Category: Trust God

Is Your Mouth Saved?

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

How many times in life have you said things then you pray, “if only I could take that back?”

It’s not really a mouth problem, it’s a heart problem. I have to ask God daily to search me, know my heart ….see if there is any offensive way in me. That’s scriptural y’all. If we are going to start speaking right we are going to need to examine our heart, what’s in there? Is it deep-seated roots of bitterness? I’ve had to do some up-rooting in that area. Maybe hidden sin, sin your not even aware of that is why we ask God to reveal things to us. I have battled with the unknown cause of things time and time again, then suddenly, God reveals something I had forgotten all about and in a moment of repentance everything changes. God wants to purify our hearts so when we speak, out of the mouth flows issues of life. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Our words are either building up or destroying, either bringing encouragement or inflicting harm and shaping destinies. I have caused so much damage in my own life due to words I have spoken, all because of the issues of my heart. That’s where the scripture verse says, “they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof,” that’s the consequences of what you say, it will eventually return to you. You know our speech reflects our internal character to. I’ve been guilty of having the character of speaking death into my own life as well as other people by, gossiping, encouraging fear by speaking possibilities of something happening “what IF?,” I have even created conflicts in relationship due to words I have spoken. These are not things I am proud of, but seriously I write in transparency. As I always say, “I am a sinner in need of a Savior.” Thank you Jesus for saving me, and yes my mouth needs saving to. I do speak life as well. I try to encourage people just like in writing the breadandwater blog or Encouraging Each Other Facebook Group my friend and I have had for the past 5 plus years. I have gotten better about speaking truth, the Word over people’s lives, building in them a hope for their future or whatever they may be going through at the moment. My husband likes doing little construction projects occasionally and I have watched him use his tools to tear things down then turn around and build something beautiful with those same tools. Words are like tools; either to build people up or a weapon that breaks spirits. So the question here, is our mouth saved? Well I’d say is your heart healthy? Do you have the love of Jesus living in you? Do you even have Jesus in you, first and foremost? If the answer is yes to those questions, then I believe you can have a saved mouth. Like all things in life, it’s a choice. How we speak is a choice. We need to start doing more self-examining, I’m speaking to myself here, just saying. Start discerning the thoughts and intentions of your heart, why you say what you say. Something else I have learned over the past year, it that it is always better to respond versus react. Response can sometimes be silent. Reaction can lead to words that may cause regret. I have experienced enough regret to last a lifetime and again. Final word for today …

Shalom

A New Chapter

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Transformation here we come!

Ruth: Her story of loss and widowhood was rewritten into one of redemption, honor and becoming part of the lineage of Jesus.

Job: His story of unfathomable suffering was transformed when God restored his life, giving him twice as much as he had before.

The Woman at the Well: Jesus broke her cycle of shame and failed relationships, rewriting her story into one of purpose as a witness.

Won’t He? Yes He will. God is not a respecter of persons, if he did it for them he will do it for me. God can’t do what our free will will not allow Him to, so here we go, have your way Lord. I Have struggled writing this today, I actually wrote it yesterday but when I woke up this morning the Holy Spirit had me do a little revising. I needed corrected about a thing or two. As I was writing I was steadily wanting to take over the message that He was giving me, taking the pen right out of His hand already. I heard Him loud and clear this morning saying, “If I’m going to be able to continue writing your story, you are going to need to surrender and be obedient as in the past when I was doing a new thing in you.” Correction is never easy, but oh so worth the value. Obviously being this is a new chapter in my life, I haven’t been here before so I have no way of knowing what this looks like, well not completely. God has been more than generous in giving me little peaks into what lies ahead, rather some areas that are going to require change. One of the areas is in stewarding my time. Who ,What, When and Why are some questions that I am going to have to ask myself before taking on the task. God revealed to me that many of the hurts I have been experiences in my life of late are due to taking on responsibilities of others that are not my cross to bear. When I look at ministry, it’s not just serving in a particular area of the church, it’s more than that. I see it in every area of my life. My family has always been my first ministry, unfortunately I have missed it on several occasions. I see a new range of focus in my future story. One that allows others to pick up their cross and follow Jesus, my only part is to lead them to Him. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I have missed it time and time again all because I couldn’t say no, or I didn’t want to see them going in the wrong direction so I took the cross for them, that is not nor ever was God’s best, it was simply me in a ditch effort to try to help, which I was the one who ended up in the ditch sadly to say. But hey, God’s mercies are new every morning and His grace is sufficient, to prepare a new way, a new path for me to walk in. Hallelujah! I have heard things said about me that are lies straight from hell. I’m not going to allow hate, resentment or unforgiveness to keep me from the place that the Lord is wanting to take me, instead I will say as Jesus said on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). I, like Jesus am feeling the immense pain from what others have said and done to me, but I too have to choose how I will respond. There are so many words in the Word of God that pertain to who I am, and I am claiming them for myself, that I may have life and have it more abundantly. God says, I am victorious, loved, redeemed (Proverbs 18:21) Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him …” This is a promise that God can and will use past negative experiences to create a positive, redemptive story in my life. I am ready to close this chapter and move on to the next. God is the author of my life, not my circumstances. The weakness that I have been feeling is going to be my new strength. In the book of Isaiah …a way in the wilderness; God says, where there is no clear path forward, He will create one. Rivers in the desert; where there is no natural relief or refreshment, God provides it. A little further down in Isaiah, God promises to pour His life-giving Spirit upon his weary people, all of this is for His glory. I am ready for God to receive all the glory in my new story. I’m done repeating cycles like the woman at the well. I’m looking for redemption like Ruth, to be honored for the good that I do. Not from people, but from my Heavenly Father, the One who knows me and knows my worth. Re-write, re-direct, whatever that may look like, I’m ready.

Letting Go …and Letting God write what I cannot.

Open Wounds

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the contrite in spirit.” (Ps.34:18)

Up close and personal today. There are some ares in my life that I am still not able to share about because the wounds have not healed and they are susceptible to infection. I believe there are many that can relate to this. Issues of the heart are no joking matter, they are real like the breath in my lungs. Some days it feels as if healing is impossible, when every little thing that touches it causes the wound to begin bleeding again. Yet I know I am not broken I am simply in a place of deep transition, transitioning into the person God wants me to be. I know that if I turn to Him with this unbearable pain He will be there to heal my wounds but sometimes it is still a hard thing to do. I cannot rush the process though because there is work being done, I have to trust the process. Believe it or not, crying and feeling the pain is not a sign of crumbling but rather releasing and letting the healing begin. Sometimes while the wound is in this state you have to stay away from the thing that caused the injury in the first place, creating space for emotional detachment. I write because this is an outlet for me to release and process my emotions. I find that listening to worship music is a great help, because the lyrics are those that bring truth and good thoughts to my mind. I begin focusing on the things that are lovely, pure and of good report versus the thing that has me broken at the time. Nature is my go to place, it has a way of putting me in a completely different mood, relieves the stress of it all. Sometimes I fall into isolation, never a good thing, being with others is crucial to healing. God will use the right people to speak the right things to you that you cannot hear at that very moment. Whatever we are going through that is keeping this wound from healing completely does not define who we are, our future or our worth. Instead we need to see this is a chance to grow stronger and wiser. Don’t worry about the situation, just focus on your own recovery. Let God do what you cannot do. Obviously I am talking to myself here as well as you. Again I am processing, what I need to do in order to receive my healing. The scripture in Psalms tells us that God is not distant, but active in comforting those in pain. He offers us comfort, He is present and He will heal those with shattered emotions or crushed spirits. Psalms 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”. He is our refuge when overwhelmed, our strength when hope seems lost and He promises that heartbreak will not have the final word.

Okay, I feel better … how about you?

Life is a Gamble …Unless

Whatever one sows, that he will also reap (Gal.6:7)

Yesterday I was at church and my Pastor was speaking about the power of a purposeful life. Blessings and curses. Seeds being sown. Sowing seed in a famine. This past week I felt as though my life was heading into a season of famine. There just seemed to be death all around me, not physical death, though there have been those as well and several illnesses that looked to be leading in that direction. But emotional, spiritual, relational death. I realize the word famine means the most severe form of hunger crisis, an extreme shortage of food, that brings about death, but I was feeling starved in these other areas of my life. Deprivation; lacking the nourishment my soul needed. I am not a boaster, but I am going to say that my heart is BIG and when depleted it is like poverty in its most extreme way. I reach a place where I don’t see where I have any seeds left to sow. Anything left I must feed to my myself, because I am about to parish, but then I heard my Pastor say, “sow the seed even when your tears are the only watering the seed gets.” I realized at that moment I had to make a choice, I was about to gamble with life or death. I could shrivel up and die inside or I could pray. I had the choice to use the seed of prayer, watered with my tears to see life spring back. It really wasn’t that hard of a decision to make because of my relationship with the Lord. I know how many times in the past He has had to breathe life back into me due to circumstances when I was literally dying inside. Still we see it as a gamble many times trusting, if He will do it this time. When I left the church I knew what I needed to do, what choice I would make, I know what I believe and Who I believe in. Because of what I was feeling, that starvation inside of me, I knew what it would take to replenish and nourish me back to health. I knew the WORD; I will reap a harvest, “IF” I don’t give up (Gal. 6:9). I needed reminded of that Word. I believe there are many people that are gambling with their lives. Some of you are gambling with your eternal life, where you are going to spend it. You haven’t made the choice, your still rolling the dice. Can I just be honest for a minute? Gambling is not the answer EVER. You may have some good days, win Big, but it won’t last. There is only one right choice. Surrender your gambling addiction, trust the One who gave you life. There is no gamble there, it is life or death, so choose life.

God said in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.”

Stop Gambling

The Circle of Life

And I am sure of this, that he that began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6)

God is the one who starts the circle of life within us and who promises to complete that work, ensuring the circle is not without purpose. I am looking deeper into the things God has already done in my life, the things He is doing right now and looking forward to the things He will do as I am approaching the end of my circle. I love the fact that He says, He will complete that work. I can know that I will not leave this world unfinished, without purpose of why I was here. Unlike the ferris wheel, just a repetitive loop going round and round, God takes everything in my life, the good and bad and weaves it together to fulfil His ultimate purpose. Again, my circle ends with purpose. The Bible describes the “circle of life”-birth, labor, and death-as a natural, repeating pattern ordained by God. In the circle of life we find hope, through Jesus Christ for an eternal life. The true fulment of God’s purpose, this is the actual completed work, His purpose in all believers. The complete circle of Life is; a life of being born; birth to eternal life on a new earth, that is completion of the circle of life. Wherever you are in your circle, whether beginning, end or somewhere in the middle and you want to finish the complete circle of life, there is a step you must take. In the Gospel of John in the Bible speaks on that. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That’s full circle y’all. Don’t spend your life like the ferris wheel in that repetitive loop, go the full circle, ask Jesus into your heart and make sure your circle is completed.

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Now your circle is complete

Huh …I Did Not Know That

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee” (Hosea 4:6)

Talking active rejection here, not ignorance. The passage says, “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you…” (Hosea 4:6). The people of Israel chose to forget God’s law and ignored His teachings, leading to their own destruction. When we reject God’s laws He has the right and ability to keep us from His blessings and protection over us, allowing us to face the consequences of our actions, just as he did with Israel. Good news y’all, if we will enter into an intimate relationship with Him, “Know Him,” that’s knowledge, then we can understand His commandments. We have to put forth effort, we are held responsible for our actions or lack of, so make the effort to learn. Don’t deliberately ignore God’s ways, He gives us commands/rules if you may, to protect us because He loves us and wants good things for us. I have been observing the world around me a lot lately and this is going to sound like something I heard my grandparents say when I was younger, but it is what I am seeing and hearing. Modern society is morally declining. I have been more diligent than ever before in sharing the Gospel message with ALL people. Warning guys!!! the end is only getting closer. Don’t let the lack of knowledge destroy you. Here are three scripture references in the old testament I want to share:(1) “Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.” (Isaiah 5:13). (2) “Because they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD…” (Proverbs 1:29) (3) “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’-in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.” (Jeremiah 4:22) In summary of Hosea 4:6 is a warning that spiritual ignorance-specifically the active rejection of God’s Word-leads to destruction. Words of Encouragement, I’ve got Good News. You can have life; a good life, one with God’s blessings and protection for you and your family, it all begins with a right relationship with Jesus. Being righteous is simply being in right standing in Him. Maybe you like my past self have been uneducated in the things of God and please, like a Pastor I once sat under would say, “don’t hear what I’m not saying;” because I am still a work in progress. Maybe you don’t know what the Bible has to say regarding how you show act, talk, or live your life. You can ask God to help you with that and the other Good News is; “If any lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to EVERYONE generously without rebuke, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). Did you catch that? Wisdom is available to ANYONE. This is the kind wisdom used for navigating through life’s trials and making godly decisions, rather than relying on your thinking and understanding. You matter and the kind of life you live matters. God wants only the BEST for you. Don’t self-destruct.

Peace Is A Priority

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God …will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7)

Number one priority for actively pursuing peace involves being in harmony with others. Though that is not always possible, so I’ll share another scripture which says, (if possible, live peaceably with all) Romans 12:18. That takes a little pressure off of me because sometimes it takes time to heal from being hurt, to forgive or be forgiven before I am able to find that peace. Hate is a strong word, but I am going to use it in expressing my feelings on discord, “I hate it.” Having unresolved issues with someone is one of the worst feelings I could have. I’ve lived my whole life as a people pleaser until recently. I have learned my mental and emotional well being is very important to me and I have made a deliberate decision not to allow anyone to steal my joy purposely amongst other things. My focus for peace is about more than people though. I have hobbies, different ministries I am involved in, home projects, etc. obviously all these things take time. This requires prioritizing because if I don’t life becomes total chaos,and chaos is definitely not peace. I have become intentional or as Charlie Brown in the caption above said, “I make deliberate life choices.” The beginning of this year I received a word which I have written about before, “Intentional.” One of the things I have been intentional about this year is protecting my peace at all cost. I had to take a step back and look at some of the different ministries I was involved in and let a couple things go to free up my time to better the other ministry work as well as give me a break here and there. I’ve gotten rid of things in my home that were making for unnecessary workload, when I had more than I could do already. Did some scaling back on monitarial things that weren’t necessary. Took a sabbatical from social media. Stopped taking every call/text that came across my phone. Busyness can really rob you of your peace. On a spiritual note regarding peace, I have found that humility is huge. You know you can just be quiet, you don’t have to fight about things, that’s never the solution anyway. Being right in a disagreement is overrated anyway, conflict always results in loss of peace. I think that’s called being PRIDEFUL. So I would rather choose peace over trying to be right about my opinion. Like another Blog I wrote; Mind Your Own Biscuits and Life Will Be Gravy …that’s Peace right there now, just say’n. Keep to yourself and don’t allow other people to bring you into their drama. They say, experience is one of life’s greatest teachers, but the Word of God is the best teacher. Do it right the first time and you won’t have any regrets.

What regrets are you experiencing right now? Do you need to seek after or pursue peace? Do you need to unload some things from an overburdened lifestyle? What do you need to be deliberate about to receive peace in your life?

Steal, Kill, and Destroy

The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Satan has a mission but Jesus does to. The thief (Satan) seeks to ruin, rob, and kill peace and joy, to wreck a person’s life. While Jesus brings abundant, purposeful life including peace and joy that surpasses understanding and circumstances. Today as God directs me in this message I want you to know this is a very personal message from the Lord to me yet I am to share it. There are a lot of people out here under attack and you like myself need to recognize who your dealing with. This is (spiritual warfare) and it will take God’s word to overcome the attack. Do not let the negativity and earthly fears grow inside of you, instead rise up and get in the Word of God and bring down every stronghold, every thought, bringing it into captivity to obey Christ according to His Word. Use the authority your Father has given you to fight these battles in the way that takes you from being a victim to being victorious. Reminding ourselves the battle has already been won by the blood shed on the cross, but we still have to live in this fallen world until we get to our final resting place and as long as we are here we will face trials and temptations, but His Word tells us that we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:31-39) In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I heard the Spirit of the Lord speaking directly to me as my husband and I were talking and praying, that these attacks were very personal on me, because God had given me a mission, one I had become “INTENTIONAL” about giving my all to what He has called me to. The enemy was and is very unhappy about it so therefore I am being attacked in ways to try to keep me from doing just that. The enemy wants me to feel defeated and give up, but as much as he tries to destroy what the Lord has called me to, all the more strength is given me to be able to battle the storm. Like the eagle I spoke of in an earlier blog this week; Mount up and SOAR, if you have not read it I highly recommend doing so. God is doing a new thing in me, He is given me new strength, that I might fly higher than before. I can only know this because I am in my Bible, reading and believing in His promises to me. No matter the weapon that is being formed against me, it will not prosper (Isa. 54:17) Attacks and trials may arise but they will not succeed in destroying me. They cannot prevail against me for I am under God’s care. Any challenge or adversity will fail to prosper. Every tongue that rises against me in judgement will be condemned. These words are a sign of my faith in God and His Word, the words are meant for encouragement for when the enemy tries to lie to me through whatever his tactic may be. This is my confidence in God’s power as my defender and protector.

You may be reading this and do not have this kind of confidence in the written Word of God, maybe because you have never asked Jesus to be Lord over your life so that you can receive these promises from the Father. These promises are for those who believe, who are children of God. Well the good news is you can, right now. All you need to to do is pray this prayer and the same promises I’m standing on you can to.

Heavenly Father, I come to you in the Name of Jesus. I confess that I am a sinner in need of a savior. I believe that you Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I ask you Jesus, to come into my heart and be Lord over my life, to forgive me of my sins. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10)

Now if you just prayed that prayer, you are now a child of God and the promises I’m standing on you can to. If you are already a child of God but have not been relying on His Word for whatever you have been facing in your life, may I suggest today be the day you start. Don’t let the enemy win, you can be victorious by living by faith, confessing scripture over circumstances, and trusting in Christ’s finished work rather than personal strength. Use your spiritual weapons.

Less is MORE

He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)

I chose this photo today because as you can see there isn’t much in this room. There really isn’t anything here to distract you from focusing on one particular thing. Which is the object lesson in decreasing our self and allowing more of God in our life. We have to get rid of things that are in our way, distracting us from having clarity, 20/20 vision and excellent hearing. We need to be resting in Him, not allowing our minds to wander focusing on everything around us. We should be wanting to go deeper in our relationship with God and allowing Him to go deeper within us. Ridding us from the things that don’t serve a purpose in our life and that are keeping us from receiving all that He would have for us. I think about when I’m out on the trails hiking or riding my 4-wheeler and I come across a leaf or a flower, my focus is not on the tree or the larger group of flowers clustered together, instead I look exclusively at the individual leaf or flower and I am able to see much deeper. Looking at the leaf I can see intricate little lines, sometimes small particles of fuzz on them, the actual shape of the leaf and the lighter verse’s darker parts of it. When looking at the flower I may feel a softness in the peddle or a little insect looking for some nectar and like the leaf the colors seem more vibrant when looking up close versus afar off. That is how it is when we get rid of the clutter in our minds and sight we are able to see and hear the much deeper things of God. His voice becomes clear and our vision is no longer clouded. Sometimes it’s as if we are shouting things at God as if He can’t hear us when in reality we are trying to speak to him over all the chaos. Once we let go of some things we can quiet ourselves and come to God in a calmer quieter voice, just as the Holy Spirit is a gentleman He does not yell, He has a still quiet voice and we can too. There are other areas of less is more in our lives we need to be aware of. Things like allowing materialistic things to overtake us …more, more, MORE. We never seem to be satisfied with what we have and that’s because stuff is not what satisfies us, our relationship with Jesus is. Pride; we are some of the most prideful people, let that go! Self-sufficiency; how about more of trusting God instead of ourselves? That’s where we will find peace, when we depend on Him. He knows everything we need before we ever need it. If we will just decrease in ourselves and allow God to increase in us we will be making more room for God’s grace and power in our lives. Better is a little with the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it (Proverbs 15:16).

What are you willing to let go of in this world to allow for gaining more with God?

Mind Your Own Biscuits and Life will be Gravy

“…aspire to live quietly, and mind your own affairs, and work with your hands, as we instructed you.” (1 Thess. 4:11)

Paul was writing to the Thessalonians to encourage them to live quietly and work hard, partly to avoid meddling and to set a good example for nonbelievers. I have been in the oven on this one for awhile. You know that refining fire kind of oven, removing the dross, working on becoming pure. In the process of it all, I have learned to be quiet and listen very carefully to the Holy Spirit regarding many things. One of those things was to quit allowing myself to be in the midst of another person’s affairs. Sometimes that can be hard if you find yourself there because some else put you there, thergo; free will comes into play. You have the option how you will react or respond to any given situation, in this particular case I chose silence. The old rule of thumb, silence is golden. Like pure gold once refined. Dross-free that is what I want to be. Silence is not the only thing I have taken away from the intense heat of the fire. I realize that it is my responsibility to search my own heart. I have been delving deep into my innermost being, allowing God to bring out the impure thoughts, feelings, things that do not edify or glorify Him, or others for that matter, but mainly Him. Rummaging through my heart and mind, investigating my thoughts and reasonings. Asking the Lord to reveal anything and everything so that I may be able to learn better habits in order to set better examples. It is going to take a whole LOT of “God’s gravy.” I’m the biscuit and God is the gravy. What I have found by doing this, God will pour extra blessings, joy and spiritual nourishment on me, the “GOOD STUFF.” This is called divine grace. It is an abundance of “God’s Great lake of Gravy,” salvation and love that covers all, “total gift” freely poured out. Most days it is little reminders of God’s love for me, extra little things to be joyous about. Just going along minding my biscuits, I mean business, while He pours the gravy, I mean grace, and love over me. Are you in need of some gravy for your biscuits? Go on and get’cha some, a BIG heaping helping, it’s free for the asking.

Romans 10:9-13