in the trial or trial's I may (will) face.

"All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Matthew 10:22 

Blessings To You
Amanda


Friday, October 7, 2011

Friend to Friend Friday

Fruitful

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 1:2, NIV).

On a family visit to the mountians, our condo had a balcony that overlooked the forrest.  Rob & I sat on the balcony one morning and watched as a tree cutting service approached a pine tree and began to trim the huge branches.  We noticed that the tree looked fresh and vibrant. Healthy. The pruning made such a difference!
Jesus spoke to His disciples and said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, thatyou bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:1-8, NIV


The tree cutting men didn’t pull the branch's off to hurt the tree. He pruned it to increase its beauty, health and vibrancy. God does the same for us. He prunes His children to increase our beauty, health and vibrancy for our good and for His glory - to make us more useful to Him and more fruitful.



Blessings To You

Amanda

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Nuturing Our Children Through God

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Ephesians 6:1-4

God desires for us to raise our children for Him. It can be difficult to instill godly morals in our children in the world in which we live. But God has given us certain steps we can take in helping to nurture our children.

We must first express our love to our children both verbally and personally. If our children do not know that we love them, how will they know that God loves them? Many times a child's perception of God is based on their relationship with their earthly father. We must be active in showing them our love. We have also seen that we must nurture our children by spending time with them in God's Word each day. We must teach them of God at an early age so their hearts will be grounded in Him.  We will see that godly discipline is a vital part in raising our children for God.

Our verses today point out two ways we are to raise our children. Ephesians 6:4 says, "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

We are to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.



The word nurture in that verse has to do with teaching and training our children. It is the process of education in which our children learn. It deals with both head knowledge and heart knowledge. It deals with teaching them arithmetic, science, history, and also of teaching them the Bible and God's principles for life.

The other part of Ephesians 6:4 says we are to bring them up in the admonition of the Lord. The word admonition has to do with encouragement and warning. It is a combination of exhortation and rebuke. We are to encourage them to do right and exercise godly discipline when they do wrong.
There is an idea in our society today that many forms of discipline are harmful and abusive to children. Yet

God commanded us in Proverbs 22:15, "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." God desires that we would raise godly children through proper discipline.
Evangelist D.L. Moody was once asked, "How may converts did you have last night?" "Two and one-half." "You mean two adults and one child?" "No. I mean two children and one adult. The children still have their entire lives to live."

Children are special to God and raising them is a great privilege and responsibility! We must seek God's help in nurturing our children and we must follow His instructions. He desires that we would instill godly morals in them by correcting them through godly discipline when they are wrong.



Are you following God's guide to raising your children for the Lord? Are you properly admonishing them when it is necessary? Make sure you are applying both discipline and encouragement when necessary. Your children should know that you fear God and that sin will not go unpunished, but they should also know that you are doing it out of love.
Take time now and ask God to help you correctly apply both exhortation and rebuke in your children's lives. Seek God's help each day as you strive to raise your children for Him.

Blessings to You

Amanda