Saturday, November 30, 2013

Procrastination

Are you a procrastinator?  I hope not but then some people should  have the middle name of procrastination, don't you think?  Do you know someone like that?  I do and it drives me crazy.  I don't know why I am doing this study but there must be a reason, and I hope I am bright enough to realize what God is trying to tell me.  As a rule I am not a procrastinator, I always do the hard things that bug me first and get it over with. Then the rest of my duties are easy.  So I am wondering why I am doing this study, I have a feeling it has something to do with my spiritual life.  So let's get started.

Matthew 19:16-22  "Now behold, one came and said to Him, 'Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?  So He said to him, 'Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One that is God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.'  He said to Him, 'Which ones?' Jesus said, 'You shall not murder, your shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  The young man said to Him, 'All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?  Jesus said to him, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, and follow Me.  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

This is a sad story about a rich young man who had great possessions and when asked to sell what he had and give to the poor, it was too much and he turned away sorrowful because he couldn't part with his riches.

Do you have something that you are not willing to give up for Jesus?  I am asking myself the same question.  Right now I don't know what it is but I am sure that God will show me.  I don't have any riches but I do have habits that may need working on, I will just have to follow His leading.

Luke 9:59-62  "Then He said to another, 'Follow Me.  But he said, 'Lord let me first go and bury my father.' Jesus said, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.'  And another also said, 'Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are my house.' But Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

I believe that God is telling us in these verses that His service comes first in our life and that everything else is secondary.  Doesn't it sound that way to you?  Maybe this is where I fail, I am really thinking about these verses, how about you?

Ecclesiastes 12:1  "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, 'I have no pleasure in them."

I should have read this verse years ago, but really I am sure I did but had forgotten it, our youth is a time to get started on our relationship with God.  There really isn't a lot of pleasure in old age, accept with our God.

Jeremiah 13:16  "Give glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death."

Our life does come to a close sometime and we want to make sure our relationship with our God is good and sound before it does.  I believe this study was a warning to me to be ready for we don't know when our time comes to leave our loved ones and sleep in the grave.  I am really trying to be ready for Jesus to take me when it is in His time.  I do not fear death like a lot of people, but I don't want to be a procrastinator either.  If I am ready, it will only be a few seconds to me when Jesus calls me from the grave at the resurrection of the saved.  That is a wonderful promise and such a beautiful meaningful way for our earthly life to end.  We have been promised a beautiful paradise made new on this old earth and I am looking forward to that, and being with my husband again, who is sleeping in the grave until Jesus comes to get him and we will go to be with Him forever.

Please don't procrastinate with your eternal life, it is not worth one minute of putting it off.  God wants us to be with Him forever, let's not disappoint Him.  Grandma Joan



Friday, November 29, 2013

Excellent Privileges - part 2

We learned so many good things in excellent privileges part 1, and there are just as many to learn today, I hope you are excited to learn the Excellent Privileges we have in God our Father and in Jesus His Son, and we are told that Jesus is our Friend and Brother too, as well as our Attorney in court.  We are so privileged, I am getting happier by the day, learning all these things.  How about you?

Hebrews 2:10,11  "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Privilege number 7 is
the kinship we have with Jesus who is not ashamed to call us His brethren (and sisters).

2 Peter 1:4  "By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Privilege number 8 is that we have been given the privilege of being a partaker of His divine nature, escaping the corruption in this world through lust.

John 16:23  "And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Privilege number 9, is assured answers to prayer,  God is never too busy to hear the least little prayer offered in sincerity.

Romans 5:10  "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled,we shall be saved by His life."  Privilege number 10 we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son Jesus.

Romans 8:37-39  "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers., nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Principle number 10 is Victorious Living in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What privileges we have when we form a close relationship with Christ and spend time in His presence each day!!!!  What more could we ask for?  I can't think of anything better than having a close walk with the King of the Universe, can you?  Let's make that our goal, shall we?  Grandma Joan

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!

Today, I am thankful just to be here and share another Thanksgiving day with my family, at least part of my family.  I am so Thankful that God has been so good to me this past year, I have learned so many new things through my worship times, I hope and pray that they have helped you  too.  I am going to list some of the things that I am Thankful for and hope that you will join me.

I am Thankful that God loves me and has led me through my long life day by day teaching me how to live and to let others live and help when I can.
I am Thankful for Jesus who gave His life for me that He took my sins to the cross with Him so that I could have forgiveness when I err and be restored into His grace.
I am Thankful for God's word of which He speaks to me each morning and helps me so much in my daily walk.
I am Thankful for family, for my son who lives with me and helps me in many ways and for my other son who lives far away but calls me every day to see how I am doing and encourages me in my Christian walk and for my daughter who I am going to spend the day with today, have breakfast with and then go out to dinner with later in the day.  For all three who love me and show it in different ways of which I am Thankful.  My daughter knows I love flowers and is prone to bless me with them on special days.
I am Thankful for a warm home, food, clothes and the comforts of life.  So many in this world do not have these comforts that I have.
I am Thankful for my blogging friends who worship with me each morning, you are a blessing to me even though most of you don't know me, we are spiritual friends and I am grateful for you.

Philippians 1:3  "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."

Ephesians 5:20  "Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1Thessalonians 5:18  "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

As you can see being Thankful is a very important part of our life and we do have a lot to be thankful for don't we?  I only named a few, you can add to that list this Thanksgiving day and be more thankful than you have ever been.  May God bless you with all spiritual blessing on this Special Day.  I want to close this little worship session with another important verse on Thanksgiving.

Revelation 7:12  "...Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever."  Amen and Amen.  Grandma Joan

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

It's OK To Be Controlled.

It's not OK to try to control others as we learned yesterday but it is OK to be controlled by God, even though He is not a controller, He will control our every thought, word and deed IF we ask Him to do it. The choice is ours.  There is a WARNING to beware of.  Satan is a controller and he will control our every thought, word and deed without us asking.  He takes advantage of us all the time if we have not put God at the helm of our life.  Do you see the difference in being controlled by SATAN and OTHERS, rather than being controlled by God Himself.  If we are controlled by God, we don't have to worry about what we think, say or do, the Spirit of God works in us 'to will and to do of His good pleasure'.  Philippians 2:13.

Matthew 6:33  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  We need to seek God first, put Him the very first in our days routine and 'all these things' shall be added to you.  You will have to read the first of Chapter 6 to see what 'all these things' are.  This is your assignment for this morning.  Please do read it.

Matthew 6:24  "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  (man)  No one can control another and be safe either in controlling or in being controlled, neither is a safe place to be.  We must let God do the controlling but remember He WILL NOT control without our consent, we must consent to His will, in other words 'ask' Him to take over.  You will always be safe in His loving arms when He is in control of your life.

Have you noticed that when you are being controlled by someone, that you begin to resent that person, that's what the Bible says will happen, we can't serve God and man both.  We have to choose who will be at the helm of our life.  If we are the one who is doing the controlling, we will always be miserable and never find joy in doing it, and our Christian life will be miserable too.  We will never have peace, controlling or being controlled.

Turn it all over to God, which either place you find yourself, let God do the controlling and you will have the peace that you long for and your life will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatiains 5:22,23  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law."  Don't you want a life full of these fruits?  I sure do and God will fill our life with them if we but ask Him to.  So let's 'humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift us up'. James 4:10.  God help us to be this kind of people.  Grandma Joan


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Are you a controller?

There are many ways that people control other people, one popular way is anger, getting angry if they don't do what you want them to do or the way they want you to do it.  Another way is pouting or sulking when things don't go their way or you do something they don't like.  Another way is just clamming up and not saying a word, just show your disgust when things don't go your way.  Another way is withholding from them anything that they might consider important for them to have or do.  Another way some people control others is to threaten them and sometimes it's life threatening threats. Do any of these things fit you?  You may have other ways of controlling others, I am sure I didn't name them all, just think about it, are you a controller?

God made us free moral agents to do as we please, it is up to us what we do with our lives, it is our free choice, whatever we do.  It was up to Eve whether she partook of the forbidden fruit or not, it was up to Adam whether he took it from Eve.  Neither one of them were controlled to the point that they had to do it and both of them blamed something else for their fall, Eve blamed the serpent which God made and Adam in turn blamed Eve, whom God made, so the final analysis was they were blaming God.

Satan was the controller in the long run, he controlled Eve by his subtlety and she gave in and Eve controlled Adam by her beauty and his love for her.  God does not control us, He has given us a free choice whether we serve Him or Satan.  Satan tries to control us and it is entirely up to us if he wins or we choose God.

Is someone controlling you in some subtle way? If so, why are you allowing it, you are free to do as you please.  If it is life threatening, get help, if it is other ways, you might  seek counseling.  But we should not be controlled by another.

John 8:36  "Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."  Does that sound like someone should control you?

Galatians 5:1  "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with  a yoke of bondage."  Satan's bondage, or people's bondage.

Personally, I want to be controlled by Christ, but He is not a controller, He will step in if we ask Him and do for us the things we cannot do for ourselves, but it is our choice to ask Him in.  It is a good thing to do and we are never sorry for following His plan for us.

Satan is the controller and if you are a controller, I would seriously think about who's side I am on and why I am doing it.  It is a serious fault and needs remedying.  Ask God to help you to allow others to do as they will and not as you will.  I am thinking, 'am I a controller'?  I easily could be but praying that I am not. How about you?  Grandma Joan

Monday, November 25, 2013

Our Own Personal Devotions

Do you have your own personal devotions in the morning?  It is so very important to have a good day, to spend time with God first thing in the morning.  I am so much happier when I do and I get more done during the day and the day just seems to go lots better.  I would encourage you to please take time with God in the morning, if you can't do it first thing for some reason, find a quiet time that you can.  Don't let the day slip by without taking the time.  It is most vital for our Christian walk.

Psalms 5:3  "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up."

Psalms 119:147  "I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word."

Psalms 55:17  "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice."
This is what Daniel did when He was in the King's court in Babylon.  It is a sure way to keep close to God.
If you sit down to rest for a few minutes, take time to talk to God, He loves to hear and answer our petitions for help and make our life more complete in Him.  When you sit down to a meal, talk to God and thank Him for your meal and care so far through the day.  When you go our on the highways, ask Him for His protection and guidance and safety until your home again.  There are so many times when we can offer up a prayer to God during the day.  Try it, it will help you during the day.

Acts 13:11  "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."  We not only need to keep in communion with God but we need to let Him speak to us through His word.  When we read His word it is as though He were speaking to us personally.  This is true worship and communion with God.

Romans 15:4  "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

The Scriptures were written for our learning that we might have patience and comfort and have hope in our destiny of Eternal life.

Before we open His word to read and study, offer up a prayer for understanding in what you are about to read and even if it is just a verse or two, read it until God gives you understanding of it and then go on to the next one.  Just make sure that you are not surface reading just to say you did it. That would not please God or help you in your daily walk.  Be serious about your devotion time and make sure that you benefit from it.

These studies are helping me by giving me more faith and hope and causing me to put God first in my life.  I hope they are doing the same for you.  You must have a serious relationship with God, it is so important, and I hope that is what is happening to you in your life.  May God continue to bless you as you continue on in your walk with Him.  Grandma Joan

Saturday, November 23, 2013

An Invitation to You - Come to the Banquet!

Do you like invitations to banquets, parties, potlucks, wherever there is fellowship, fun and food?  I personally like it all, If I said I didn't, I would be a liar and I don't want to do that.  I don't know that I have ever been invited to a banquet, have you?  Parties, yes, and lots of potlucks.  I love fellowship, which I hardly get anymore.  I miss it terribly!!


We have been invited to a banquet and it is a sad story that needs to come home to us and see if it fits us personally.  I hope not.

Luke 14:16-18  Jesus Speaking,  "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready',  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it, I ask you to have me excused."

Do you think he could have looked at his ground another time?  I am sure he could have, so it was really just an excuse.

Verses 19,20  "And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them, I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'

Do you think either one of these were a good excuse?  I don't think so, I have thought that the man that made the great supper, must have been disappointed, because these were his friends and they all had an excuse, one bought some oxen and couldn't come and the other married a wife and couldn't come.  The first one bought some ground and couldn't come.  Very lame excuses.

Jesus sends us an invitation to 'come' will you find an excuse for not coming.  I like to think that in heaven there is a huge banquet table, miles long to make room for the saved and Jesus himself is there to serve us, remember how he served His disciples at the last supper, well, why wouldn't he do the same for us? He will be filled with joy that we are there and I know that His life was filled with ministering and He is still the same friend to us now and will be then.

Matthew 11:28-30  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden in light."

Are you laden with burdens?  He will give you rest.  We can learn from Him, He is gentle and lowly in heart and we will find rest for our souls because with Him, His yoke is easy and His burden that He gives us is light.

Will you accept His invitation or will you find a flimsy excuse?  We need His gentle spirit to lean on and rest in.  The man who held the great supper, sent the servant out to bring in the poor, the lame and the blind until his banquet hall was filled,  I hope that Jesus doesn't have to replace us because we are finding excuses to not come at His invitation.  Will you be there?  I am planning to be, who would want to miss such a great opportunity to be with all the saved of the earth.  Not me, not you I pray. Grandma Joan

Friday, November 22, 2013

Excellent Privileges!!!

What a privilege it is to be acquainted with the Highest Being in the universe!!  And on top of that, we have so many privileges that come through Him, so many, and I would like to elaborate on these privileges this morning to strengthen my faith and draw me closer still into His fellowship.  I hope you are willing to join me this morning, it is going to be a wonderful study.

Romans 5:1,2  "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."  The first privilege  is that we have access by faith into His grace and can rejoice in the hope of the Glory of God.

Hebrews 7:25,26  Speaking of Christ, "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens."
The second privilege is because He is our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, He is always making intercession for us to the Father.  He is like our lawyer in the heavenly courtroom, pleading our case before the Father.  Can you just see Jesus spreading out His nailed scarred hands and telling His Father, 'see these scars, this is what I did for them, please save them.'

John 17:2,3  Speaking of Jesus again,  "As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You,  the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. The third privilege is eternal life, and eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.  Do you know Him?  Can we have eternal life right now? We can begin eternal life right now if we are staying in His presence and learning to know Him the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent to save us.

1 Peter 2:2  "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby."  The fourth privilege is that we are like newborn babies that desire milk to grow, and if we are desiring the word of God we will grow.  And we will get to know Him.  Read His word and let it sink in and get to know Him.

John 16:13,14  Jesus speaking, "However, when He the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare if to you."  The fifth privilege is that we can have the Holy Spirit with us to guide us into all truth and tell us about things to come in God's word.

Romans 8:26,27  "Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is; because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."  The sixth privilege is that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us as well as Jesus, what privileges we have if we only accept them.  I am sure that sometimes when we pray, we wonder what to pray for or how to say it and that is when the Holy Spirit comes in and does it for us.  Isn't He wonderful to listen to our broken prayers and take them to the Father in unbrokeness.

Well, today we have discussed six privileges that we have as Christians and there are still more, so tomorrow I will try to show you some more and we will discover them together.  I think it is wonderful to live in this sinful world and have access to the King of the Universe.  What do you think about that?  I feel so privileged to know that, and to know that He is watching over me and also my family and friends and you are in my prayers too, as broken as they are but we now know that they get to the Father in beautiful language, don't they?  We also learned that we have a Lawyer in the courtroom above to defend us.  How can we neglect so great a salvation?  Grandma Joan


Thursday, November 21, 2013

A Knowledge of God

How important do you think it is to have a knowledge of God?  It is pretty important as I will try to show you from scripture.

Proverbs 9:10 "The knowledge of the Holy is understanding".
2 Peter 1:3  "As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the KNOWLEDGE of Him who called us by glory and virtue."  (emphasis supplied)

A knowledge of God is the foundation of all true education and of all true service.  It is the only real safeguard against temptation.  It is this alone that can make us like God in character.

John 17:3  "This is life eternal, that they might  KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."  So it is very important that we KNOW God and His Son Jesus whom He sent to save us.

Jeremiah 9:23,24  "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Neither let the mighty man glory in his might, Let not the rich man glory in his riches;  But let him that glorieth glory in this, That he understandeth and KNOWETH Me, That I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, Judgment, and righteousness in the earth; For in these things I delight saith the Lord."

Job 22:22,23 &25-29  "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace;  Thereby good shall come unto thee.  Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in thy heart....And the Almighty will be thy treasure....Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up they face unto God,  Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.  Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon all thy ways.  When they cast thee down, thou shalt say, 'there is lifting up', and the humble person He will save."

We see from these texts how important it is to have a knowledge of God.  In order for us to live a Christian life it is important for us to KNOW Him whom we believe in, otherwise how can we serve Him in all honesty.  Would you marry someone whom you didn't know, or even would you pick out a person that you didn't know as your best friend or even a friend.  We must know Him and there are so many blessings in knowing Him and we will discuss these in a later study, but right now I just wanted you to see the importance of knowing Him.  I want to know Him better, don't you?  I think this is going to be very rewarding to me and I hope to you as we study this out together.  May we learn to know Him and be the delight of His heart, He is just waiting for us to know Him better.  I can't wait to see what the knowing Him will do for us, He always has a reward for those that study to know Him better.  I think our last studies on Humility and Surrender helped me a lot to know Him better but I think this might even be better, so be patient while we learn to know God better each day.  Grandma Joan

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Are You Waiting Patiently?

Am I waiting patiently?  It's hard isn't it? Specially when we have a deep longing for something to happen and it doesn't happen.  It's really hard for me to wait patiently, but God is teaching me that I need to be patient and trust in Him for the longings in my heart.  I have been in a pit of despair and I know what it feels like to wait and wait and nothing happens.  I am not there now, praise God for lifting me out of it, but I still know what it is like and this lesson this morning is for me and I hope that you are lifted up too.  We need all the help we can get.

Psalms 40:1,2  "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.  He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.

As I said, I was in a pit of despair when my husband died, I have never felt so low.  I kept waiting for God to step in and help and He did, it was a slow process, because I am a slow learner, but He did what He promised.  He lifted me out of my pit and set my feet on a solid place in Him and has taken care of my steps
Have you been there?  Do you need lifted up?  Wait patiently and trust in Him and then He has another promise for you.

Psalms 40:3  "He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God;  many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord."  (the word 'fear' here means reverence)

He has put a new song of trust in my heart and many are reading about it here in my worship sessions.  He will do the same for you.  I am nothing special above anyone else.  We are all special to God and He wants to do for all of us what He has promised.  Are you willing to let Him put a new song in your heart so that many will realize what He has done for you and you can tell about the pit you were in and how He lifted you up out of it and set your feet on a rock.  The Rock is Jesus, the Bible tells us that.  So trust Him with a new song.

Psalms 40:4  "Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies."

I have blessed beyond anything that I had planned for my self.  You will be blessed too.  It is not for us to respect the proud, nor those that lie.  Tell your experience and let them see what God will do for them. I still have some great hope that I am still waiting patiently for, but because He has lifted me up from the pit I was in I know that He will bring about the hope I have.  When it happens I will be telling all of you about it.  I will close this worship session with verse 5, I can't say it any better.

Verse 5 of Psalms 40  "Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done;  And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order;  If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."  So very true, and I just praise Him for what He is doing in my life.  How about you, can you join me in praising Him?  Grandma Joan

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Love Life and See Good Days

Do you love life?  Do you see good days?  If not, there must be a reason.  Let's see if we can identify the reason we are not enjoying life as we should.  I hope I can find out, because I can't say that I love life as it is right now.  I have loved life when my children were around me, even  after they left home, sometimes they lived close by and that was a good thing for me, love my family near, but now they are scattered about and I don't see them very often anymore except for a snapshot visit now and then.  So let's see if we can remedy the reason we don't love life as we should.

1 Peter 3:10-12  "For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good:  Let him seek peace and pursue it, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers:  But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

These verses are speaking to me in some way and I must realize what God is trying to tell me because I want to love life and see good days and I also want Him to hear my prayers, some important prayers that I need answers to.

Maybe you can go through these verses with me and we can understand them better, how about it?  I surely need help, because I did not know that I was guilty of these things.

'Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking lies, that's what deceit means.  I don't think I lie about anything but I am open for God's revealing this to me if I am guilty, and I am wondering about  gossip, 'my tongue from evil'.  I just need to watch my speech a lot closer, I don't think I gossip, but yet I might, I really need to be careful about this.  'Let him turn away from evil and do good.' I have really been trying to do this, doing good as the opportunity arises. 'Let him seek peace and pursue it'  Believe me, I have been seeking peace, I am not sure how to pursue it, but I know God will show me that to.

I am so glad the 'eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers'.  I know that I am guilty of a lot of things and so glad He is watching over me to help me live a clean, pure life without fault before Him.  I will pray over these verses and God will show me wherein I am guilty and I will give it to Him.

This was a very personal study this morning, I hope I didn't bore you, but I also hope that you gained some-thing from it too.

James 3:2  "For we all stumble in many things.  If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body."  I am so glad God realizes that we stumble in many things, and I want my tongue to be tamed.  Verses 8,9 says, 'But no man can tame the tongue.  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison, With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God."

Who can tame the tongue if we can't?  God is the only One who can do that, so my prayer is that God will tame my tongue in every way, not just in one way, but every way.  I want my prayers heard and I want His watch care over me continually.  How about you?  Do you need your tongue tamed?  Let's give our tongue to God to make over and cleanse.  I am willing, are you? I want to love life and see good days, don't you? Grandma Joan

Monday, November 18, 2013

More Great News!!!!

The Bible is so full of 'great news', I am having a hard time controlling myself from just sharing and sharing.  I want to encourage you to the point that you won't give up in your Christian walk.  It is so very important to hang on to Jesus and stay in His presence, that is all we are asked to do and then remember what yesterday's study said, He will do the work in us, that He is faithful to do it.  Well, today, I just want to encourage you to keep hanging on and staying in His presence because we have promises from Him who is faithful that will help us along the way.

Philippians 4:13  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".

Verse 19  "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus."

Have you noticed that everything comes through Jesus and the reason for that is, that He gave up His life for us that we may have what He has, that we may inherit His inheritance with Him.  What a reward we may share if we are faithful.

In Colossians 1: 27  Paul calls it a mystery what Christ is willing to do in us.  And the mystery is, 'Christ in you the hope of glory'.  It's not a mystery anymore, we know that Christ is willing to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.  And perform the good works in us.  We can do anything that He requires because He supplies all the strength to do it.  He also is willing to supply all our need, according to His riches in glory.
How rich is that?  It is beyond our imagination.  I am so thankful that I belong to Jesus and He is willing to strengthen me and supply all my needs according to His riches.  How can I go wrong?  There is not any way that I can go wrong unless I choose another path to follow, which is straight to perdition.  Who wants to go that route?  Not me, He loves me too much to allow me to go that route and He loves you too much too.

 So, choose Jesus and follow Him, He does the work for you. If you decide to not follow Him, it is a very hard route to take and the reward is not worth speaking of.  Most of us have been on that road, it is a painful road and full of sorrow and death.  I am so thankful I have chosen His path and He is willing to keep me on His path if I choose to be there and I do.  How about you?  Will you choose Jesus today?  I pray that you do. Grandma Joan

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Good News, NO, Great News.

Do you like 'good news'?  I love it, anything that brings joy to my heart is 'good news'.  Right now, I am waiting for some good news, hope it doesn't take forever.  But I have been waiting all summer, guess another month or so doesn't really matter as long as the news is good.  There are so many things that would bring good news to my life, and I keep waiting.  Is that the way things are for you?  I see some little things that make my heart rejoice but the big things are a way off, it seems.

I found some 'great news' just now in 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 15-24, it sounds like a long drawn out text, but actually it is quite short and the punch line is the 'great news'.

"See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.  Rejoice always; Pray without ceasing; In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you; Do not quench the Spirit; Do not despise prophecies; Test all things; hold fast what is good; Abstain from every form of evil;  Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  HE WHO CALLS YOU IS FAITHFUL, WHO ALSO WILL DO IT."

Do we have to worry about all those things that we need to do?  NO.  It says that the God of peace Himself will sanctify us completely and our whole spirit, soul, and body will be preserved blameless at our Lord's coming.  Then the icing on the cake is that 'He Who calls us is Faithful, Who also will do it.

Are you willing to let Him do what He needs to do to sanctify you and preserve you until His coming, He is willing to do it for you if you will let Him.  How much easier can it get?  I once heard a minister say,'it is easier to be saved then to be lost'.  It took me a long time to figure that one out, but when I read these verses in 1 Thessalonians, I can see that if we let Him have control in our lives like it says here, then the quote of the minister is true.

In Philippians 1:6 is another of my favorite verses, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"  Who will complete it?  God will complete it.  Let's get serious about letting Him work out our salvation in us.

In Philippians 2:13  "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."  There are just too many verses that prove that the work is not ours to do, but God's.  We have only to choose to let Him do the work, He is more than willing to come in and complete the work He has already started in us.

Are you more than willing to let Him?  I am, it takes all the stress out of life and trying on our own to live a good life is hard and really impossible which we find out when we go that route.  I invite you to let Him come in and do the work for you, and see for yourself what He will do for you.  If you experience God's grace in your life, you will never want the old life again, I assure you it is the only way to live.  May I be blessed with your decision to allow Him in?  Please!!!!!!!!  Let Him in, you will never be sorry.!!!!Grandma Joan

Friday, November 15, 2013

Citizenship

Are you a citizen of the country you live in?  Most of us are, I assume.  I am sure that some of you might not be but I can assure you that you are a citizen somewhere and we can all be citizens of one country called Heaven, a magnificent place indeed.

1 Corinthians 2:9  "But as it is written: 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  Can I describe it, no, I can't describe anything that I have not seen.  As much as I love the beauty of nature, the flowers, the fall colors, the shimmering green of a lawn freshly mowed, the blue of the sky, the beautiful rainbows, trees leafing out in the springtime, the early spring flowers, I love it all, but there is no way I can describe something I have never seen or heard.

Philippians 3:20,21  "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

Did you get that?  Our citizenship is in heaven already, which we are eagerly waiting for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who when He comes will transform our lowly body and conform it to His glorious body.  Can you imagine such a beautiful change from mortal to immortality, living with Him forever and being a citizen of the heavenly kingdom.

Verse 14 says, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  This is Paul talking and we need to press toward the same goal that he is pressing towards.  Our heavenly home.  Just because our citizenship is already in heaven, doesn't mean we can get slack in our walk with God, we can always change our goal, that is the free choice that God has given us, we can decide in our hearts that it is not worth the effort to walk with God in truth and love.  I hope that is not your decision, it surely isn't mine.  I want to walk with God here all the time, so I can walk with Him right into His heavenly Home.  Remember, eye has not seen nor ear heard what He has prepared for those who love Him.  I want to see Jesus best of all, my greatest desire when I see Jesus is to see Him when He and Adam meet for the first time since sin entered this dark world.  I am sure there will be lots of tears on Adams part and even on Jesus part because it has been so long since their separation.  I am sure I will cry tears of joy too.  How about you?

We can't miss out on all of this wonderful world that is being prepared for us, for those who love Him with all their heart, enough to walk with Him here, so we can walk with Him there.  I love Him, do you?  I really want to love Him more, so very much more that I won't want to sin anymore and hurt Him again.  How about you?  Grandma Joan


Thursday, November 14, 2013

In Quietness

I like to be around people but I also like peace and quiet.  I can't think to good if it is too noisy, but really I don't have to worry about that, I live a pretty peaceable life, most of the time.  I do like friends to drop in and visit and I love family around, even then it's pretty quiet unless it's a house full.  I am wondering why I am studying Quietness, must need it in some way.

Isaiah 32:17  "The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever."  I am sure this is talking about eternity with Jesus forever.  It will be peaceful and quiet compared to this world we live in with all the freeways, trains and factories running and sirens  and strife,etc.

Proverbs 171  "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife."  How very true that is, there is so much strife and confusion in this world, I think we can all say a dry morsel and quietness is so much better.

1 Thessalonians 4:11  "That you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you."  Now there is a command and a half, to aspire to lead a quiet life and to mind our own business and work with our own hands.  I dare say that we have all been guilty of minding someone else's business instead of our own at some time or another, and maybe more often than not.  This is something we can all benefit from, I am sure, at least I can.

1 Peter 3:3,4  "Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting of fine apparel--rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."  A gentle and quiet spirit, I guess we can all benefit from a gentle and quiet spirit, can't we?

Isaiah 30:15  "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."  Our strength is in the quietness and confidence of what we believe.  If we have wandered away from God, it says, 'In returning and rest we shall be saved.'

Did you learn something from this study?  I did.  I learned that there is great peace and beauty in a gentle and quiet spirit and that it is good to mind my own business, which I think I do most of the time, but it won't hurt to work on it some more.  Was this helpful to you?  I hope so.  We are striving to be like Jesus and this was His spirit, gentle, quiet, confident, restful, always trying to help those in need.  Let us strive to be like Him.
Grandma Joan

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Are You Happy?

Yes, I am happy, maybe not as happy as I want to be, but yes, I am happy.  How about you?  Let's see if we can help this situation this morning.  I believe we can.  We must believe in what we are doing, and this morning we are going to see if we can be happier and then believe it.

Psalms 144:15  "Happy is the people whose God is the Lord."  That seems to be a logical and simple remedy for happiness, doesn't it?

Proverbs 3:13  "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding."  God's wisdom and understanding should bring us great happiness.  Ask for it, He will come through for you and give you your desires.

Proverbs 14:21 last part  "He who has mercy on the poor, happy is he."  I believe that a person who has mercy has to be a happy person, their heart will be full of love for others, including the poor.

Proverbs 16:20  "He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he."  Proverbs 3:5  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  Is there a happier way to live than this?  I don't think so.  This covers it all.  Happy are we when we heed His word, and trust in Him with ALL our heart and not trust in our own understanding, and acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our paths.
A safe way to live and a happy way to live.

Please ask God to fill you with His happiness.  God's happiness is not being loud, boistrous hilarity, it is sweet contentment, a quiet Christian life, a life full of love for others.  Join me in this kind of happiness, will you?  Grandma Joan

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

His Marvelous Ways

I hope you have noticed that I try to center my morning worships on God and Jesus His Son.  He really, truly is all we need in this world and I hope that you are getting a picture of that in your mind as you meet with me each morning for worship.  I want to paint a picture of our Father and His Son in your mind that is gentle, kind and full of love for you.  I so wish that I had had that picture placed in my mind growing up, but praise the Lord, I have it now.  His ways are indeed marvelous.

Job 5:8,9  "But as for me, I would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause--Who does great things, and marvelous things without number."  Yes, without number.  How about counting the marvelous things He has done for you?  You might be surprised.

Psalms 98:1  "Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!  For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory."  And it will gain us the victory too.  We can overcome anything with His right hand and His holy arm.  Try it, you will see for yourself the miracle of victory and how marvelous it feels to have His right hand and His holy arm holding us up in this world of sin.

Psalms 139:14  "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."  Yes His works in making us, physically and are marvelous and we know it very well.  Also mentally and emotionally, He molds and forms us into His image.  How marvelous are Your works in and for us.

Yes, His ways are marvelous and that is really an understatement, for me, He has been a marvelous friend and now a companion and a dearer friend.  He has touched me and healed me twice and maybe more, and
He has touched me spiritually, emotionally, and mentally and the healing to my body and my spiritual life have truly been marvelous.  'Thank You Father for all You have done for me, I certainly don't deserve it, but because you are the deserving One, you pass it on to me, who is undeserving'.  Won't you pray that prayer
too.  As we yield to Him, our life becomes one with Him and we will be His reward in the kingdom.  Won't that be a great day when we see Him face to face and understand His marvelous ways.  Grandma Joan

Monday, November 11, 2013

Thank You Lord!!!!

"Thank You Lord for Your forgiving Spirit, I am not worthy of such a loving gift.  But Jesus is worthy and it is because of Him that you have forgiven me."   What an awesome gift we have in Jesus!!!!!  If you have asked, you have been forgiven and your sins have been cast in the depth of the sea to be remembered no more.  Unless of course, you decide to take them back and not accept His bountiful forgiveness.

Micah 7:18,19  "Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?  He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.  He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."

Do you worry about your past sins and heartaches you have caused, no need to, if you are forgiven and your sins are cast into the depths of the sea, why do you go about bringing them back up.  God wants you to believe that you are forgiven and forget your horrible past.  He also wants you to forgive others as you have been forgiven.  I know it is a hard thing to do, I think the hardest thing for me to do is forgive myself, I can forgive others but I can't forgive myself, but if I am forgiven by the King of the Universe, then I need to forgive myself as well.  He has helped me a lot in this way, there are things that use to haunt me, but no more.
I must believe and trust in His forgiveness to have peace regarding my past.

We must praise Him for His unfailing mercy towards us and accept His unfailing love and forgiveness to us.
Is that hard to do?  It seems easy enough, it is just hard to believe that we can be forgiven for so much and have it not remembered and brought up against us, but it is very true and we need to believe and trust in Him who made it possible for us to have this abundant pardon, that is why Jesus died on Calvary, to bring us into relationship with His Father and for us to receive this pardon.  "Thank You Father for forgiving us so thoroughly and for not holding our past mistakes against us and burying them in the depths of the sea.  You are the loving God that I want to serve forever.!!!!"  Will you join me in praising Him?  Grandma Joan

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Courage My Friend

I am sure that you could use some encouragement, I know I do all the time.  I know that the Christian journey is sometimes difficult, it was very, very difficult for Jesus as He drew near to the day of the cross.  Are we better than our Lord, that we should be exempt from difficulties?  So instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, let's encourage each other on our journey and praise and thank God all the way to the Kingdom.
The Apostle Paul is talking to the Thessalonians as a father would talk to his children and this is what he said:

1 Thessalonians 2:12,13  "that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.  For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe." When we receive the word of truth, it works in us to make us a better person in Christ.  That's what we want isn't it?

They were having trouble with 'words of men' contradicting the 'words of God' back then too, and he was praising the Thessalonians for welcoming the word that they were preaching, as the word of God and not as the words of men. It is the truth we are seeking and this world is full of untruths, all you have to do is look around you, ads are untrue, people lie to you to get what they want, it is a common thing to lie these days.  So what we want to find is the truth that is in the Word of God.

Paul and Silas were sent to Berea by night for protection, and when they went into the synaogogue of the Jews the Bible says that the people "were more fairminded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."  Acts 17:11.

So they were checking Paul and Silas out too, to see if they were preaching truth.
It is a good thing to check out what we are told and hear, there are so many winds of doctrine these days, let us be careful what we take as truth.  And let us be faithful to what we hear as truth. And encourage each other on the journey to the Kingdom.  There is all kinds of encouragement in the Scriptures that will help us on our journey, we just need to study and believe what we read and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us so we won't read things into what is there and end up believing a lie.  Grandma Joan

Saturday, November 9, 2013

BEWARE!!!!!!

Does that scare you?  It would me if I were out on a mountain hiking or in the southland where snakes are prevalent, or if I were under a house where spiders inhabit.  We use to live in Montana where there were grizzlies and there was a sign up the Yacht river 'beware of grizzlies'.  I have seen signs in the south that said 'beware of rattle snakes' especially at night, they lay across the paths to cool down, I guess.  Anyway when we lived down there we always walked at night with a flashlight.  When I see a sign that says, 'Beware', I beware right then.  How about you?  Do you pay attention to 'Beware' signs, I hope so.  There is a 'beware' sign in the New Testament in Colossians.

Colossians 2:6-9  "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.  BEWARE lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

Don't let anyone cheat you through speculative knowledge or with empty words, according to the tradition of men and the basic principles of this world and not according to Christ.  There are so many traditions floating around, just like in Christ's day with the Pharisees and Scribes, one group taught one thing and the other group taught another.  Same today and no Biblical proof behind any of it.  It was all brought down through  traditions and it's that way today too,  that is why God has warned us to Beware.  Are we going to listen and search out the truths to see what God has to say or follow traditions?  That is a good question, some follow the easy way and others will search the Scriptures to see what God's real truth is.  What will your answer be?  I hope with God's blessing you will search the Scriptures to see if what people are saying is true or a tradition that came down through the years.  Please be faithful, the reward is Eternity with God.  I am sure that you want to be there, I do.  Grandma Joan

Friday, November 8, 2013

Stumbling Around

Is that you?  I have done my share, believe me, and I still stumble, but not as often and stumbling is not fun. It usually causes us pain or someone else.  Of course I am speaking from experience and I have suffered sufficiently from my stumbling.  Usually we slip up in anger, impatience, in our words, actions or even our thoughts, sometimes I have to repent of a thought that brought me down.

Have you ever been doing quite well in your Christian walk and all of a sudden you feel down, like something is not quite right and a little or a lot depressed?  It is because some little act or word got in your way and tripped you up, or it could have been just a thought of impurity, impatience or anger.  If you get upset over something someone did or said, you are apt to fall into a pit prepared for you by the devil.  I do not appreciate his traps and he has many of them.  Then you will have that ugly feeling in the pit of your being that things are just not right and then you have to stop and consider, 'what happened to me?'

Sometimes it takes a sincere apology depending upon who you injured, or a repentance to God because He alone knew your thought or motive.  But you do need to take care of it right away and make your standing with God whole again.  If your method did not work of making it right, then you did not take care of it in the right way.  Let the Spirit speak to your heart and in all honesty, do the right thing and then you will have a happy spirit again, right away.

Jude 24,25 says, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, both now and forever.  Amen."  Yes, He is able and He will do it, if we allow Him to.
To live in His presence is to keep us from stumbling and making mistakes that affect us Spiritually. It also keeps us from hurting ourselves and others Spiritually.  Our natural nature is sinful and wants to get even or talk back and it really hurts us Spiritually and others as well.

This was my husband's favorite Bible text and one of the nurses asked me what his favorite text was and I told her Jude 24 and she memorized it and said it to him when she was taking care of him.  I thought that was a very thoughtful thing to do.  It probably gave him peace, which it should do, it is a wonderful promise and I love to repeat it, and dwell upon the words and their meaning.

Can you trust God to keep that promise for you?  He is well able to keep you from stumbling and driving Satan out of your pathway.  James 4:6,7,8  "But He gives more grace, Therefore He says:  God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, Therefore submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...."  We have only to resist the devil and he will flee.  God does the driving of him out of our lives.  I know from experience.  Will you be willing to resist today?  Keep His promise with you, write it on a card and memorize it and say it out loud and let Satan know that you mean it.  You will have that peace that passes all understand that the Bible speaks about.  Grandma Joan

Thursday, November 7, 2013

My Thoughts, Lord

Do your thoughts run rampant sometimes?  You can't seem to get rid of them, no matter how hard you try.
I've just described myself, and God knows I need help in this matter, I can't do it, no matter how hard I try.
Is there a solution to this problem?  If I take it to God, yes there is.

I prayed, 'Lord, I need help with my thoughts, please lead me in this study to get the help I need.'  When it gets dark outside and I go to bed at night, I keep seeing my husband in his degenerate state, I see him losing his balance and falling down the steps backwards, I see him sitting in a wheel chair in the nursing home staring into space with no mind.  Then I start to cry and cry out to God for help.  I can't seem to see him in his natural state, when we had fun together, worked together and traveled together.  After we retired we did everything together.  This is very painful to me and Satan knows it and knows it is a weak point for me and does all he can to discourage me.  Have you been there?  Are you there right now?

Sometimes our thoughts run riot, in impure channels, sometimes they are full of anger, envy and hurtful.  They are only hurting us unless we put them into action, so it is best for us to get rid of them pronto.  How do we do that?  Proverbs 16:3  tells us how.

Proverbs 16:3  "Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established."

Psalms 37:5  "Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass."

We are to commit our works and ways to the Lord and He will establish our thoughts.  We also need to trust in Him to bring it to pass.  I can't tell you how much I needed this, my thoughts always turn to sorrow over the death of my husband but He has promised 'if we trust in Him, He will bring it to pass.  He will establish our thoughts.  That is a wonderful promise for me right now, how about you?  You don't have to be plagued with sorrowful thoughts, it could be any kind that would be sinful.  I mentioned a few kinds in a previous paragraph and of course there are other thoughts that plague the human race, but we have a promise that He will take care of them if we commit our works and ways to Him and trust Him with them.

Last night as I was plagued with sorrowful thoughts, I thought of that verse in James 4, 'resist the devil and he will flee', and I was trying to resist him, and then I turned to the Lord and asked him to drive him from me, and my thoughts changed and I fell asleep.  I don't know what I would do without Him.  I couldn't function at all in a proper Christian way.  We all need to commit our works and ways to God and He will take care of us in the most unusual ways, ways that we never thought of.  Are you willing to let Him take care of your thoughts?  I surely am, I don't like what Satan plants in my mind.  Will you join me in committing our works and ways to God and let Him take control of our thoughts.  Please do.  Grandma Joan.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Pure And Holy

Do you find that the Bible is hard to understand and there are some things that seem hard to deal with?  Yes, you are not alone, there are lots of people in this world who do not understand the Scriptures and even some people add to the Word their own meaning, I have a friend who does this and it makes more sense if you let God explain things to you, but you have to have the Holy Spirit's guidance to do that.  We cannot understand the Word of God without His help.

Psalms 119:125  "I am Your servant; Give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies."
Psalms 119:130  "The entrance of Your words gives light:  It gives understanding to the simple."

Luke 24:45  "And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

You can see that God gives us understanding of the Scriptures, that we might know what is right and wrong.
His Word gives us light and even if we are a simple person, He gives us understanding.  I truly am a simple person, I long to live a simple life and just believe God's Word and trust in Him.  He is opening our under-standing that we can comprehend the Scriptures.

The thought that came to me this morning was two verses in Proverbs that I think have a world of meaning.

Proverbs 30:5,6  "Every Word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.  Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

We should take His Word just as it reads, and not add to it or subtract from it.  His Word is pure and He is a shield to those who trust in Him.  Is He your shield?  Do you trust in Him?  Do you believe every wind of doctrine without checking it out to see if God's word verifies it?  We don't want to be rebuked by God, it would not be a good thing, so check things out before you believe it, check me out, I don't mind at all and if I am wrong, I will make it right, right here on my blog.  If I can't prove what I believe from the Bible, then it is not truth.

Have faith and trust in God and He will lead you into all truth and bless you each day as you learn from his Word.   His Word is Pure and Holy.   Grandma Joan

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Are You An Heir?

Have you ever inherited something?  I have a few times.  One time I took care of a lady in our nursing home that came in as a poor victim of alcohol and poor as could be.  But we loved her and took care of her and trusted her.  As she was improving, I gave her little duties around the nursing home to help in her recovery. In time I gave her her own private place and a key to the narcotic cabinet for night duty.  She told me later that when I gave her that key and trusted her with it, it totally changed her life.  She passed away several years later and when she did, as a way of showing her gratitude, she left us with her money, life insurance and her mobile home and car that she had accumulated.  By the way, she went to school after she got well and became a nurse.  Back then, what we inherited came to quite a bit.

Well, you are about to inherit something a lot more valuable than money. In Galatians 4:7  it says:
"Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."  Do you know what that entails, it is so fabulous that words will not describe it?

Christ is God's Son and in Him we are not a slave but a son (or daughter).  In Revelation 21:7  it says; "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son."  What is 'all things', well for a starter, eternal life with Him forever, I am going to list just a few things that we will inherit and tell you where they are found and then you can read it for yourself.  It is a wonderful thing that God has planned for those that are faithful.

Revelation 21:2,3  The Holy City, the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven and God dwelling with us and being our God.
Verse 4 God will wipe away all tears, Oh, for me that will be wonderful.  No more sorrow or pain.  Hard to imagine.  Then in verses 10-27 it describes the Holy City and what it is like, this will be part of the 'all things'
that we inherit, has this wet your appetite to read more?  The book of Revelation is not a closed book like some people think, it was written  for us who are living close to the end of the world.

Revelation 1:3 says:  "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

I invite you to read Revelation 21 and 22 just to wet your appetite for your inheritance in God.  It is a beautiful description of part of our inheritance.  It will give you something to look forward to, cause you to want to be there forever.  May I suggest that you order Amazing Facts Bible lessons on Revelation and Prophecy.  You will be so blessed.  They are free and full of blessings for the reader. God has promised us an inheritance in glory with Him.  Will you accept His offer.  I do.  Grandma Joan

Monday, November 4, 2013

He Shall Uphold You

We were born in sin and our nature has a natural tendency to sin until we are born again by faith into Christ.
Even then we have a tendency towards sin because of a life time of practicing sin, however long that is. There is an upward growth into our new life of faith and as we are growing, we may fall into an old practice
And then we feel so bad because we have failed the One who has saved us from the old ways of life.  There is a promise and more than one but I love this one very much.  It gives me hope when I fall and it will give you hope when you fall.

Psalms 37:23,24  "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand."  Isn't that a wonderful promise?  Your steps or ways are ordered by the Lord and He delights in your way.  And when you fall, He upholds you with His hand.

It doesn't say we will never fall when we start on our Christian journey, it says when we do fall.  Now, that doesn't give us license to sin or fall, but we live in a sinful world and sometimes we do things without thinking and when we do, His mighty hand holds us up.  I don't know how many times He has picked me up when I have fallen, over and over again and set me on the right path again.  He is so patient with me and I know because of His patience with me, that He loves me a lot more than I know or can imagine.

How about you?  Don't give up when you fall into an old habit or thought, have hope in that Mighty Hand that will pick you up and set you on the right path again and again because His love for you is enduring.

Galatians 2:20  "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Pray for the faith to believe this promise and realize the love that is extended to you at all times to lift you up and save you from your carnal nature because Christ lives in us now and we live by faith in God's Son Jesus.
What a precious Savior we have!!!!    Grandma Joan

Sunday, November 3, 2013

My Desires

My greatest desire is to see my children, and their families saved, my next desire is to be like Jesus, and next is to share Him with others, and next is to be free from debt on my home.  I need to sell it.  I believe that all my desires will be fulfilled, maybe not all at once but in time, when it is time.

Do you have some great desires that need fulfilled?  I am sure that you do, how would you like to have them filled?  There is a way, as long as they are God approved desires.  Sometimes we have sinful desires, and sometimes we have desires for riches, I know Christians that are rich and they know how to handle their riches to the glory of God and of course God knows all this before He blesses us with our desires, How we will handle our desires if we are granted with them.  How would we handle wisdom, if granted, or riches, or a mate, or children, or whatever our desires might be, how would we handle them?

Psalms 37:3,4  "Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

We are told to 'trust in the Lord and do good, feed on His faithfulness and delight ourselves also in the Lord'.
Can we do that?  Is this something that we are capable of doing?  I think so.  Trust Him in everything, and go about doing good, and feed on His faithfulness to us and our families, and delight ourselves in Him and what He has done and is doing for us.  Does that sound hard to do, not really, if you really love Him and want to serve Him.

He will give us the desires of our heart.  As long as our desires are centered in good things and wanting to serve Him with all our hearts, I am pretty sure that He will grant us our desires as long as they are not self-centered and selfish.  How about it?  What do you think?

Why not center our lives in Him and see how the blessings will be poured out on us and those we love.  We all need His blessings, don't we?  So let's co-operate with Him and be blessed.  Grandma Joan

Saturday, November 2, 2013

All That You Ask Or Think

Can you imagine receiving all that you can ask or think?  It is almost inconceivable, isn't it?  Some of the promises in the Bible are over whelming, because we live in such a sinful world, which is getting worse each day, seems like crime is soaring out of control and immorality is doing the same and so we really can't conceive of what God can do for us and also what He really wants to do for us.  I am getting a taste of it but it is just a taste of what He really wants to do in my life, even though I am in the elderly bracket.  I don't feel like my work for Him is over and when it is I will thank Him for using me to help others.

There is a verse in Ephesians 3:20 that says;  "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us."  Notice it just doesn't say 'all that you can ask or think' but 'exceedingly abundantly above, all that we ask or think.  That sounds like a lot more than we can even imagine, and I believe it is far above what we can imagine.  We live a life that is far below what God wants us to live or what He has planned for us to live.

There is a secret included in that verse if you didn't notice it.  According to the power that works in us.
That is the secret.  What kind of power do you think that is talking about?  I believe there is only one power that the Bible talks about being in us and that is the power of the Holy Spirit.  If God's Holy Spirit is living in us He will be able to fulfill that promise in our lives.

So what do you think is wrong, that we are not receiving the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and not able to claim that wonderful promise?  The answer to this question is in the following verses.

Isaiah 59:1,2  "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."

Psalms 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

So if we are asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which God's wants to give in abundance and we are hanging on to any sin, secret or open, He cannot fill us.

The remedy lies with our choice, when we are impressed to give something up, the Holy Spirit is trying to prepare us for His infilling, so the choice is ours whether we will be filled or not, isn't that right?  So let us ask God to remove the sin in our life and as we are confronted with them, let's let go of them and let the Holy Spirit fill us like the promise says will happen.  I am doing that each day as I have been shown anything that is sinful and hurts God and Jesus, I want to give it up, don't you?  Let's listen to Him speaking to us and prepare for the outpouring of His Spirit in our lives, on a daily basis.  Grandma Joan

Friday, November 1, 2013

Receive With Joy

 Once in a while you will see a verse repeated, or even a subject repeated in a different way.  I am not doing it intentionally, I believe God is trying to press something home to me that I need more than other subjects. So  bear with me as I try to learn the lessons He is trying to teach me and maybe you will learn something extra too.  We must be patient in our learning experience.  Sometimes God does things in a miraculous way and other times He takes a little longer to do the same thing in someone else.  I may be the one that takes a little longer to learn.  However He has done some miraculous things for me, I think I have told you a few of them already in previous posts.

Today, I was impressed to study the receiving end of God's giving, I can't tell you the reason but maybe we will find it out before the end of the study.  I hope so.

James 1:21  "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."  Here we are to receive His implanted Word.

Acts 2:38  "Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Colossians 2:6  "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."

1 John 3:22  "And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."

Mark 10:29,30  "So Jesus answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father, or mother or children or lands, for My sake and the gospels. who shall not receive a hundred fold now in this time--houses, and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life."

I noticed something in these verses that I hadn't noticed before, did you notice it?  There is a condition to everything we receive from God.

In James 1:21 we must lay aside any wicked thing and then receive His word with meekness.

In Acts 2:38 we must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and then we will receive the Holy Spirit.

In Colossians 2:6  we must receive Christ before we can walk with Him.

In 1 John 3:22  we will receive answers to our requests when we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him.

In Mark 10:29,30  if we have to leave everything that we love to serve the Lord Jesus, we will receive a hundred fold now and in the future, eternal life.

I have noticed in other places in the Bible where there is a promise from God, there is always a condition, to me the conditions are not hard but we must abide by His word and sometimes we ask for something without fulfilling the conditions and that is the reason no answer comes and sometimes God in His mercy sees all things and sees that we will fulfill the conditions after he does answer, I don't think it is usual for Him to do that but it is a possibility.  I believe that He wants us to be responsible enough when we pray for something to do what we can to fulfill the answer as much as we can.  Otherwise, God would be just Santa Claus to us and that is not what He wants to be.  He wants to be our All in All and so we are tested to see if He is our All in All.

Is He your All in All?  I want Him to be mine.  I believe this was the lesson for me today, how about you?  It seems there is always a good lesson for me and I hope for you.  Please let Him be your All in All. And receive Him with Joy. Grandma Joan