GOD'S WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

Philippians 1:20-22 NIV

HOW TO HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTIAN LIFE

To live is Christ and to die is gain!

Paul’s testimony continues to reveal that the Source and motivation of his Joy while he is in prison is Jesus Christ who lives within him – HE is his Life!

He has the assurance of the prayers of this church on his behalf and The Spirit of Jesus Christ within him that everything is going to turn out for his best whether in life or death.

Today he shows us what’s on his mind and heart as he explains to these people who love him but have anxiety because of his imprisonment. Paul is trying to help them see that his situation is not one of despair, but one of opportunity. His desire is that he will in no way ever be ashamed for not exalting Christ in his physical condition whether he lives or dies!

I think he is giving his own excellent eulogy and epitaph and one we should give some thought and perhaps put to memory.

“FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN.”

He adds that IF he should go on living it would be so that he could continue to preach the Gospel and bring others to Jesus Christ. He doesn’t know which would be better, if he could choose.

As I read this journal page of this day in 2017, I immediately thought about my friend ROSE and how The Lord has worked His higher ways into our lives over the past 3 years.           Isaiah 55:8-9   

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

When I retired from working in 2017, The Lord had impressed upon my heart that I needed to minister to 3 people who had different kinds of need.  Rose was the first one, and she was struggling with her finances and her hearing.  We made a budget and worked on getting her debts and income in better order.  Then we looked into her hearing problem.  After numerous hearing tests and evaluations, she was recommended to the Jacksonville Hearing and Balance Institute and Dr. Douglas Green.  He is an expert doctor, surgeon and author specializing in the surgical treatment of complex inner ear problems in the area of otorhinolaryngology.  He discovered Rose’s hearing problem was that her nerve system was damaged and could only be helped with a cochlear implant.  We made lots of trips to Jacksonville in the process of testing, educating and surgery.  Rose had excellent results and could finally hear again.  However, she had some exercises required to train her brain and body to return to normal activity.  We went through lots of trips to Waycross for balance therapy and Jacksonville for hearing and brain therapy.  She started out well, but into the first year she decided she didn’t want to do the exercises but she like going to her therapist and seeing Dr. Green.  She did not like doing the brain exercises of reading, talking and listening and became angry at being told it was necessary; and finally resisted and became hostile with frequent meltdowns!  Her medical doctor directed her to psychological treatment.  Discovery was that her mind was good, but her strong will nature was unwilling to accept she had to exercise it or it would eventually stop; that she did have a mini stroke in the past; and some medications were needed to help calm her.  Dr. Green said it was very hard to discern the difference from dementia and the poorly exercised brain.  Rose has finally been classed and treated with dementia because of her behavior………………. 

It would take too long to explain all that has happened with Rose since her cochlear implant, but the results are that technically without her implant on she is deaf and has no stimulation to the nerves to her brain.  Between her taking the hearing device off, losing it; nurses not knowing how to use it; losing one expensive battery and breaking the other; and with Rose being in bed mostly the implant won’t stay on!  I tell you that so that you will understand the Reality of God’s Love and Presence and the reason for the Scriptures above. 

In the past week, Rose has gone from not saying anything; eating very little and little body movement and clinched fists.  This week, she has had visits from her children and friends and had loving nurses and hospice all communicating to her and loving her.  As of last night, I have observed her TALKING, WAVING IN RETURN TO A WAVE, HOLDING MY HAND WITH HER SOFT HAND; EATING ABOUT 50 % OF HER MEAL, DRINKING MORE LIQUIDS, LISTENING TO READING THE BIBLE AND TO PRAYERS; MOVING HER HANDS AND FEET AND LEGS!~~”God’s ways are higher than our ways…”  and I think He is demonstrating that to, through and around Rose at this time, so that to live is Christ, to die is gaining home!

WHY DID JESUS SAY GOD AND NOT FATHER?

 

APRIL 20, 2022

Mark 15:34

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

WHY DID JESUS SAY GOD AND NOT FATHER? 

I have pondered, researched, prayed and asked others for the answer. 

Until today after sharing with Ben at Anytime Fitness who also has been to seminary and he didn’t have an answer that satisfied my searching heart either.  However, while walking on the treadmill, the Lord chose to open my mind and reveal the answer I needed to connect the dots and make absolute sense.

Why did Jesus ALWAYS refer to God as Father everywhere in Scripture except in this moment? 

He is quoting David from Psalm 22:1, but that doesn’t explain why He said it at this moment.

Knowing that Jesus is MAN and GOD, I kept thinking it has to do with Him being Man since He became man to have blood to sacrifice for Sin.      I always thought that it was because at the moment He was taking on the SIN of the world and SIN separates from God, so God couldn’t even look on Him.  Others have agreed and said the same thing.

On the Cross, He said:  “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”   Later He said:  “Father, into Your Hands I commend My spirit.”  So, why in this moment did He call Him, GOD?

My Aha revelation is this:

Jesus was the ONLY one who could have perfect blood because He was sinless.  And, the only one who could take on Sin and not be affected by it because He was God and totally Pure.

Therefore, at the moment Jesus took on the SIN of the world, God was not his Father!  For the first and only time, Jesus the Man knew SIN and needed GOD to redeem him.  When he said:  “It is finished!” the Sin debt had been paid, and mankind no longer has to be separated from God because of their sin…Jesus has paid our debt!  “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

JESUS BECAME SIN, BUT HIS BLOOD PAID THE PENALTY AND PUT SIN TO DEATH TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!      

Further read:  Ephesians chapters 1-2; John 14:23       

WHAT MAKES GOOD FRIDAY GOOD?

 

Good Friday, April 2, 2021 

I spent time talking with the Lord about the remembrance of “Good” Friday and why do we call it Good Friday?  Jesus was arrested and tortured and persecuted the entire day ending it with His Body being put to rest in a tomb.

As I reflected on this day in history and the reality of how it relates to me, I went to the Scriptures to be refreshed in the details from the Last Supper of Jesus to His last breath!

The first thing I learned that I had not seen before is that Judas Iscariot began his scheme to try and make Jesus take a stand against the Romans and set up His Kingdom on Tuesday night after being reprimanded for rebuking Mary for anointing Jesus with expensive perfume (Matt. 26:13-16).  He left and went to the chief priests and scribes to betray Him and hand Him over to them.  It wasn’t until the Last Supper on Thursday evening that Jesus announced He had a betrayer and Satan entered Judas and Jesus told him to go and do quickly what he must do…and John 18 tells us we next see him appear where he knew Jesus would be in the Garden of Gethsemane with a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees (other Gospel writers say:  with a multitude with swords & staves).  You see, Judas thought Jesus would defend and defeat the army and become the King of the Jews.

Note:  Preconceived ideas can bring consuming shame!

Satan was very busy that day!  He had been working on Judas and entered him to try and force Jesus to fight to protect His disciples; Jesus said Satan had asked to sift Peter and caused him to deny knowing Jesus 3 times; and written between the lines of Scripture we see Satan come to Jesus while pleading with The Father about His will and how He was to redeem the world from the penalty of sin.  This was Satan’s attempt to try and tempt Jesus that He would fail as Man; Satan knew he couldn’t touch Him as Son of God.  (Matt.26:36-46) Jesus asked Peter, James & John to watch and pray to not fall into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak…and they slept because their eyes were heavy.

 Mel Gibson did a great job of imaging this scene with Satan tempting Jesus as a beautiful woman and a slithering snake attacking Jesus as a Man.  The magnificent scene was when Genesis 3:15 came true with the serpent striking Jesus heel and Jesus crushing the head of the serpent.  Satan has been wounded and pending death…but I have learned that poisonous snakes are just as dangerous even with the head cut off.   Satan is not a serpent; he is a fallen angel and his destiny is predetermined and he knows he has been defeated…but he is not dead, and he is still full of venom.  Don’t let this frighten you because he didn’t stop JESUS FROM BEING THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB OF GOD THAT TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!  Mankind has been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb of God and everyone who BELIEVES in His Name and RECEIVES Him as Savior He gives the right to become Children of God.  (John 1:12-13)

A final observation that delights me as a woman of God are the women in Jesus life and where they were during all these scenes.  Luke 8:1-3; Luke 23:27, 55,24:1,9-10;   Matt. 27:55-56;  John 19:25(Mother of Jesus)  They were the first to see Jesus after He arose because they had come to care for His body out of their love and devotion.  Jesus stopped on His way to check in with The Father after completing His Father’s will to redeem the world to meet a woman seeking for Him with all her heart…Mary Magdalene.  Jesus gave her a mission and the first person to declare the Good News that He is Alive! John 20:11-18

Good Friday is Good because it is the day of the greatest expression of LOVE ever demonstrated!  Our Creator who created us to Love Him, took on flesh so that He could be the perfect blood sacrifice to pay our sin debt so that we could be freed and have a second chance to choice to live Happily Forever in a Love Relationship with Him!

It's a Good Friday when you believe and receive a New Life in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer!

Preparing for the Days Ahead

 

Today is March 16, 2022 and I found this as I was looking for something else and realized how much it is needed today even more than in 2009 when I took it to heart and made a lot of adjustments in my life to get prepared.  I pray that it will help someone else realize how little time we have to get prepared...

Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Preparing for the Days Ahead

I want to talk with you today about what we need to do as Christians to be prepared for the days ahead. Our country is changing before our eyes. We are moving to a bigger government with heavy control.

We’re moving to a global banking system and monetary policy. We’re facing the possibility of a Great Depression. We’re dependent on foreign nations to purchase our debt, which makes us totally dependent on outsiders to make our economy work.

We’re shifting away from a Biblical world view. Our leaders don’t seem to be looking to God for direction. A battle is being waged to protect prosperity and the world is uniting to do that.

I believe Christians are unprepared for the challenges ahead. If we are prepared, we have the opportunity to see a great spiritual revival.

The world is changing radically and rapidly. With so much uncertainty, we have a great opportunity right now to see a revival in the hearts of God’s people. Here are six things you need to do to be prepared for the days ahead:

1. Why are you here? The first thing you need to do is to determine why God put you here on earth for this time. That's a big question you should wrestle with. Did He put you here to live the American dream, raise a great family, participate in sports over the weekend, build a business, watch TV, get an education, be a consumer, or did He put you here to fulfill His purposes?
   
   Write down your answer to that question and carry it with you. Begin ordering your life around your purpose. Anything can be a distraction when you don’t know what your purpose is.
   
   God uses difficulty to clarify our purpose. God used the evil rule of Ahab to change the hearts of the people of Israel. As believers, has God put us here on earth to solve the problems in the world economy or to serve God?
   
   Most people are serving themselves not God. I believe when we turn back to God that things will turn around. God works through the few. He wants you to understand and fulfill your purpose.
2.  Are you willing to suffer? Decide if you’re willing to suffer for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was ready to suffer and die if necessary for Jesus. The Bible tells us many times to be readyI believe those of us who want to make a difference in the world have to be prepared not only to die for the Gospel but prepared to overcome the tolerance movement. The tolerance movement is seeking to silence Christians with threats of job loss and being politically incorrect to talk about JesusYou have to be willing to accept the consequences if you want revival and be willing to suffer for God’s kingdom. We’re here to serve God not man.

3. What is your best? Determine right now your highest and best contribution to the Great Commission. Is there anything that needs to be moved, so you can make your best contribution? Any adjustments to your lifestyle?  You consumption of time, energy, or money? What’s preventing you from being fully surrendered to the Lord? Are you willing to give God full reign over your life for His glory?  We need to be prepared to take steps that will bring about a revival. Determine why God put you on earth, determine if you’re willing to take a stand for the Gospel despite the cost, and then determine how God uniquely equipped you to make the most difference and if there’s anything holding you back right now from doing that.

4.  Make a plan. All of your resources should be allocated according to your plan. You should never be a slave to money, money should be a slave to your purpose.  The resources you have been given are to be used to multiply God’s kingdom. Be free of all masters but Christ. The purpose of becoming debt-free isn’t so you can buy whatever you want. God doesn’t need more rich young rulers; he needs more people that will serve Him wholeheartedly.

I believe Christians will be tested in the days ahead. The proposed reduction in the tax benefit of charitable contributions, sadly, I predicted back in January. As believers, we’re called to give whether there is a tax benefit or not. This will be a test of generosity.

Get free financially so you can better serve your Master and do what He wants you to do. Do you have a skill that will help you survive and fulfill your purpose?. The Church began during a famine. God uses such times to bring the most glory to Himself because we demonstrate to the world that Jesus is real, our faith is real, our peace is real. That opportunity is coming.

5. Increase your spiritual fervor. Move to a life of dependence on God. Christ wants us to be totally dependent on Him, not the government. Jesus is our master, we are his ambassadors.

Our assignment on Earth is temporary. There’s nothing on Earth to lose because there’s nothing that’s yours. You can minister to family, those at work, those at church.

Your security should come from following Christ, not the world. God understands what’s happening. As believers, we have nothing to worry about. We can be full of hope and be prepared anytime to give an explanation about the hope within us. As you glorify God, revival happens.

We need to rise above our circumstances and keep them in God’s perspective. We must focus on the fulfillment of God’s will for our lives, actively pursue it, order our lives around that objective. Completely surrender to God’s will and allow Him to use you as salt and light in a desperate world.

6.  Put the love of God into practice right now. We can believe, but until we put our faith into practice, it’s not going to be real to others. God didn’t put you here to live a life of comfort, pleasure, and fulfilling your personal dreams. He put you here to be a blessing to others, point them to Him, and advance His kingdom.

He gives you resources and prospers you so you can bless others, advance His kingdom and His glory. The Macedonians are our model (2 Cor. 8). They were rich in generosity even in extreme poverty. They gave themselves first to God and then to others. They put their love of God into action. Generosity flowed from their hearts because they realized they belonged to God. Man did not control their circumstances. As they practiced generosity, they experienced joy. They looked to God, not the government for their provision. They wanted the affluent to know God.

I hope you get prepared for the revival God wants to do in your life and to those you serve during this historic time.

Consider God, The Creator's Prescriptions

 

When reading my journal over the past year, I came to these notes and feel like I need to share for someone else that The Lord may speak to about the same things

Monday, May 17, 2021 ~A day to rejoice in the Lord!

I woke up with some thoughts on my mind about how to give God praise in all things, I asked the Lord to speak to me His plans and what I needed, and I had some marvelous thought which I should have written down immediately, and I pray He will help me to remember about the Nursing Homes and Medical Staff. 

Assisted Living ought to be assisting to live, not assisting to die. Jesus said, the devil came to kill, steal and destroy, but He came to give life and give it more abundantly (John 10:10) 

God Loves everyone, even those who don’t know it; and those who do know Him and have a personal love relationship with Him have His Presence with them always, promising to help them and not be afraid. (Hebrews 13:5-6)  Most of the people in nursing homes can’t help themselves, so we need to intercede for them, not drug them.

To assist in life we need to have a new way of thinking and administering to these in need of a better life. Consider God, The Creator’s prescriptions: 

Prescription #1 ~ Diet should be considered before medications – this is God’s instruction. Food is the Fuel for the body. Genesis 1:29-30 (This was creation instruction… He did not plan sickness, disease or death; that was the result of eating the forbidden.  It still applies!)  and everything He said was unclean, was forbidden and everything that was changed from the way He created it!  Example:  adding things like metals, plastic, chemicals, dyes; genetically modified organisms; processed. He has blessed us with Everything we need to be healthy, don’t listen to the devil’s lies by justifying with “but it tastes so good!”  so did the fruit on that forbidden tree- who do you think made it look and taste so good?  He’s still doing the same thing!

Prescription #2 ~And joined with that should be Prayer…acknowledging God’s Love and redemption from the bondage of sin (the result of listening to the lies and deceptions of the devil) –Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated His own Love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.”  Thanking God for who He is …our Creator who created us with purpose – to have a Love relationship!

Prescription #3 ~God has promised, and He keeps His Promises.  We need to believe this and bind them as bandages administered with hugs thanking Him and Praising Him.  Do not pray:  If it be your will!  He has already told us it is His will, that’s why He promised. Faith is the Key; faith in God-not faith in faith! It’s not believing hard enough, it’s knowing and believing God!  Some Promises: John 3:1; 2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 13:5-6; Proverbs 3:5-6; John 15:7; John 15:5; Hebrews 11:6

Prescription #4 ~ Praise!  Psalm 22:3 “God embraces with His Presence the praises of His own.”(my interpretation); Hebrews 13:15…the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name ...1 Thessalonians 5:16

Prescription #5 ~ Practicing Spiritual Warfare as outlined in Ephesians 6:10-20.  Put on the armor of God and stand in The Spirit of God.  It requires salvation, faith, righteousness, truth, gospel of peace, prayer, Word of God.  It is also a Promise of The Creator.

(This would have to be administered by those who believe in God and have a Love relationship with Him and are living in the Word of God and the Spirit of God.)

 I know this sounds ridiculous and radical; however, do you honestly see a better solution?  Administering medications with the side effects of death or other sickness doesn’t give much hope for life, does it? Don’t wait and pray when death is knocking; pray now for how to give life!  

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV ~ Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.