I WILL NEVER LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY THE SAME AGAIN

In studying the book of Romans, specifically chapter 4, a rather huge revelation was made clear to me; it starts with understanding just how great Abraham’s faith was. Abraham was about 100 years old when God promised to him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. (Genesis 15:6) Later in Genesis 17, Abraham’s name changes and he is told he will have countless descendants and be the father of many nations.

Here is this guy who is 100 years old and his wife who is about 90 years old and the God of the universe is telling him that he will have a son and countless descendants. They have just lived through many years of being barren and have undoubtedly started to believe that having children was not going to happen. Now, I don’t know about menopause in those days but certainly it is very conceivable that Sarah had already gone through menopause and her body was not capable of producing an offspring. I think of my brief few years of secondary infertility and have a small idea of what it was that Sarah and Abraham must have felt. You feel hopeless but Abraham’s faith is greater than this hopelessness.

Abraham believes God when he tells him he is going to have a son, an heir and descendants numerous as the stars. Despite their very old age and the years of living with being barren; despite the fact that Sarah's body is very likely beyond capable of having a baby. Abraham believes what the Lord tells him is true and he has faith that God is faithful in his promise to him. 

But the real revelation is that I am one of those stars. My faith in Jesus has made me righteous in the presence of our holy God. Abraham is the father of faith. He demonstrated to us what faith is, preparing us to believe in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus makes us a part of Abraham’s descendants. We are one of those countless stars in the sky. 

Abraham’s descendants will continue to grow as each new believer accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior by faith alone. New stars are being made each day that a new believer is born again. We are part of a rather ginormous family; that is the part that is so awesome.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 141

I can’t begin to think of the number of times I have thought to do something in my head but the action did not follow. When it comes to expressing love, my lack of action is pathetic. I now understand that it is the way God made me. I have a very high need for love to be expressed to me but have a low need to express love to others. It is due to my high fear of rejection that is also part of how God made me. You might be thinking why would God make you with these negative things but they aren’t negative if you have the help of the Holy Spirit within you. If you have chosen to believe in Jesus, the God-void within each of us is filled up with the Holy Spirit. With God all things are possible. So, yes, a person like me who does not feel the need to express love can do it and have the attitude of love. In Gary Chapman’s book Love As a Way of Life, he explains how kindness is the first key to making loving a way of life. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. It is an action part of loving. A thing he proposed to do, in order to become more aware of kindness in your life, is to write down every kindness that is done by others. In becoming more aware of the kindness of others, you will become appreciative and will be motivated to act in kindness as well. Kindness begets kindness. It is like a smile. It is contagious. We just have to smile and act. I am starting Project Kindness this week and will become more aware of all the kind acts around me and cultivate the desire to be kind and show it.

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 3

In really starting to think about love, I am reminded of how very complex a subject it is. It is no wonder we can spend our whole lives learning about love. I have been reading about temperament theory and how we each have a unique temperament we are born with, created in us by God. Our temperament dictates what it is we need in terms of relationships, control and affection. One person will only need a little love while another person’s need for love has to be regularly demonstrated. This uniqueness in our temperaments also will affect accepting God’s love. Some temperaments, if not, taught early-on about God, will have a much more difficult time accepting Christ. It will be by only the power of God that these individuals come to believe. This really emphasizes the great need to be an example, teach and love on our children all about God. We need to be reminded often of how unique all of us are. Our uniqueness creates a lot of the complexity in regards to love but if we can start to really see each person as a unique creation of God, we may be able to understand and forgive when we are not feeling the love.

Try using this scripture as your prayer each day and instead of the second “I” put in a person’s name.

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I (person’s name) am (is) fearfully and wonderfully made.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 289

I created this scrapbook page recently and finished it up yesterday. I titled it Family Love because these photos reminded me so much of my family and how much we have each endured. My own family going through the scary ride of having premature babies, one being 3 months premature. And my brother's family going through adoption and the issuses they have had been confronted with;  Bi-Polar, ADHD, CAPD. Having children is not all the joyful moments you see on birth announcements or on Christmas cards. God has given us our children for a reason, for his purpose. Both my husband and I have grown tremendously in our faith and have developed a strong marriage because of the adversities we have faced. I know my brother and sister-in-law have struggled but I see them coming out of the hardest part of the adversity stronger and am sure their relationship will end up being stronger for it as well. Is the adversity over? No, there will be more things to overcome and endure as we and our children age. That is life in our fallen world but we have the hope found in Jesus of the life to come and the Holy Spirit to help us through our lives now. This verse about love says it all when it comes to family love.
1Corinthians 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 31

One month of praises accomplished! The rest of my life to go...
Today's praise is for the greatest gift given in Jesus because of God's unending love for us. Thank you Lord for your priceless love for us that you would give up your son to save us so that we would have a choice to be with you forever. Thank you for leading us on the path and helping us find our way back to you. We pray today for all those in the world that have not made that choice or who may not even have heard of Jesus. We pray your love will lead them back to you and ask that all of us who do believe will be confident and steadfast in our believe so that you can work through us to bring more sheep to your flock. How amazing that our one true God sent his only son to Earth as a man to live among us! Emmanuel-God is with us! May we have feel and celebrate Jesus everyday of the year. I love you Lord!Merry Christmas to all and Happy Birthday Jesus!
Isiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 5

I took my daughter to see Arthur Christmas this weekend. It was a sweet movie and one of the good points about it was how the two sons of 'Santa', one the military techie Santa-wanna-be and the other the nerdie Arthur who was totally into and filled with the spirit of Christmas but had no thoughts of becoming the next Santa were not on the path they should have been on. In the end, the military techie Santa-wanna-be sees the truth and realizes he was meant not to be in the spot light but be the support. So, I find myself praising God for the gifts that he gives each of us. Like this Santa-wanna-be, I have struggled to discern what it is God wants me to do with my gifts but I believe I am following down the right path with them now. How about you? Do you know what your gifts are and where God is leading you?

1Peter 4:10-11 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyon serves, he shoul ddo it with the stregth God provides, so that in all things God my be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.