The Healing Jesus

A few days ago, I invited you to come and sit at Jesus feet each morning as we learn about Him and from Him.  I think I would like to know just what kind of Man He was and is, I think I know but let's see how He treated the sick and that should help us understand His heart a bit more, don't you think.  Try to put yourself in the place of the sick person as we read these wonderful stories of healing.  I am just going to relate a few today, there are so many, maybe tomorrow a few more if God is willing.  I know God wants us to know what kind of a Son He has and these stories will tell us.

Matthew 8:2,3  "And behold a Leper came and worshiped Him, saying, If You are willing You can make me clean'. Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing be cleansed,'  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed."  In the Bible Leprosy was a hideous disease, and sometimes it is used to illustrate sin in our lives. Jesus' love went out to him in healing and he was blessed, I am sure that spiritual healing transpired too.

Matthew 8:5  "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, 'Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented,' And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him."

Matthew 8:14  "Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served them."

Matthew 8:16  "When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon possessed, and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick."

Matthew 9:2  "Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.'  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, 'This Man blasphemes!'  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts said, 'why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins -- then He said to the paralytic 'Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

Do you see how the paralytic man was healed of his sin and then his physical condition.  That story seems to tell me that spiritual healing is more important than physical healing.  Jesus knew what he needed most and He knows what we need most, doesn't He?  But he was rewarded for his faith by both spiritual and physical healing.  That's the love of Jesus, all these stories show how much He cares for humanity and still does. His love is overwhelming to me, how about you?  This is only just a few of His healings, there are many more.
It would be a good study to get into the Bible and find these healing stories, it encourages us and strengthens our faith in Him for the trials we go through.  Most of them you will find in Matthew, Mark and Luke, so why not study them and see the benefit they will bring to your hearts.  They really help me.  Grandma Joan

To spend and be spent.

We all know what it is to spend, specially money.  It's fun for some, it's hard for others and some people are just plain misers and don't spend anything much and survive on very little if anything.  I knew a man years ago that lived in an old broken down house and lived out of garbage cans and dressed like a pauper.  Everyone thought he was poor as poor can get.  Then he died.  Some kids in their late teens decided to snoop around the only house and and shed etc.  At the time my husband worked in an auto parts store and these teenagers brought in their cars and was having stereo's, boom boxes and all kinds of things to upgrade their cars, and someone got suspicious and turned them in and yes it was the teenagers that were snooping around the old house and had found cans of money, and of course they were arrested.  I don't know what became of them, but I would guess they had to make restitution.  They were spending stolen money.

Some people like to spend every penny that they have every month and some people like to put something away every month.

Now 'spent' is another matter, it means 'exhausted'.  Did you know that God exhausted all heaven when He sent is most prized Possession, His Son to save us. He was willing to spend and be spent and He is our example.  In fact when His Son came, His example was the same, He was willing to spend all His life here and His time to heal and save those who came to Him for salvation.  He was also willing to be spent for us.  His life was exhausted on Calvary for us.

Remember He was our example and still is our example.  The example of an unselfish life, willing to spend and be spent for us.  Am I willing to spend and be spent for others?  That is a tough question.  How do you feel about it?  Are you willing.  It takes more than human strength to be that unselfish for others.  But we have God's promise that, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  Philippians 4:13  So we can spend and be spent for Him, can't we?  We can make the slightest effort and Christ will pitch in and do the rest, sometimes we just have to put our feet in the water first before He steps in and does it for us.

Remember that is what happened at the Red Sea for the Israelites and at the Jordan river when they crossed over both on dry ground.  God is good isn't He? Willing to spend and be spent for us and we can live an unselfish life for others too.  He will step in and strengthen us to do it.  How about it, are you willing?  In a little book I love called, 'Steps to Christ', the author says that we need to be willing to be made willing. I think that is me, I need to ask to be made willing. Sounds good to me.  Grandma Joan.

Come and Sit With Me

I am extending a blanket invitation to everyone who views my blog to come and sit with me every morning at the feet of Jesus, where we will learn things eternal.  Things that will lead us on to eternal life.  That is my goal and I hope it is yours.  Please don't ignore my invitation, it means a lot to me to know that others are searching for eternal life along with me.  I have had viewers from all over the world and some have stayed by me each day and others come and go.  My invitation to you means that we are both or all of us are seeking life eternal together, and what greater goal could we have that life forever with the One who loved us so much as to die for us so that we might live with Him forever.

It's not complicated to sit at Jesus feet and learn of Him and from Him, is it?  To spend a thoughtful hour each morning when your mind is fresh from the burdens of the day, when you can welcome Him into your heart to spend the day with you.  No, it's not complicated, it is the best thing I have ever done or will do and I am inviting you to join me every morning to sit at Jesus feet and learn of Him and from Him.  I know many of you have been blessed as you sit with me, some of you I know personally and others are good friends of mine and still others I have never met, BUT, someday I am planning on meeting you in the kingdom of our God.  Will you be there?  I surely hope so.

Today, I am extending to you another invitation.

Isaiah 1:18  "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  Is that a complicated invitation?  It is a wonderful invitation and a wonderful promise of forgiveness.

Matthew 11:28-30  Jesus speaking.  "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 is light."  He is not just speaking to those who work hard, but our burdens could be mental, emotional, Spiritual, or physical, but they could weigh upon us heavily and if we come to Jesus, He will yoke up with us and carry them for us and give us the rest that we so much are in need of.  Oh, to be free from the worries and frustrations of life!!  Do you think that is a complicated invitation?  Oh no, it is a loving invitation to give them all to Him and let Him carry them for you and me and be worry free with no frustrations or cares.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  He doesn't lay heavy burdens on us, never.  It is Satan that does that and is always trying to weight us down with them.
Turn them over to Jesus and resist the devil and he will flee.

Hebrews 4:16  "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  Isn't that another wonderful invitation?  And it's not a complicated one either.  We don't have to be timid to come to Jesus, He says to come boldly to the throne of grace.  So don't be timid to come to Jesus, He wants to help us in our times of need and He wants to pour out upon us His mercy and His grace.  He is just waiting for us to come and sit at His feet to learn of Him and from Him how we can live a peaceful, fulfilling life in Him.  Nothing complicated about this at all.

All these invitations, even mine to come and sit with me at Jesus feet, are all simple invitations that anyone can do and you will be forever grateful for the mercy and grace and peace that we will find there.  I am finding more and more of His love gifts just sitting at His feet each morning.  Won't you please heed my invitation and come and sit with me each morning to learn of Him and from Him.  I am inviting you with a heart full of love to come and join me each day, when you have an opportunity.  You won't be sorry, it will not be time wasted.  I am always blessed, and you will be too.  Grandma Joan

A Healing Balm

Balm, is an aromatic oil or ointment used medicinally.  Usually rubbed on an area of the body to bring relief to aching joints, muscles, bruises, and sometimes burns and open injuries.  It's used for lots of things for healing.  I especially like a black ointment that is put out by 'Nature's Way', it's called Dr. Christopher's black ointment.  It takes pain away from injuries very fast and helps close them up if they are open.

Another simple one that I use is 'Vicks', now you are going to say, 'whatever for', well, it is excellent for burns, even third degree, my daughter took hold of an exhaust pipe on our camper when she was young and it burned her hand so bad it curled her fingers up, I ran in and got my 'vicks' and filled her palm with it and in 30 minutes the pain was gone, it was third degree and to my knowledge there is no scar.  It's good for chapped skin like when you have a cold, it keeps your nose from getting raw from blowing, good for chapped lips. My son when he was small licked his lips a lot and they were always chapped and I bought him a small jar of 'vicks' to put in his pocket and he used it all the time to heal his lips.

Another good skin remedy is 'Coconut Oil', it softens the skin and is good on the face, you can take a kleenex and blot the excess oil if you want but I leave it on and in about an hour there is no shine left.  My skin simply absorbs it all.

Did you know that God has a healing balm?  Jesus is our healing balm. I would refer you to Psalms 103: 1-5.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name.
     Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits,
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
     Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
     Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

So far, I see a balm for those who forget all the benefits that God gives us day by day,
     There is a balm for our iniquities and our diseases,
There is a balm to redeem our life from destruction,
     There is a balm of loving kindness and tender mercies,
There is a balm for hunger, and a balm to renew our youth like an eagle's.

Jesus is our healing balm.

Jeremiah 8:22  "Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?

God is asking us a question.  Is there no balm, is there no physician?  Why is there no recovery for the health of My people?

My answer to this question would be, because we are not seeking the Lord like we should be and we are not remaining in His presence.  Is there a balm for you?  Of course there is.  Is there a Great Physician for you?  Of course there is.

Isaiah 9:6  "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;  And the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  This is our balm for healing.  I pray that He is yours too.  We need Him so very much and cannot really exist without Him, don't you agree?  Grandma Joan

It's God!

When you look at the beautiful flowers, do you think 'it's God' who causes the flowers to bloom for our pure enjoyment, nothing more?  When you see the beautiful blue sky, do your think, 'it's God' who makes the sky blue and allows the sun to shine so beautifully? When you see a beautiful tree laden with it's bountiful fruit, do you think, 'it's God' who gives us the wonderful fruit we have to eat? When you see a beautiful garden of vegetables, do you think, 'it's God' who causes the plants to grow and mature for our eating enjoyment?   When you see a beautiful dress or a suit, do you think, 'it's God' who made the material and the dyes that things were created from?  When you see the vast ocean and seas, do you think, 'it's God' who made these vast waters and who controls the tides and keeps them in their bounds, day and night?  You can say the same thing about your home, your car, the bed you sleep in, the heat that keeps you warm on cold days and nights.  Everything is God's doing and not only His doing but His delight.

David found out the same thing only on a different level, we must remember when David lived on this earth, he really was a 'man of war'. In those days, they were commanded by God to overthrow the wicked nations around them and take possession of their land.  I found these verses in Psalms 18:31-36.

"For who is God, except the Lord?  And who is a rock, except our God?  It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way  perfect.  He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places, He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;  You right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.  You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip."

Verse 46 says, "The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!  Let the God of my salvation be exalted."

Do I exalt God for all the things that He has done, and is doing in my behalf and yours?  Do you exalt Him as you should, I don't think I do and I pray that I will be more willing to exalt His name above all names and praise Him for all the wonderful things that He does for me.  'It's God", let us praise His wonderful name.
Grandma Joan

A Prayer for Healing

Have you every prayed for healing?  Oh, yes, I have prayed that prayer so many, many times I can't count them.  And I have been healed several times of severe problems.  I think I told you about the time I injured my back and I call it a 'blown vertebrae' because it was swollen and about two and a half inches across and red.  I couldn't walk, only with crutches and swinging my feet and then only with someone beside me in case I lost my balance.  I laid there for eleven days and then I read these verses in Psalms 6.  This described me to a Tee.  Put yourself in my place and feel my frustration.

"O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure, Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord heal me, for my bones are troubled, my soul also is greatly troubled, but You O Lord--how long?"  (How long am I going to lay here and not be able to use my legs?  I had no idea.)

"Return, O Lord, deliver me! O save me for Your mercies sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?  (I must have been thinking about it being the end of my active life, for I was a very active person.)

"I am weary with my groaning;  All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears, My eyes waste away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies."  (my enemies being Satan and his evil angels.)

"Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;  For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.  The Lord has herd my supplication;  The Lord will receive my prayer.  Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly."

I thought about this and contemplated it with all my being.  I knew God heard my plea and it says He will receive my prayer, so why not trust Him with my healing.  I submitted my condition to Him who loves me with all the love possible, and told Him that I was willing to be like this the rest of my life if that was His will.
Suddenly the pain was gone and I sat up and then I stood up and I have to tell you I was in shock but I shouldn't have been should I?  God's word is faithful.  When my husband came in I asked him to look at my back and the swelling and redness were all gone and I was healed.  I was so happy, wouldn't you have been?  I gave my testimony at church the following Sabbath.

If you need healing and you feel discouraged.  Read Psalms 6, that was my healing balm for that particular time and I still praise the Lord for that, I was around 47 years old at the time.  It's been a few years ago, like thirty some.  I'm still walking.  I love that Psalms, memorize it if you have to.  It is a wonderful Psalm to keep in your thoughts if you are down and out.  It covers about everything.  God loves us so much and wants us to read His word and use it for our healing medicine, regardless of what the condition of our lives may be at the moment.  Psalms 6 is a wonderful prayer for healing.  Try it, you may be blessed as I was.  Grandma Joan

Another Tool for Good Health

  Sometimes before we get well, we  seem to get worse for a time, it's called a healing crisis.  Have you every been through one?  It's pretty severe at times.  I went through a real one some years back when we were pretty sure that I had colon cancer.  I went on a real drastic cleansing diet and regime.  It lasted for weeks, doing all the right things to bring healing.  Then one night in the middle of the night I woke up in chills, I could not get enough covers on me, it was awful, I was beginning to think that I was dying right then, but if finally fell back to sleep when the shaking stopped.  I awoke in the morning well.  I will never forget it, we had a house full of family from out of town, and they were all really concerned about my health and when I walked out feeling great, there was rejoicing in my husbands heart and mine, and everyone else.  We knew the treatments I had endured had paid off.  It was a wonderful time.  A a great proof that God's plan does work.

In our Christian walk sometimes before we get well physically, we need to get well spiritually and there are times when we will have a crisis in our life to test our spiritual growth.  Yes, God wants to know if we really mean business with Him.  He doesn't leave us, He is there beside us all the way through it, encouraging, and holding us up all the time.

Romans 1:16  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."  The Gospel is Good News about Christ being sent here as a baby and growing up in His Father's will and submitting to the death of the cross to save us and then to be raised again to sit at His Father's side in heaven interceding for us day by day, hour by hour in our behalf to plead for our lives as He sends His Holy Spirit to guide and help us through the trials of this life, until He comes again to receive us to Himself in glory.  That is the gospel in simple language, and Paul said he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation.  Are we ashamed of the gospel of Christ?  It is powerful to save us.

Philippians 1:27  "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."

I believe that my faith in Jesus and His gospel is a healing power in our lives because Paul says it is the power of God unto salvation.  If we are not totally healed now in our walk with God, we know that when He comes we will be like Him because the Bible says we shall see Him as He is and if we are like Him we will be well, because He is well.  Not all healing takes place now and in this time but it will take place if we stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.  We know for sure that we can be healed spiritually and spiritual healing many times brings physical healing so let's build ourselves up in the faith and stand fast in the gospel of Christ so that we will experience spiritual healing and physical healing, as He sees our need for both.  May God bless you as you strive to be like Him and experience His love for you as you walk with Him day by day.  Grandma Joan

Another Tool for Good Health

It seems to me that health is the major problem in today's society, don't you think so?  Everyone is concerned about their own health or the health of someone close to them, and this is only natural.  I have had numerous health problems and they are going away one by one and the reason for that is I am using the tools that God has given in His word.  When He speaks in His word about our health, it is good to listen carefully and when He shows us something that we can do to improve our health, we should follow His leading there too.  So let's see what another tool might be to enhance our health.

Ephesians 5:25,26  "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word".  How are we sanctified?  By the washing of water by the word.  Get into the word if we would be made clean.

Hebrews 4:12  "For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  That's about any part of the body isn't it?  His word is living, powerful and sharp and discerns our thoughts and the intents of our heart.

Psalms 107:20  "He sent His word and healed them."  Would you like Him to send His word and heal you?  Then immerse yourself in His word every single day of your life, it does bring healing, specially spiritual healing.  I believe that spiritual healing proceeds physical healing.  For me it has been that way.  The more time I spend with God, the better I feel and the more energy I have.  I am not talking about all day or many hours reading and talking to Him.  I am talking about spending the first hour or two of your day with Him and then you are able to talk to Him as you work and go about your days duties and before you know it you have been in His presence all day communing with Him and seeing Him work little miracles for you as you go about your day.  He opens ways for us to accomplish more than we would if we were trying to do it ourselves.  That to me is staying in His presence.  It brings healing to my heart and mind and I am a happier person because of it and that brings emotional and physical healing as well.

Will you let Him send His word and bring healing to your body and soul? It doesn't happen over night but with some people I guess it does, it probably depends on how serious we are about being in His presence.
I hope you will see how important being in His presence is to our health both spiritually and physically.  Yesterday we discussed forgiveness as a healing agent and today His word as a healing agent.  Tomorrow we will discuss another healing agent.  These things God has given us to help us be a healthy, vibrant Christian, showing the world that His people are a healthy people in all respects.  May God help us be what His plan at the beginning when we were created in His image, was.  He can restore His image in us if we will allow Him to do it.  We may not be like Adam and Eve but we can have an abundance of His life giving power in our lives if we choose to.  Grandma Joan

A Tool for Good Health

It seems that everyone has something wrong with their health, it might be something small or something large, either way it's not good.  We need good health, I need good health, do you?  We all desire to have a healthy life but it takes a healthy lifestyle to have a healthy life.  I'm not speaking of what we put into our body today, I am going to tell you of something that will destroy your health, you may have never thought of it.

I saw a little video clip the other day of a preacher talking about people holding themselves hostage in their mindset.  Have you ever thought of that?  His thought was that 'someone in the past 38 years before had wronged them and for 38 years they had been holding on to that wrong and steaming over it and the other person had gone on with their life, made something of their life, while the wronged person was steaming over the wrong for 38 years, it was telling on their life and taking a severe toll on them for 38 years'.

Has someone wronged you 38 years ago?  Or less than 38 years ago and you are holding them hostage in your mind for the wrong they did?  Does it hurt them?  Are they suffering from being a hostage in your mind? I doubt very much if they even gave it a second thought after the hurt was done.  Maybe they didn't even know that they hurt you, worse yet, maybe you took it wrong, at any rate, who is doing the suffering, you or them?  For 38 years you have been fuming and fussing over a hurt that was applied long ago and it has stunted your life, you haven't been able to recover from it.

Some of the hurts that have been handed to us are terrible wrongs and are not lightly spoken of, such as child abuse, sexually or physically.  Maybe a spouse was killed purposely and left you a widow, maybe a child or a loved one was killed by a drunken driver, how about abuse in a marriage?  There are many sane reasons to be upset, a tragedy is a tragedy no matter what happened and of course there are reasons to be upset and to hold on to it, sometimes for years.  But is there a reason to hold on to it for years and destroy your own life over it?

Forgiveness is a powerful word and a powerful tool for good health.  Grudge holding can destroy a life forever if we let it.  Can you imagine holding on to a hurt for 38 years and never letting it go.  Who's doing the suffering?  Really, if you think seriously about it, who is the hostage?  I believe we can safely say that we are.  We have penned ourselves up in a world of bitterness and an unforgiving spirit and we are paying an extreme high price in our health.  It causes our blood pressure to go up sometimes to stroke level, depending on how upset we are.  The stress of it can cause our health to deteriorate, like our digestion, our elimination organs, our heart, and stress is the culprit of our 38 years of harboring whatever it is that is we are hanging on to and have become a hostage to.  (I am just using the 38 years as an example, because it makes it sound real like it really is).

Matthew 6:12  "And forgive us our debts (trespasses) as we forgive our debtors." (those who have trespassed against us.)  Can we be forgiven, if we don't forgive others?  That is an excellent question isn't it?
Forgiveness releases us from a lot of stress and pressure of trying to hold on to something that is ruining our health.  And on top of all that, we have wasted all these 38 years.

Have you wasted a year or 38 years or anywhere in between on something that is gnawing at your soul and ruining your health?  Forgiveness is a powerful tool back to good health.  It is something that does not come naturally, you will have to pray for God to give you a forgiving spirit and let go of it and see the relief that you will feel when you have come to grips with it.  It will be amazing what you can do when you come out of your prison house of grudge holding.  Pray for love to fill your heart for the one who has wronged you, not an emotional love, but a love for their souls and not wishing them harm.  Matthew 6:12 says that we must forgive if we expect to be forgiven.  Dear Friend, I know some of you are hurting to the max over things that have happened to you and I am praying for you to let go of them and let God deal with the thing or person that needs dealt with, your part is to let God give you a forgiving spirit.  Won't you let Him do that for you today?  I will and I know that He will help you too.  Grandma Joan

Biblical Warnings

We have been talking about all kinds of Biblical subjects, but it would only be fair to us to discuss some of the Biblical warnings.  They are for our benefit and affect our eternal life, so what do you say that we study some of them and see what they are.

2 Peter 2:1,2,3  "but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who brought them, and and bring on themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.  By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words, for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."

2 Peter 3:16  speaking of Paul here  "as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures."

2 John 7  "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.  This is a deceiver and an antichrist."

Jude 3,4  "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.  For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."

Right now things are happening that will try to lead us away from God's word to the words of men.  We must study to show ourselves approved unto God a workman that needeth not be ashamed.  We need to know what we believe so that these false teachers will not lead us astray.  We need to contend earnestly for our faith.  God will bless all who are faithful to Him and His word.

1 John 3:2  Beloved now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."  This is a beautiful promise for God's children, we shall see Him as He is.  Are you looking forward to seeing Him as He is.  I am and I pray that you are.  Let us heed the warnings that we have been given and believe the word of God as it is written, not as men interpret it.  We will see Him when He comes to save us.  Grandma Joan

Some of Jesus Teachings.

Yesterday we spoke of the Right Way and the Wrong Way and I thought it would only be appropriate that we study about Jesus teachings, a few of them that I can find and share with you.  I hope this is OK.  I love to study about Jesus and what He taught, it is very enlightening.

First off, let's establish that Jesus was a teacher. Let's read John 3:2  Remember the story of Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night to interview Him and find out who He was?  This was Nicodemus talking, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these things that You do unless God is with him." Nicodemus recognized that Jesus was a teacher from God.  We should recognize it too, from all the things the Bible reveals about him.  So let's check out some of Jesus teachings.

1 Peter 2:21  "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps."  He left us His example that we should follow His steps.  I have numbered the teachings that I have found but they are not in any order.

(1) 1 John 2:5  "But whoever keeps His word truly the love of God is perfected in him.  By this we know that we are in Him."

(2)  1 John 2:10  "He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him."

(3)  1 John 2:17  "And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

(4)  1 John 1:9  "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

(5)  1 John 2:1-3  "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.  And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.  Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

(6) 1 John 1:7  "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

(7)  1 Peter 5:6-9  "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."

(8)  1 Peter 3:10-15  "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.  And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed.  And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled."

I don't want to weary you, but I do have an assignment for you.  You can study and find all kinds of teachings of Jesus.  I have only just begun to share some of them with you.  May you be blessed as you seek to do His will and follow in His paths.  Grandma Joan

Is There More Than One Way?

There are a lot of churches out there, and a lot of different beliefs too.  I am sure there are a lot of questions about which way is the right way and which church is the right church.  Well, I am not going to touch on the church subject because if we touch on the Right Way, you can decide for yourself about the church question.

Jesus said in John 14;6  "I am the way, the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father except through me."

Anything that Jesus did or taught would be called the Right Way, wouldn't it?  So to test whether we are in the Right Way, just follow Jesus example and we will be in the Right Way.

Jesus also said in Matthew 7:21  "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  This is another way to know if we are in the Right Way, those who do the will of the Father in heaven.  So if we are in God's will, we are also in the Right Way.

If we follow Jesus and listen to His counsel, we can't go wrong, can we?  I don't believe we can.  He has a warning for us in Matthew 7:15  "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."  Who would be a false prophet in sheep's clothing?  I believe it would be someone who is teaching something that the Bible doesn't teach, don't you think so.  That seems logical to me.  They would pretend to be ministers of the gospel, and yet ignore Jesus teaching of the gospel.

There is also a Wrong Way and Jesus speaks of that too, in Matthew 7:13  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it."  Many are entering the wrong gate or Wrong Way and are headed for destruction.

There are two ways, the Right Way and the Wrong Way and we are well warned about the Wrong Way and the Right Way, we are well taught what that is too.  What is the solution of making sure we are in the Right Way?  As always, the solution is the same, stay close to Jesus, study His word and we will be safely in the Right Way.  Don't listen to those ravenous wolves who dress up in sheep's clothing trying to fool us and lead us down the Wrong Way to perdition.  Be careful my friend the warning is clear and we need to listen, it was given for a purpose, and that purpose was to help us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus so we don't slip into the Wrong Path to destruction.  Just stay close to Jesus, in His presence day by day and you will have no worries about which path is Right or Wrong, the path to heaven is clear and plain but the Bible says few will find it in Matthew 7:14.  Don't be discouraged by the word 'few', we can be among the 'few' who follow the narrow path to the kingdom.  I don't want to go down the wrong path, do you?  I'm sure that you don't and we don't have to.  It is our choice.  What will be your choice.  God has planned that all should be saved, but because He is a God of love, He has left the decision up to us. My prayer for you is that you will please choose Jesus.  Grandma Joan

What Is Your Picture Of God?

Do you have a picture of God mulling around in your mind?  I did for years and it wasn't a good picture either.  Our pictures of God usually come from childhood experiences.  Mine came from a cruel step father.  What are your pictures of God like?  I saw a mean looking face, scowling at me all the time waiting to grab me and punish me for something I had done, and yet as a child, I wanted to serve Him and be on the good side of Him and not displease Him at all.

Some years back, I saw this face again and I had done a lot of Bible study and it didn't correspond with the face I was seeing in my mind.  All of a sudden the thought came to me, 'that is not the right picture of God at all', and I asked God to give me a real picture of Him.

This is the picture that I have now, a gentle, patient, compassionate, loving, forgiving, a sweet forgiving face, one that would draw you to Him, not frighten you away.  Arms outstretched to receive you, waiting for you to come to Him.  Not waiting to punish you if you slip up.  What a difference that picture makes in my life.
No need to fear Him, just rest in His arms of love.  He will save me if I am willing to be saved and to walk beside Him.

What is your picture of God?  If it is anything like mine was, let Him show you a new picture of love, just waiting for you to come to Him and be saved.  The ugly picture that I had of God was one that Satan has conjured up in the minds of millions and millions of people to make them think that He is just waiting for them to slip up so He can cast them into hell fire and that they will burn there forever and ever.  Would you treat your child like that?  Of course not and do we think that God would treat us worse than we would treat our children?  What a horrible thought!!!  God's love is so much greater than our love that we cannot really comprehend it.  We don't understand such great love.  But if you let Him pour out His love in your heart you will catch a glimpse of His love and you will never be the same again.  He is a loving, kind, gentle, tender, compassionate, forgiving friend, unwilling that any should perish.

John 3:16,17  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Does that sound like He is waiting to punish us if we slip up?  No, He gave the best gift He had to save us, if that isn't love, then I guess I don't know what love is.  He didn't send Jesus here to condemn us but to save us.  What a beautiful picture of God we can have now, no need to believe Satan's picture anymore.  John 3:16,17 paints a very different picture of God, doesn't it?  Let's let the real picture sink into our hearts and minds and serve Him in return with love for Him that outweighs any other in our life.  He can be and wants to be our 'first love'.  Will you let Him?  I pray that you do and that I do too.  Grandma Joan

Always Thankful

Are you always thankful for EVERYTHING that happens to you?  Your answer is probably the same as mine, no.  I am not always thankful for everything but am learning to be more thankful day by day.  I really have so much to be thankful for, my age is one thing, I come from a short lived family, my mother died at 72, all my immediate family are gone except for second cousins.  Some died sooner than 72.  So I feel very thankful that God has given me at least ten more years and I am hopeful for more to serve Him.  I am thankful for each new day and the good rest I receive each and every night.  It has not always been so. I am thankful to be able to blog about the precious Friend I have found in Jesus and so thankful for how the blogs have helped me have a closer walk with Him.  I am thankful for how He is saving my children, each in their own special way and their children and so on.  I am so thankful that my son has come to live with me and help me with my expenses as my home is being sold.  He could be putting money away for his future, but instead he helps a lot more than is required.  I am thankful that I have a serious buyer and he is just waiting for his loan to go through, I am learning patience in the process.  I have a little German shepherd friend that has had a serious illness and I thought I was going to have to put her down, but she is healing with the meds she is on and I am very thankful for that.  I could go on and on for lots and lots of things, my home, food, water, hot water to shower, etc.

How is your thankfulness doing?  Thought maybe me reiterating mine, might help you see some very important things for you to be thankful for, maybe not the same but similar.  Phillipians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice."  Can we do that?  Did you know that if we let them, trials only bring us closer to Jesus.  Remember yesterday I spoke about the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd,  the Rod is to guide us and discipline us to keep us in the path of righteousness, it is not to beat us with, it is to reach out and tap us when we start to stray one way or the other,  the staff is to rescue us if we fall into a pit of sin and He pulls us out with His staff with the crook in it.  Isn't that something to be thankful for?  I think so.  We are safe by His side, in His presence as we have learned day by day and it is helping me so much to stay there.  I love sharing with you and am so thankful that I can and I hope I will be able to continue doing it with God's help, of course.  So many things to be thankful for and rejoice over.  Are you more thankful now than when you began to read.  I hope so.  Let us always be thankful and our heart will be so much more lighter and we will have a gleam of happiness in our eyes that have long been gone.  Be ye thankful and rejoice evermore, is my prayer for you.  Grandma Joan

Sometimes I'm not sure.

I am not speaking of doubt today, I don't think I am anyway and I hope not.  The last thing I want to do is doubt God's mercy and saving grace.  Sometimes I wonder if I am in His will or not.  Now that I wrote that I think that a little doubt may have crept in.  I sure don't want it to, so maybe this study will take care of that.  I always want to be in His will.  That's what will save us, at least that is what I am learning day by day.  How about you?  Am I living in His will day by day and hour by hour?  Do you ever wonder that, or do you even think about it?  I know some people are concerned and some people are indifferent. I don't know what your experience is but I pray that it is one of advancing in your Christian walk.

We can know God's will for our life by studying His word and that's what I am doing day by day and by sharing with you too.  I think we all need to know that, don't you?  I think we all know it is God's will that we be saved in His kingdom, not when we die, indeed, that is important too, but day by day we need to know that we  ARE BEING SAVED.  He is the Good Shepherd, in Psalms 23, it says that 'His rod and staff comforts us, a shepherd's rod is for disciplining his sheep by guiding them back in line with the others, keeping us in the right path and the shepherds staff is to bring his sheep back to the fold when found, the crook in his staff helps him rescue them if fallen into a pit or over a bank.

The Shepherd's work is to protect his sheep, and rescue them if they have wandered away and are lost.  His job is to fight off the enemy that comes in to destroy his precious sheep.  He also knows them all by name.
Does the Good Shepherd know your name?  Yes, He does.  He is always searching for that one lost sheep, and trying to rescue them from the perils of this world that keep us away from Him.  Does He discipline us? Yes, He does, but not by harsh discipline like we so often give those we love, but is gentle, merciful, and full of love.

Are you lost?  Have you wandered away from His side?  You may feel the crook in His staff gently pulling you up out of the pit you are in, I have felt it many times.  He is pulling us up beside Him so we will be protected from the enemy of souls.  So am I sure that He is saving me?  I am sure as long as I feel Him working in my life to save me.  I can choose to turn away, and not want His presence or His help, but as long as I don't turn away, He will continue working in my life to save me day by day until I am ready to be granted entry into His kingdom at His coming.  I love Him, don't you, He is so patient with me, so gracious, merciful and full of love, always gently prodding me on to His kingdom day by day and hour by hour.  So don't be discouraged or unsure of your standing with Him, just choose to serve Him and He will shine light on your pathway to make sure you make it.  If you fail Him, repent of your failings and seek forgiveness and it He is will to forgive all our sins.  1 John 1:9  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Our duty is to confess, and His duty is to forgive.  Is that too hard to do?  Not for me.  How about you?  I hope not.  God bless your walk with Him.  Grandma Joan

Offenses Must Come

Have you ever been deeply offended by someone or even mildly offended?  I have and not to long ago and as I was praying for more of the Holy Spirit in my life, I was prompted to do this study, so bear with me as I search out this vital subject.  It is a very deep concern of mine because I am guilty of being offended more than once, and I am not talking about a life time, I mean not to long ago, but I have to deal with it so here we go.  Hope it helps you as I know it will help me, as it is a problem I am facing right now.

I remember a verse in Psalms 119:`65 "Great peace have they that love Thy law and NOTHING shall offend them."  That really hit me.  Nothing shall offend them.  Absolutely nothing.  So now what do I do?  The only thing I can think of to do is to give my offenses to the Lord.  I have given other things to Him and He has dealt with them, so why not give Him my offenses.

I learned something else more important than being offended. This did not hit me like the other text did but it is really important, I would have been hit with it a while back but I guess I have learned to be careful.  Here's the text:  Matthew 18:7  "Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come. but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!"  Woe to us if we offend others.  Wow!  Woe to us if we offend others.
How careful we must be when we open out mouth to speak.  We don't even have to speak to be offensive, we can give a look that is offensive, that is what happened to me, it was a horrible look.  I can still see it.

It just dawned on me that whatever the problem, God is our problem solver, if we ask Him to forgive us and take it away He does it.  Also, I don't think there is a problem in this world that His word does not have good counsel for.  This morning is a good example of counsel from God's word.  I try very hard by His grace to take His counsel to me personally and benefit by it.  I pray that I love God and His law enough that I will have that great peace and nothing shall offend me.  I know people that don't even hear offenses, and that is the way I want to be.  How about you?  Not only that we won't be offended but that we will not be the cause of an offense towards others.  We are bound for the kingdom, so let's make our path smooth and peaceful.
Grandma Joan

Personalize the Scriptures.

When we read and study the Scriptures, sometimes we can slip our name in them in place of another name or we can use personal pronouns to make them personal to us.  I like to do that when I am seeking help from the Lord, I have done it with lots of verses and other readings.  It really helps us to understand what God is saying to us.  To show you what I mean, please turn to Psalms 121.  I am going to put my personal words in parenthesis so you will know what my words are.

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--from whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.  He will not allow your (my) foot to be moved; He who keeps you (me) will not slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is your (my) keeper; the Lord is your (my) shade at your (my) right hand.  The sun shall not strike you (me) by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord shall preserve you (me) from all evil;  He shall preserve your (my) soul.  The Lord shall preserve your (my) going out and your (my) coming in from this time forth and forevermore."  See how this makes it so personal to us to personalize them to fit us personally.
You will have to read this one from your Bible, I am going to personalize it to fit my need without changing the thought at all.

Now turn to 2 Peter 1:2-9  "Grace and peace have been multiplied to me by the knowledge  of God and of Jesus my Lord, as His divine power has given me all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called me by glory and virtue, by which have been given  to me exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these I may be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption  that is in the world through lust.  But also for this very reason, I must give all diligence and add to my faith virtue (goodness) and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if these things are mine and abound, I will be neither barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ..  For if I lack these things I am shortsighted, even to blindness, and have forgotten that I was cleansed from my old sins."

That makes it so personal to me I can understand what God is trying to tell me.  It makes it so plain I can't misinterpret it.  Sometimes we change the meaning when we personalize, but that is not the purpose of what I am trying to tell you.  A fair warning.  Don't EVER change the meaning of God's word, His word is final and if we try to change the meaning we are in jeopardy with God.  He has warned us in His word not to do that in more than one place.  But I believe He wants us to take His word personally to ourselves so that we can see that He is directly speaking to us, which He is.  You can't do it with everything, but with some verses it is so easy to apply them to ourselves this way.

Enjoy your study of His word and remember not to change things, just apply them to you personally.  There are so many promises to apply to ourselves and we must be sure to thank Him in advance for answering your requests,  This shows you have faith in His promises.  God bless your study of His word and may your faith increase dynamically as you study and claim His promises.  Grandma Joan

Do I Have Faith?

I have often wondered if I have enough faith to save me and share with others to save them?  I know there is a, should I say secret, it's not a secret but to me it is a secret, because I have to search for the answer and when I find it I realize it is very plain and not a secret at all.  Anyone can know if they have faith.  It doesn't take much faith to receive from God but it seems like it does.  I plan to search for the answer to this mind boggling question which I am sure others are wondering too.  Stay with me while we study 'faith'.  You will be blessed.

Ephesians 2:8  "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."  This is the best part, it is a gift from God.  We cannot conjure up faith, it is a gift. Faith comes from the heart as we will see in the next verse.

Romans 10:8 "But what does it say?  'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is the word of faith which we preach.)  So we must talk faith and in our heart believe.  Remember faith is a gift and Jesus is not partial in His gifts.

Romans 12:3  (last part) "....God as dealt to each one a measure of faith."  So we have faith given to us to get us started on our journey of faith.

Hebrews 11:1  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  Faith is something that we hope for but cannot see.  If we could see it, it wouldn't take faith.  When you are driving your car and come to a huge bridge, you have faith that it will hold you and all the other cars up, but you cannot always see what is holding up the bridge, yet you drive across it hoping to get to the other side.  This analogy always helps me in my faith walk.  I hope it helps you.

John 20:30,31  "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."  By believing in Jesus we may have life in His name which will lead to eternal life.

Romans 10:17  "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  So I believe that when we have need of faith, we need to get into His word and our faith will increase as our time with Him increases.

Matthew 21:22  "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  We must pray by faith and of course in God's will.  It is a good thing to pray, 'Thy will be done".

Luke 17:5  "And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith."  We can pray the same prayer, 'please increase my faith in You.'

I certainly need an increase of faith, how about you?  That is going to be part of my prayer from now on,
'Lord, increase my faith in You.'  My need is so great but His blessings are greater than my need and He has all riches in heaven to supply our need.  Will you accept His measure of faith today that He is offering you as a free gift.  I will and will pray for an increase of faith and let's not forget to thank Him in advance for answering our prayers.  This shows that we believe He will answer.  Not always as we want but He does answer.  Sometimes the answer is 'no' because it is not good for us, that is why we must say 'Thy will be done.'  Stay in His word and your faith will increase as you study His word.  My pray for you today is that you will increase in faith in God and abide in Him throughout the day.  Grandma Joan

You Are Invited

I have had to say no a few times to an invitation to some kind of social event, but not very many.  I always know that a friend has invited me and feel honored that I was chosen to send an invitation to.  Or invited to an event verbally.  When I know something is going on that I am not invited to, I wonder why?  Sometimes I know why and it doesn't bother me, there is usually a good reason.  It has never interfered with relationships.

We have a standing invitation, did you know that?  In fact there are several standing invitations in the Bible that I just discovered this morning.  Let's see what they are.  The first invitation that I found says in Isaiah 1:18  "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  This invitation is an invitation to come to Me and study my word and let us reason it out and no matter what your sins have been, I will forgive you and they shall be a white as snow and as wool.  What a great invitation, and He truly does want us to come and reason together and He will explain things to us through the Holy Spirit impressing our minds of truths from God's word.

Isaiah 55:3  "Incline your ear, and come to Me, hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, The sure mercies of David."  God is saying, 'listen and come to Me and hear and your soul shall live.  This shows the importance of this invitation, 'your soul shall live'.  His promise is that when He comes we shall go home with Him and live forever.  What a great promise!

Matthew 11:28  "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 is light."  His invitation to 'come' is to ALL who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and to pick up His yoke, which to be yoked to Christ is really letting Him carry your burdens and again He is inviting you to come and study about Him, because He is gentle and humble in heart and we will find rest to our souls.

All of these invitations really relate to coming and learning of Him.  Is that a hard invitation to accept?  He repeats it several times to reason together to listen to Him and be yoked up with Him and learn of Him.  Can you spend an hour a day with Him, I guarantee that if you do, it will turn into the best hour of your day and it will also turn into more than an hour as you get acquainted with Him who loves you so much.  You cannot spurn His invitation without hurting Him immensely.

If you spurned a close friends invitation or a family members invitation, you would hurt them immensely and it is the same with Jesus.  These invitations are His words to us so please accept them and try Him out, He will not disappoint you, I know for sure, He has not disappointed me, He has borne long with me and been so patient with me all these years, teaching me and guiding me as I am learning about Him.  I surely accept His invitation this morning as He has pled with me to Come and learn, will you accept His invitation too.  I pray that you do.  Grandma Joan

Transform Me, Please.

We studied about revival yesterday and this morning I thought, 'now that I understand what revival is, I think I need transformed'.  So guess what our study will be this morning.  How to be transformed.  The dictionary explains it this way, 'to be changed markedly in form or in appearance'.  There is one verse in the Bible that uses the word 'transformed'.

Romans 12:2  "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Transformation starts in the mind.  We have to feel the need of a reformed life, otherwise why would we even think about being transformed.  Think about your life, what do you need changed?  Is it your appearance?  Is it your speech?  Is it your diet?  Is it your daily habits?  Let's think about these things for just a few minutes.

Appearance:
1 Timothy 2:9  "In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works."  In Bible times women braided gold strands and pearls into their hair and also into their clothing to attract the wrong kind of attention.  I am sure there is nothing wrong with braids, it's what we do with them. You can almost always spot a Christian woman by their appearance.

Speech:
Colossians 4:6  "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."  What is your speech like, is it always with grace?  You can most always spot a Christian when you listen to their speech.  Isn't that right?

Diet:
Genesis 1:29  "And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed to you it shall be for food."  This was the original diet that God gave man.  After the flood when there was no vegetation when they came out of the ark, God gave them permission to eat flesh meat of clean animals.  That is one reason that seven clean were taken in the ark and only two of the unclean.  So they would have food, it also shortened their life span as you can see if you study their spans of life from Adam to those after the flood.  So our very best diet is a plant based diet, without animal products.  They have done a study on diet and life span and they have found that the longest life span and the healthiest is those that have followed a plant based diet.

Habits of life:
This could cover so many areas of life that I can't possibly cover them in this study, but I will mention a few that probably some will find that they could work on them.  I think the very best habit to form is the habit of getting up early and spending time with God.  This habit will really take a lot of other habits that we have formed, into account, that need to be changed.  You will find that the more time you spend with God, the more you will want to be like Him and all the bad habits will disappear as you grow in His likeness.  Isn't that right?  So whether its cleanliness, cluttering, diet, speech or appearance, the closer you come to Jesus, He will take care of all the bad habits and replace them with good ones.

Transform Me, Please, is my prayer for myself and for those of you who need God's help in transforming your life. May God answer our prayers for transformation of character and life.  Grandma Joan.

Please Revive Me

Revive means to live again more vigorously.  The dictionary says, to come back to life or consciousness. The first definition is more of a Biblical definition.  Either definition can be applied to our Spiritual life. We can be dead in sin and need Revived.  We can be a lukewarm Christian and need Revived.  We can be a half hearted Christian and need Revived.  We can by a hypocrite and need Revived.  There are lots of states that we can be in and our need is Revival.  I think the worst state of all is the Hypocrite, who thinks they are OK when in reality they are far from being an OK Christian.  The Hypocrite who thinks they are perfect or next to being perfect are far from it in their actions, words and deeds.  They have a proud spirit and try to make everyone else come up to their standards, they are very critical of everyone but themselves.  They see nothing wrong with themselves.

Then I would say the lukewarm Christian would be in a critical condition,  they go to Church, and listen to great sermons on what a Christian ought to be and go home unchanged,  they are happy just drifting along believing that they are saved when in reality they are far from it. They are indifferent to the call to be like Jesus and are comfortable in the rut they are in.  Some people call them pew warmers. They think they are Christians but think they are alright just like they are and don't need to change.  They think that if their names are on the church books, that's all that is necessary.

It really doesn't matter what ditch we fall into, we need Revived.  There is hope for all who want to stay on the main road and I want to share this hope with you today.

Psalms 85::6  "Will you not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?"
Psalms 119:50  "This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life."
Psalms 119:93  "I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life."

Psalms 138:7  "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me, You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me."

Here is the great promise of revival.
Isaiah 57:15  "For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:  I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

Isn't it true that God's word gives us life and revives our Christian experience and isn't it true that He has promised to revive us if we have a humble spirit and are repentant of our sins?  Isn't it true that He has promised us that His right hand will save us?

So what are we waiting for, let us give Him our lives and let Him lift us out of the ditch we are in.  One of my very favorite promises is as follows:

Psalms 40:1-3  "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, 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."

Isn't that the greatest promise for us today, just be patient and He will bring us up out of the pit we are in no matter what pit or ditch we have fallen into.  He will plant our feet on a rock and I believe that Rock is Christ and His truths.  He will make sure our steps don't falter and He will also put a new song in our heart, praise to God that will cause others to be saved.

I think we could all use some reviving, don't you.  I know I do and this little study has really helped me understand that I need it very much, how about you?  Could you use some reviving of your Christian experience?  God has promised to revive us, so let us let Him do it for us.  Grandma Joan

Just Ask

Are you afraid to ask for a favor?  Are you afraid you will be denied? Are you afraid they won't want to help?  Are you afraid that you are asking for too much?  All these things may happen when we are asking from another human being such as ourselves, but when we are asking God for favors, it is a different story.

James 4:2 Last part, "You do not have because you do not ask."  Don't be afraid to ask!!!!!

James 4:3  "You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."  I think we know better than to ask for things that will be just consumed on our pleasures, but just in case we think that God is a God of indulgence, let us not forget what our goal is in living in this world and what God's goal is for us and the pleasures will be forevermore.  And of course He wants us to have pleasures forevermore but not of this world.  Now for some promises.

Matthew 21:22  "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  We must believe.

Luke 11:9-13 (Jesus words)  "So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you  will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  This promise is referring to the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we cannot live without and serve God effectively.  We must ask for the Holy Spirit, seek for Him through His word and then we will show God our  sincerity and the promise is sure that we will find Him.

John 14:13-16 ( these are Jesus words too.) "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.  (then there is a condition)  If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."  That other Helper is the Holy Spirit and He will abide with us forever.
Whatever we ask for, must glorify God through the Son by whom we go through to ask the Father.  If we really love Him we WILL keep His commandments.  That is part of receiving from Him.

John 16:23,24  "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.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."  Can you imagine how much joy you would have if you could ask anything of God and it would be done for you.  Check out this next verse for verification.

Ephesians 3:20  "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."  Is God able?  Yes, to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or can even think.  What is the condition?  According to the power that works in us.  What is that power?  The Holy Spirit's power.  How do we receive that power, ASK for it.  God will do exceeding, abundantly more than we can ask or think.  That is a lot, because I can think of a lot of things that I would like God to do for me, can you?  Then let's ask for His Spirit to dwell in us, let us ask for anything that would glorify God in any way.  Let us ask in prayer believing that He will answer our prayers and our joy will be full.  Join me will you in asking. Grandma Joan

That I May Know Him

I was talking to someone recently that asked the question, 'How do I know if I know God?' and I thought what a great topic for a study.  How do we know if we know Him?  How do we know Him?  Is there some kind of secret to knowing God?  Perhaps, but it is not a hidden secret, it is openly discussed by John in the Bible.

I remember years ago we got a new pastor in our church and when I saw his wife, I said to myself, 'I am going to be friends with that lady and get to know her'.  How did I go about achieving my goal of being her friend?  First, I started by just being friendly with her, then I started inviting them home for dinner quite often then we started spending time together, she taught me how to sew, and we spent time doing that, we joined a health spa together and spent a lot of time there, swimming and steaming.  We became fast friends, we spent time together and my friend if you are reading this today, I want you to know that I still love you and wish we could renew our times together.

What caused us to become fast friends?  Spending time together.  It is the same with God, if we don't spend time with Him, we shall never know Him, if we will know Him, we must spend time with Him, not just once in a while but every day, I think my friend and I talked every day.  Our families even vacationed together.
We spent time together.  That is the way we get to know God, spending time with Him. Abiding in Him.

John 15:4  "Abide in Me, and I in you, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine; neither can you, unless you abide in Me."  We must abide in Him daily.

Verse 5  "I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."  Without Him we can do nothing."  That kind of tells it all doesn't it?  We must abide in Him because without Him we can do nothing.  Let me tell you my secret of abiding.  I get up early, so whatever is early to you and gives you some free time, then get up then.  I try very hard to remember to ask God to bless my time with Him, and He always does.  I then inquire of Him what do I need for this day?  And then you get this blog.  I get so wrapped up in my study that sometimes two hours pass and I can't believe it.  I put Him first and He never lets me down.  If for some reason things don't come together, I know that the fault is mine, I never blame Him because I know something is wrong in my life and I need to discuss it with Him and straighten it out so we can get on with our study.  You can do the very same thing, putting God first and when you do that, He honors your desire and verse 7 will come alive to you.

Verse 7  "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."  You don't have to do a blog, this is just my way of bearing fruit for His kingdom, but you can spend time with Him and if you do, you can ask what you desire of Him and it will be done for you.  What a great promise, we need to ask according to His will but isn't it His will to prosper us spiritually?  Of course it is, so ask Him to bless your study, ask Him to fill you with His Spirit, ask Him to forgive all your sins and really mean it, ask Him for wisdom and understanding, ask Him to abide in you as you abide in Him, He will answer all these things because it is His will to see you grow in Him and spend time with Him.

That I may know Him and that you may know Him is my heart's longing, will you be blessed today with my desire for you?  Grandma Joan

My Greatest Need

What is your greatest need?  What do you think it is?  Think about it, we have lots of needs,  we need food, without food we would starve to death, so it is a great need for sure.  We need clothing, in some areas without clothing we would freeze to death and to be decent we must keep clothed, so clothing is pretty much necessary.  We need water, a very necessary item.  Without water to drink, we would dehydrate and eventually die, and we need it for cleanliness of our bodies our food, dishes, homes, very necessary.  We need shelter from bad weather, from the heat of the sun in some places, so we need shelter although we could get along without it but it would be so difficult.

I feel the need of something far greater than any of these and without it, I will perish.  Can you think of what it might be?

Ezekiel 36:26,27  "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

When we come to God, sinful as our lives may be, He has promised to give us a new heart and put His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His ways.  Can we serve Him without His Spirit within us?  I know that we cannot.  I have tried it.  It is a futile thing to try to do. We MUST have God's Spirit within us to be able to serve Him wholeheartedly.  We have His promise that He WILL put His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His statutes.  His promises are sure, do you believe them?  He is so willing to do this for us, we just need to be willing to ask for His Spirit to dwell in us.  Is that a hard thing to do?  For some it might be because they are afraid of what might happen to them.  If we have allowed Him to cast out our fear with His perfect love, then we will be willing to be filled with His Spirit and receive His gifts that He offers us.

Galatians 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."  We can have all these fruits within us if we just allow God to pour out His Spirit in us.  Is there any of these fruits that you wouldn't want?  I want them all and need them all, it is my Greatest Need.  I don't want one of them to be missing in my life, do you?  We must ask for His Spirit to fill us and then we will receive these fruits as a blessing from God and then we should be willing to share what God has done for us, don't you think?  I pray that He will fill you to over-flowing and that you will find the peace of God that you have never had before.  I pray for you every day without fail.  You can pray for me too.  I need the prayers of all who are willing to pray for me.  We are all growing in Christ and need each others prayers.  Grandma Joan

Nothing To Fear

Are you fearful?  Afraid of the dark?  Afraid of the big cities?  Afraid of people?  Afraid of circumstances?
Afraid of failure?  Afraid of disappointing others?  Afraid of being fired?  Afraid of the future?  Afraid of death?  It seems like there is so much to be afraid of and I didn't mention all of them either, you probably have your own fears, different than what I have mentioned.

Luke 12:32  "Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."  Trust Him with your fears for He has plans to give you the kingdom.  Nothing to fear.

2 Timothy 1:7  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  If God has not given us the spirit of fear, who has?  It comes from God's great enemy, the devil.  God has given us power to overcome the devil.  He has given us the spirit of love instead of hate, and He has given us the spirit of a sound mind.  Don't we all need a sound mind?  I sure do. It takes a sound mind to know God's will and to do it.  It takes a sound mind to put God first in our lives.  It takes a sound mind to study to show ourselves approved unto God.

1 John 4:18  "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."  The previous verse tells us that God has given  us the spirit of love and this verse tells us that there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear, and it tells us why, because fear involves torment.  'He who fears has not been made perfect in love.'

What is your greatest fear?  Mine has been people.  I don't know why, maybe it stems from childhood, I am not sure.  After this study, I can see where fear comes from, do you?  I can see that if I had loved people like I should, then I wouldn't have had a fear of them.  How about you?  This has been most enlightening to me.

I want to leave you with the text again from 2 Timothy 1:7  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  Think about those three things.  These are our greatest needs to walk with God safely and He has offered them to us freely.  Will you accept His gifts of power, love and a sound mind?  Anyone would want these, don't you think?  I sure do and I will remember this study when my fear creeps up on me again.  How about you?  I am going to ask God to give me these three gifts and I know that He will and my fear of people will dissipate. You can do that too.   Grandma Joan

My Hiding Place

Do you need a hiding place?  What is a hiding place?  I remember as a child, one of my favorite games was, 'Hide and Seek'.  It was so much fun and to run in free was the best of all.  Hide and Seek, it was a great game and challenging to find the best place to hide so no one could find me and then when they weren't looking, to run as fast as I could to touch base and be free.  That was a big challenge to get in free. Can we turn this idea into something Spiritual?  Let's see what God has in store for us this morning.

When troubles surround us and things look bleak, where do we run to get away from it all?  Is there a good place to hide so that we are safe from the troubles?  I think there is a great place to hide.  Let's find out what the Bible says about a Hiding Place.

Psalms 119:114  "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word."  I remember years ago, I was having trouble getting depressed and the thought came to me, start reading the Bible and I opened the Bible and started reading and would you believe it, the depression left and this text that I just found tells us to 'hope in His word.'  That was the answer to the depression that I was having trouble with"

Psalms 32:7  "You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance."  Singing is a wonderful gift.  My husband and I use to sing duets and he sang solos.  I sang a solo once when I was about 12 years old and that was the last time.  I was so scared, but an elderly man in the church was trying to encourage me to sing and he wanted me to sing a solo.  He was so sweet that I finally consented to sing a solo.  I still remember it. Singing is another place to find a refuge from the storms of life.  It brings contentment, of course it depends on what we sing too.  We should sing to the glory of God and there are a lot of good hymns to sing.

Psalms 17:8  "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings."  I cannot think of a better place to hide than under the shadow of God's wings.  He mentions this again in Psalms 91:1  "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

How do we dwell in the secret place of the Most High?  The first verse we read here says our hope is in His word.  So we need to dwell upon His word and the best time to do that is first thing in the morning. I have stressed being in His Presence over and over again and it is well worth mentioning again that 'In His presence is fullness of joy', we just learned that this week.  We can have fullness of joy and that is a great hiding place to.  To have fullness of joy gets rid of troubles too.

My hiding place is in His presence, Is yours there too?  I hope so.  It is a very safe place to be and so free from the troubles of this world.  If we stay in His presence, we can be free from sin that so easily besets us and Satan is good at trying to keep us away from His presence, in all kinds of ways.  Don't let him do it to you.  Hold on to Jesus who is our strength and our Hiding Place.  Grandma Joan

Obedience vs Legalism

Have you ever wondered if what you were doing and believing in was what God wanted you to believe in.  I have and it is really important for us to know the difference between obedience and legalism because I was caught up in legalism which is a trap set by the devil himself.  I believe it is a prominent trap that many people fall into.  It is a dangerous one and we need to know what is the difference between the two.

I have heard people say, 'your just a legalistic Christian because you believe in keeping the law, well law and legal kind of go together don't they?  Yet, there is something sinister about legalism that is so subtle that hardly anyone knows they are legalistic when they are.  I would like to share this subtle but true facts with you and hope that you will understand the difference.

If you are legalistic, you keep the law to the letter.  Right?  You stop at every stop sign, you keep within all speed limits you practice keeping all right of ways, you don't murder, you don't steal, you don't steal other men's wives or husbands, you don't do this and you don't do that.  Is there anything wrong with this type of beliefs?  Not really, but there is something missing.  Most legalistic people think that everyone else should be doing just as they are doing and if they don't?  Well, they are just not a very good Christian, that's all there is to it.  Have you ever known anyone like that?  I have and the worst part of all that is that I was one of them.  How can that be?  It's a horrible pit to fall into and such a subtle one that most people that really want to serve God in the proper way, fall into it.

You have heard of how they trap wild animals in the jungle by digging a deep hole and covering it with branches and leaves and moss, anything to make it look like the ground all around the hole and the animals fall into it because they don't see the hole.  During the wars in other lands, that's the way they hide the land mines.  You don't see them until it's too late. Well, Satan is the instigator of all cruelty and when he sets his land mines to catch you and me, he does it the very same way.  He makes it all look so good until you are in his trap and then I suppose he laughs that satanic laugh knowing he has caught another victim.

OK, now it is time to see the other side, that side is the ugly side, the side we are going to talk about now is the beautiful side of our beliefs.

Romans 6:17,18  "But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.  And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

You obeyed from the heart.  That is the difference between legal religion and God's religion.  It is all a heart religion, love from deep within us to want to obey because we love Him and no other reason.  If your beliefs come from the heart, you are wary of the traps Satan has set by studying God's word and knowing that you are safe in doing that.  If your beliefs come from the heart you do all the things that your legalistic friends do but your motive is entirely different and you are not critical anymore of the things they do.  You share with them out of your love for God and His word and don't criticize their every move and make them feel like they don't want any part of your religion or even want to be around you anymore.

You obey all the traffic laws, you don't want to murder anyone, or steal from anyone or commit adultery, or anything against the laws of the land or any of God's laws either.  You are a happy, contented Christian because you are free in your heart to obey out of your deep love for God.  You have let Christ come in and make his home in your heart and are not trying to work your way into heaven by your own strength.  God's ways are always the best ways and in this case it is the only way to reach our goal which is heaven.

Remember, the text in Philippians 1:6  "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 completes it?  Is it you or God?

1 Thessalonians 5;24  "He who calls you is faithful who also will do it."  Who will do it?  Is it you or God?

The difference between Obedience and Legalism is just one thing, in Obedience you let God work in you to "will and to do of His good pleasure" Philippians 2:13. The only work we have to do is to surrender our lives to God and for some that is the hardest work of all.  But is the most rewarding work of all.  That's when God can come in and do the saving of our souls for us.

Legalism is when you do all the work to no avail, you can't get rid of the sin in your life and you have a very critical spirit about everyone else who is not measuring up to your standards, in fact hardly anyone measures up to your standards and so you hardly have any friends because no one measures up to you.  Have you fallen into this trap set by the devil?  I have and I am not proud of it, it is a painful place to be, you drive people from you instead of drawing them to Christ. You find fault with everything, if you don't say it, you think it.  The love of God lifted me out of the pit that I had fallen in to and God's love will lift you out of it too. The first three words of 1 Corinthians 13:8 is "Love never fails"  I would like to leave you with those three words this morning and hope that you will let God's love lift you up out of the pit you are in and set your feet upon the Solid Rock, Christ Jesus.  He is waiting to do this, are you willing to let Him?  Grandma Joan

Think About This"

I want to dwell a little bit about the problem with our minds.  Will you join me? I know that I need it and I think perhaps everyone reading this could use the help that this little study will give.

The mind is a wonderful thing when you really think about.  In fact you can't even think about it without the mind.  Who can understand it, I can't.  It is made so intricately that it has many, many functions of which we probably don't even use.  It is like the computer, only millions of times better, but maybe that is the best example of the mind we have at the present time.

We can think about any subject that comes to the mind, we can mull it over and make something of it or we can discard the thought entirely. We can let our emotions run rampant until we are in tears and totally exhausted from the deep turmoil that is going on. Or we can change our thought patterns to how God feels about us.  We can think on things that we can do to improve things and follow through with our thoughts or we can think about disgusting things until we get down in the dumps.  So much emotional things can go on in the mind.  I want to share with you what God has shown me about my mind.

Philippians 4:8  Paul says; "Finally Brethren, whatever things are true, (opposite of false), whatever things are noble, (noble is high and lifted up), whatever things are just (impartial) Whatever things are pure, (not contaminated)  Whatever things are lovely, (Beautiful), Whatever things are of good report, ( not listening to bad reports), If there is any virtue, (goodness), and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things."

I guess that tells it all doesn't it?  I know my studies are probably too deep for some of you, but when you think about the times we are living in and what our future holds, we need to study deep and sincere.  This is what I needed this morning and I hope it has helped you as well.  My greatest desire is to be ready when Jesus comes whether I am here or in the grave, I want to be ready, don't you?  I pray that you do.  I pray for my viewers every day and hope that someone is drawing closer to Jesus as we study to show ourselves approved by His word.

Please take my studies to heart and let God do His work in your life, He will do it if you let Him and really want Him to.  I pray that you do.  God bless each of you as you draw closer and closer to Him.

Philippians 2:5  "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

Grandma Joan