Storms and Other Trials

 I am a day late because was debating 

how to share this....just the written stuff or the whole Sunday version...

Here is a link to the whole Sunday Version....I thought you might like the songs and visuals with the message.

There are 2 videos to cover the whole service.

Sunday July 25...1

Sunday July 25..2

Abide

 📖 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:4 (NKJV)

 "Abide in ME" and I will abide in YOU

What does it mean to abide?

How easy is it?

Merriam Webster 

Definition of abide

intransitive verb

1: to remain stable or fixed in a statea love that abided with him all his days

2: to continue in a place : SOJOURNwill abide in the house of the Lord

abide by

1: to conform toabide by the rules

First of all it is a verb...an action word...we can't expect to abide in Christ and not do anything, it takes action on our part. 

But the intransitive does not need an object to....He is there....He is ever present, waiting for us to allow Him into our lives. It is a choice..

He said "if you abide in Me....I will abide in you".

"To remain stable or in a fixed state" almost seems to contradict the idea of action 

But we remain "fixed" in Jesus.

Our "abiding" in Him is a constant state of being.

📖 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 (NKJV)

"To continue in a place"...to continue IN Him.  Remain in Him.

📖 If anyone does not abide (remain) in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:6

We "conform" ourselves to Him, we become his followers 

📖 if you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:7-8 (NKJV)

We accept Christ and His Father and do His will

📖  “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. John 15:9-10

Our action is as simple as A. B. C.

Admit we are a sinner in need of saving

Believe that Christ, God’s only Son, is that savior because He shed His blood, died and rose again for our sin.

Commit our lives to following Him and His Way.

Taking that action...that step is a wonderful and glorious thing!

 📖 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy  remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  John 15:11-14

AMEN!?

🙏My prayer I that you abide in Him today....because I know if you do He is abiding in you!❤

Trying Too Hard

 Went into Monday without any definite ideas for the week's blog . A few thoughts but nothing solid.....I found myself chasing random quotes and ideas....still nothing definitive.

In my prayer time on my knees...I thought "Am I trying too hard?"

Do we do that with our relationship with Christ....we try too hard to make it work because we want it to work out a certain way....our way? 

📖 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:8-9

We read scripture, but try another passage or another book because it "isn't speaking to me" 

Or we try another church because this one isn't saying what I want to hear.

We pray and feel God isn't listening...."I am trying Lord....why isn't it working ...(my way)?"

We should be "working" His way, His direction. 

We can't hold on to things and expect to glide smoothly down His path.

📖 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  James 3:10

We can't hold on to bitterness and expect to move forward in our service.

📖  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Ephesians 4:31

We can't withhold forgiveness and move forward in worship.

📖 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  Matthew 6:14-15

We can't allow pride to be carried on our shoulders and then try to be compassionate and generous to others. 

 📖 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:37-38

We may be trying ....but if our hands are full of the wrong things then we can't do it.

Like a person trying to carry to much baggage down a narrow hall..you aren't going to have much success...you may inch forward a tiny amount with great effort, but if you let go of the baggage...you can move steadily and with more ease.

 📖 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Sometimes we don't even realize we are laden down with heavy baggage;  the baggage we are holding tight to, and the baggage that is hanging off us.

We only need to want it to be removed....ask for it to be gone and then let go!

 📖 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus calls us to give up our selfishness, our own desires if we want to follow Him. 

📖 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:23

The cross we take up is not our "stuff" but those things we endure and suffer for the cause of Christ....because when Jesus took up His cross He took up our sin....so that we don't have to be hindered with our load of sin.  We ask forgiveness and we are forgiven and find freedom from the burden of quilt and shame that came with that sin.

He tells us to take up our cross, not our baggage.  

get rid of ALL that hinders our walk with Christ.....

🙏Praying you can get rid of any baggage you may have today, so your travels down His path are smoother, nothing dragging on you slowing you down.❤

"Where Do I Begin?"

As I hit my knees yesterday morning that was my thought; "Lord, where do I start???"

So much grief around, so much sadness keeps continuing....in the past two weeks we have had 2 wakes, the funeral of a close friend and another death Saturday of very close friends family member.

If we go back to January...since then; ranging from as dear to me as my sister to friends or family of people close to us,....the count is almost 20!  It is overwhelming 💔😥 (and that isn't mentioning the illness, injury and heartbreak going on around us as well)

📖    Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn   Romans 12:15

I took a breath and it just flowed over me "Start with the heart"  MY heart...humbling my heart before my God.

📖  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus;

Who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 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, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross! Phillipians 2:5-8

📖  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:4

Asking Him to remove all things that get in my way of serving Him, properly worshiping, interceding;

📖 Search me, God, and know my heart;

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

📖 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 4:31

📖 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22

Once my heart is where it needs to be, then the petitions can flow.

📖 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Peter 1:22

📖 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:13-16

📖 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2

📖 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ....

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  Colossians 1:3, 9-12

Letting the Holy spirit intercede when I haven't the words.

📖 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

And then not to forget once I get up and move through my day...

📖 pray continually, 1 thessalonians 5:17

📖 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16

AMEN

And I pray for you too!❤🙏

I Got Nothing

So Monday came and my first thought was " I got nothing."

And as the day rolled on...and into Tuesday (and beyond) those same words began to move...in a couple of directions!

When I feel like I have NOTHING....

I have nothing there..He always does!!

He always has something....something for me! 

He takes my nothing and makes something.

My brain is sometimes a vast empty void... just like the earth before God breathed life into the universe.

📖 Now the earth was formless and empty, Genesis 1:2a

He gives me thoughts,  words, ideas... through His Word; through a devotion, a song, nature, a child...it all leads back to His word. 

He fills the void.

Sometimes it is complete and all at once ...and other times I need to take more time and meditate on it...search things....to know Him and His ways more fully.

📖 Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds. Psalm 119:27

Understanding that I am passing on His words.

📖  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

Another direction;

"I HAVE nothing " ...without Him I have nothing. All I have is a blessing from Him.

📖 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James.1:17-18

I deserve nothing....not self-effacing or self depreciating..but a truly humble heart and spirit....

📖 But as for me, I am poor and needy;

    may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    you are my God, do not delay. Psalm 40:17

📖   What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:24-25

Humility is the key 🔑 

Understanding we deserve nothing but punishment and death....but by His mercy ..we do not get what we deserve, He took paid that debt.

And by His grace we get those things which we do not deserve, we recieve blessings. 

Trying to be as Christ like as we can;

📖 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in the very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 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, he humbled himself  by bbecoming obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the hhighest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

He loves us, wretched as we are, coming before Him with nothing.

📖 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.   Romans 5:8

🎶Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

                       Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
                       Sight, riches, healing of the mind;
                       Yes, all I need, in Thee to find,
                       O Lamb of God, I come, I come!🎶

🙏 My prayer is that you come to Him, with nothing, and let Him do the rest. ❤

🎵 Just As I Am. Alan Jackson