GOD WANTS RELATIONSHIP

Redemption is God putting the world back the way He designed it – in relationship with Him!

He took on flesh to have blood to offer for sin so that we wouldn’t be separated.  In the beginning, sin entered and man chose to have a relationship with it!

Jesus took sin so that we could have a new relationship with God and receive righteousness. 

When redemption was completed, Jesus went back to God the Father to prepare a new dwelling place for His Bride and a new relationship with Him.

Now, our relationship is with His earthly Body – His Bride – The Church (all who have believed and received salvation from sin.)  We are His “Together Forever Family”!  We need to be loving each other because of who we are in Him.  It is clearer why Jesus said “Love God…love one another”…it is the same!  Reference Matthew 22:37-39.

O God, forgive me for knowing Your Word but not possessing it. Please change me; fill me with Your Spirit so that I can love as You love…

…with ALL my heart (with passion; my very best)

…with ALL my soul (worship and praise in all situations)

…with ALL my strength (actions and disciplines)

…my neighbor (sharing and fellowship in Your Spirit everywhere).

Teach me how to love Your Body because that is loving You!

Teach me how to praise You as an act of my Love!

Teach me how to give you my very best as an act of my Love!

Teach me how to help Your Body be a healthy Body – a healthy Body is a Loving Body!

Help us, Lord, to love one another and see that we are Loving You.

~October 7, 2013

THE DEVIL & DEMONS*

*They are not happy about this post, but I am.  I love making them miserable!

The opponents of God are angels.  Lucifer/The Devil/Satan and demons are all ANGELS.  Angels that turned against GOD!  They were created by GOD.  Imagine that!  How stupid can that plan be?  Knowing God and being spirit like God, but created by HIM, they had to know their limits and that they could not overpower THE CREATOR!

Because they are angels, they are limited in number.  They are NOT omnipresent.  They are only one spirit that can be in one place at a time.  GOD IS OMNIPRESENT and is present EVERYWHERE at ALL TIME.  Therefore, what is our problem?  We think Satan is as powerful as God; equal to God!  He, Satan, created that LIE…and all earthly creations have believed it!  It is time we heard the TRUTH and started to LIVE LIFE the way our Creator GOD intended.  We have the chance to begin with any breath!  Why do we live like we can’t defeat the devil and his demons, and ignore The Spirit of God that lives within us and has promised us He will NEVER leave us?  Why do we not believe The Truth and embrace it?

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-19

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.   Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes;   For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,  against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.   Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.   In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying  for all the Lord’s people.

A note about my emphasis.  This is how we battle the demons of darkness.

~Only those who have the Lord…His Holy Spirit, can stand against the devil & his angels.

~Put on the whole uniform.  Notice it never says anything about taking it off.  It should be a once for all time putting on.

~Interesting insight is that to follow these guidelines you don’t really fight!  You STAND and STAND FIRM!  It says that four times.  You stand confidently because you have the power of God with you…in you!

~WHEN, meaning it will happen so be prepared.  Be battle ready like a good soldier.

~Notice there is no armor protecting the back…you didn’t listen did you?  You are to STAND FIRM; your back is only exposed to the enemy when you turn to run!  Don’t do it!  Only those who do, allow him to “get on their back.”  It should never happen to one who has all the power of God within them!  Are you listening?

~Check your uniform and equipment.  All these are a must:  Truth, Righteousness, Good News of Peace, Faith, Salvation, The Bible, and Prayer.  Two of them are your weapons:  The Word of God which is your sword, and Prayer which is staying in touch with your Commander – The Spirit of God.  Hebrews 13:5-6 says He is with us to be our Helper and to keep us from fear.  Usually you have to ask for help…that’s what praying in the Spirit is.  As long as we don’t ask for help, He won’t interfere with our efforts; and John 15:5 says "apart from Him we can do nothing"...but fail!

You are now prepared NOT to fight…but you sure are equipped to defeat the enemy without fighting…HALLELUJAH!

MY PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

I was born.

I lived and was happy.

Death became a reality.

I questioned, why be born if only to die?

I learned the Creator had not planned it so.

His plan was for life evermore.

It was sin that caused the change.

Death became the penalty.

I read a book that gave the facts.

God loves me and He paid the price!

I chose to believe He died for my sin,

and He rose from the dead!

I am born again!

I have joy unspeakable!

Death has become an open door -

For life evermore!

~Betty Nunes

    May 6, 2001

My Precious Lord,

Oh, how I praise You for bringing me to the battlefield of my will and for the gracious liberty and security.  The battle was so long and hard and victory is so sweet.  May my life become more and more ablaze for Your glory – my absolute best for You, wrapped in Your Spirit!

WE ARE BLESSED TO BE FRUITFUL & MULTIPLY!

(References:  Genesis 1:27; 5:1 & 3; 9:1; John 15; Romans 8:29; Matthew 28:18-20)

I noticed an interesting thing about how God used “blessed” when I was reading in Genesis.  God created – then blessed – then said:  “Be fruitful and multiply…”

God created in His Image – His own likeness – blessed and said: “Be fruitful and multiply.”

Adam had a son in his image-in his own likeness!  This was Seth (Abel had been killed and Cain banished.)

Righteous Noah was blessed and told to be fruitful and multiply.

 “Then God said:  ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over…all creatures.’  God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.”

“When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.”

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”

*This tells me that we aren’t blessed to keep the blessing for ourselves but to multiply it by blessing others to know the Author of the Blessing.  The reason we are blessed is to “be fruitful and multiply” in God’s image and likeness!

“For those God foreknew, He also purposed to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.”

Jesus illustrated this further in John 15 using the grape vine.

He said that He was the Vine – the main plant beginning with the roots.

The branches are those who are “born again of the Spirit” – those “abiding (living) in Him.”

Those who live in Him  and Him in them will bear fruit – His likeness.

Those who live in Him and live in The Word of God will bear more fruit –more Jesus.

This glorifies The Father (Gardner) and proves you are His disciple.

Living in Jesus and His Word means doing what He said. 

As we produce the fruit of His Spirit and obey Jesus’ words, we will bring others into the Vine.  This will be branches (disciples) produced from pruning.  (Pruning away the unfruitful branches causes them to produce new branches and bear fruit.)  We bear much fruit when we make disciples by sharing Jesus and His words.  This proves our love and produces joy until He comes!

Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

                                                      

IN HIS IMAGE

The Creator created me to be “me”… with His likeness!  (Genesis 1:26-27)

God’s first image:  He is Spirit 

My imagination:  Spirit can only produce Spirit by identity.  Spirit without the visible is unidentifiable.  Spirit is like Space.   You can’t see Space, you see the things of Matter.  In order for God to multiply there must be a means of identifying.  To identify God’s offspring His Spirit must have a dwelling.  In the beginning the identity of God was the evidence of breath (breathing) and the evidence of speech (and God said.)  And God said:  “Let us make man in our own Image, in our likeness…in the Image of God created He man(kind), male and female He created them… The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.” (The Spirit of God extended into identity!)

We don’t know how long God had personal fellowship with Adam alone and then Adam and Eve together before they had their first test of exercising their freewill and choice.  The fallen angel, Lucifer and Enemy of God came on the scene and allured them to the forbidden.  Note:  Adam and Even were in a marvelous relationship and fellowship completely content and satisfied….until another personality vied for their attention and distracted them and began to present new ideas contradicting what they knew as truth.  (We know the rest of the story and their choice…they failed!)

*From here I am thinking about the offspring of Eve and the offspring of the Serpent…about Jesus being The Spirit of God with the Identity of Jesus aka The Word (the beginning identity).  Selah (Think about it!)

Follow the Choice of man from the Garden of Eden and sin………………

The Spirit of God dwells within every Believer of Jesus Christ…the identity of God with us and evidence of Redemption that brings us back to the original relationship/fellowship with our Creator!  However, we must daily make the choice in dealing with the alluring tactics of God’s Enemy who is also our enemy and the offspring of the Serpent.

This is some of the evidence of The Spirit of God and His Presence in those He dwells.  He is unconditional  Love.  He is Powerful in Mercy & Grace.  He is Creative for God’s Glory.  He is unselfishly Generous.  He is unlimited Forgiveness.  He Delights in Holiness.  Am I displaying His Image?

INFINITY

Notes of December 31, 2012 ~ Last day of the Year 2012!

On my mind as I was becoming conscious of awaking this morning was the most indescribable thoughts.  I was picturing Eternity…GOD.  I was picturing Creation and all the created.  I was fitting us…me into all that.  I was seeing it much like a panoramic picture – but that doesn't fit either because that is limited even though it is stretched.  Eternity has no limits or borders! We can’t imagine this because we only know TIME with limits and boundaries.  Seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years and divisions of them are what we live in.

But, if we took a moment, such as this one, to step outside our limits we would realize that EVERYTHING is GOD!  And, somewhere in that vastness of GOD, He decided to create.  He created worlds we know nothing about.  Scientists have been allowed to master the development of telescopes that can penetrate His vastness and have discovered many galaxies that the extent thereof can't be calculated.  The point of probing into The Unknown comes from our known existence on a planet called Earth that vanishes in the vastness of it all. 

I am overwhelmed with the awesomeness of being a living part of this tiny speck of existence that God chose to favor and delight in creating very special from His Heart of Love.  The story is given to us in His Book, The Bible recorded by Moses thousands of years ago.  You might like to read the beginning called Genesis and see for yourself.

My favorite explanation of GOD and His creation of Earth and plans for it is in Max Lucado's book, In the Eye of the Storm in the chapter entitled, The Choice.  I can envision it just the way he does.  GOD is Omnipresent (everywhere); He is Omnipotent (all powerful); and He is Omniscient (all knowing).  So, if He already knew that mankind was not going to choose to obey, why did He go ahead and create us with a will to choose?  My thought is that He determined to create knowing the results so that He could demonstrate His Love and desire for a relationship with His creation that would chose to love Him back. (I Timothy 2:4 “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”)

Mankind did choose to disobey and brought the penalty of death and separation from God.

God’s Plan demonstrated Love as never before, nor since, demonstrated.  ( John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”)  He, God, became His own Creation so that He could pay the penalty for man's sin and give mankind another chance to choose.  Now the choice is to disbelieve and stay in sin and separated from God, or to believe He paid our debt of sin and choose to have a personal love relationship with Him.  Those who choose to be saved from the bondage of sin become God’s children in a Loving relationship Forever.   Forever has no limits - it's GOD!

How Special we are that in all of Infinity, He chose us!  Why won't we see the Truth and know that EVERYTHING is GOD...and He desires for us to be in His World!  What is your choice? 

NEW YEAR 2013

Last night several of my single friends and I got together for New Year's Eve.  We watched the movie "Facing the Giants" and discussed the movie while enjoying some great foods; then we prayed in the New Year.
This movie has a lot of inspirational and motivational lines in it.  The movie is based on two Scriptures and I have tried to outline the things that I have been applying in my life.  My relationship has grown deeper and I do see my purpose more clearly.  I want nothing more than to fulfill my reason for being, and finish well for my Lord.  See if you remember these lines...

Facing The Giants Movie Summary

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

Psalm 18:1-3

  These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.   I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Revelation 3:7-8

Stay where you are as long as the door is open.

You have kept My Word – bloom where you are. 

Trust God to send the rain;  but you have to prepare your fields to receive the rain…God will send the rain when He’s ready.

What’s the purpose for my life?

Winning games is too small a thing to live for.  

We’re here for HIM – to love God with all.  Jesus died for us so that we could live for HIM!

Football or whatever can be a tool to honor God.  He cares about me so He cares about what I do.

**Your actions will always follow your beliefs – If you accept defeat; then that’s what you’ll get!

Praise Him if you win…praise Him if you lose.  Honor God in such a way that He will bless us so much people talk about what God has done.

**Give God your best! – your very best!  You give God your best when you can give no more…your absolute best!  Nothing left!  Give your best, leave the rest to God.  It will be very hard, but worth it!

**His Body is like a team building a wall (each person works on their part).

Influence – If I’m defeated, others will be…change your attitude; change your life!  Your attitude is the aroma of your heart - if your attitude stinks, your heart isn't right.  (The whole team wins or loses!)

Respect…because it’s the right thing to do.

**Your actions will always follow your belief!  As long as you honor God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

Lord, we’re gonna give our very best – if we win we’ll praise You, if we lose we’ll praise you!

May this new year be one of honoring God in everything!