Bucket Full of Grace

Well, here I am again....using my link from yesterday.  I hope you don't mind!
BUT I have to say...this was a blog originally!
I just happened to share it with church first!

Bucket Full of Grace

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7b

Not My Words

📖 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

📖 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32

📖 Create in me a pure heart, O God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

🎵As the Deer

📖As the deer pants for streams of water, 
           so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God
When can I go and meet with God?  Psalm 42:1-2

My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God. Psalm 84:2

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” John 18:37

So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?  2 Corinthians 12:15

Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15b

So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Hebrews 2:11b

Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold,  Psalm 119:127

Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Proverbs 7:2

🙏❤ Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 16:36

Our Cup and Our Portion

I said a couple weeks ago..it was "the first time, and maybe the last I shared" that way....
Well.......😁
I am doing it again!  Sharing the link to what I shared with our congregation today!
I hope you don't mind!
Love and prayers for each of you!

Our Cup and Our Portion

A Virtual God?

So....I was headed in a different direction for this morning....and then had to take a break for my first Virtual Doctors Appointment.
AND it led me here!
So this thing that we are having to get used to; virtual classrooms, virtual meetings, virtual church, virtual doctors appointments....it has been around for a bit....colleges have used the technology some,  global businesses as well.  BUT I am guessing the designers of  Zoom® (and some of the other face to face technologies that are out there) didn't have any idea a year ago, that the demand...the NEED for such technology would explode as it has in the midst of this global crisis.
I am grateful for it!  I also wonder how much of it will remain in use once this crisis has begun to recede.
I don't mind a virtual doctors appointment!  But I know that not all doctors and all appointments can be the virtual kind!
AND in this time of virtual interaction we long for a personal/in-person connection.

Virtual

ADJECTIVE

1. almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition.

2. 
   

   computing

   not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so

3. 
   

    carried out, accessed, or stored by means of a computer, especially over a network.

   
   

It got me thinking about our relationship with God, our Lord and Savior....
Do we have a virtual relationship with Him?  Does it feel like we do? 
Like it is ALMOST but not completely...
or He doesn't physically exist....just appears so in Scripture?
He is only accessed over a network?

We have a God that is REAL, He created this earth and all that is in it.
📖 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth Genesis 1:1

📖 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

we have faith that He is who He says He is.
📖 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. ” Exodus 4:14a
📖 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”  John 8:58

He physically was here as a man, and gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us now.
📖 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man. Philippians 2:7-8a

📖 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26

He said I will never leave you or forsake you
📖 As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5b

I will be with you until the end of the age
📖 And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b

And we have access to God any time, any where, out loud, in our minds, with others, alone, when we are happy, when we are hurting, 
Cry out to the Lord and he will hear you
morning noon and night 

📖 As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:16-17

📖 pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5:17


I know you may be saying...yes...but I want to SEE HIM!
All you have to do is LOOK 👀 and you can....
👀 When some one reaches out to you in the love of Christ...with a kind word, or gesture, meets a need maybe even before you knew it was a need.
👀 Those who are around you who love you for who you are, flaws and all
👀 Those who pray for you
There are blessings all around, we just have to open our eyes and let God show us.

Someone is REAL to us when we spend time with them.....Spend time 🕰with Him today.
🕰Read what He has to say to you,
 🕰spend time meditating on it, 
🕰respond to what it says to you, 
🕰 speak with Him, listening to songs that praise Him, 🕰take a walk with Him in the beautiful world He gave us, 
🕰reach out to someone who needs to know just how much God loves them, even if it is a virtual visit, or a 6 foot visit....it let's someone know that you are real, your love for them is real, and that God's love for them is real as well!

God is not a virtual reality....He is with us right now...as real as we allow Him to be!

But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,  Isaiah 42:1-3a

That sounds like a God who is REAL to me!!
🎵 Fear Not

🙏 praying you spend time in the reality of God today!❤


PS - my appointment went well!  I am healthy!😃

Can We See Beyond the Pit?

I have not done this before....may not again....but felt I should share what I did for our church service yesterday.  (which means anyone from Victory may have already seen this)
The format is different from my usual blog....as it is usually written, with some music links added on occasion.
This is music, and a power point with a voice over.  God seemed to touch a few people through it ...so thought maybe it might speak to your heart as well!
My prayer is that you are blessed in a time of worship today.

Can We See Beyond the Pit?

In the Presence

Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself.
Jesus told the men walking on the road to Emmaus all things concerning Himself!

Have you ever had the thought...
wouldn't that be great to hear from His lips....the horses mouth ...so to speak?
To have Him explain about each prophecy fulfilled?  how each scripture pertained to Him!?
Wouldn't it be wonderful!?
No wondering, no searching or trying to pull it all together... to have it all spelled out by the Man Himself!
We don't need to wish or hope....because we HAVE!
We open up the bible and start to read...from Genesis straight through....to Luke Chapter 24 verse 27 (and beyond) and you have it

📖 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34:28
📖 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners, 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, 
and provide for those who grieve in Zion Isaiah 61:1-3

📖 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

AND much much more...you can read the scriptures of the Old Testament yourself and see how they pertain to Christ!

He knew what He was talking about because He not only knew the scriptures...He WAS the fulfillment of them!

It was His life's mission, His life's work to know the scriptures just as it was His life's purpose to fulfill them!
It should be ours to know Him through the scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, because our purpose is 
to know Him, 
📖 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3
to be known by Him 
 📖 But whoever loves God is known by God. 1 Corinthians 8:3
and to be in His presence.
📖 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21:3

Be on your knees in prayer...meditate on His word...be still and KNOW He is God...
And you will be in His presence!

🎵 He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart

Source: LyricFind /Songwriters: Alfred H. Ackley / He Lives lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Songtrust Ave

🎧 He Lives Alan Jackson

🙏 My prayer today is you know Him and that He lives in your heart!❤

A Message of Hope

In this time when we can lose all sense of hope, feel isolated, all alone...and not just because of the world wide pandemic...for some the struggle that was already in their life has made the isolation,  wearing masks, social distancing ...just something to add to their already difficult time of feeling utterly hopeless.
If FAITH is our Victory,
JESUS is our HOPE!
And we can claim that today because He is a risen Savior!
That is what Easter Weekend was all about!
He had Victory over death...He didn't just rise from the dead and quickly go be with His Father...
He came back for 40 days!
📖 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3

He came to His disciples to bring them HOPE...to spread the message of HOPE to all...including us!

He visited with them, comforted them, touched them, ate with them, He taught them;

📖 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.  He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”   Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.   Luke 24:37-45

📖 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

and He finally commanded them;
📖  Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20

He was real when with them...
He is real today as well!
You can visit with Him in prayer and He can teach you through scripture,
you can reach out to others...(and right now that may be who is in your home with you) taking a hand, giving a hug.
For now with 6 feet social distancing...smiles, waves and kind words have to be our form of "hugging", how we can give comfort.
He is REAL today! His victory over death gives us the Hope to carry on..to move ahead even if we can't see the path ahead.


📖 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5

📖 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
We have HOPE because we have been filled with God's love through the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
We can spread that HOPE...share it with others by showing that kind of  love.
The command is for us too; 
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

...to go and share Christ's love to others and help them build their faith and show them where to find HOPE! 

I listened to this song several times yesterday (Easter Sunday)  I felt it to be full of HOPE!
We are ONE in the Spirit!
We WILL stand hand in hand!
We WILL work side by side!
by OUR LOVE!

By Our Love King and Country