A Cleansing Miracle.

Do you ever feel dirty?  Not dirt dirty, but soul and spirit dirty?  The closer we come to Jesus the more we will see ourselves as we really are and this is a good sign, it means that His Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts.  So I don't feel bad at all when He shows me something that is not right in my heart.  I am not proud of it and many times ashamed of what it is but knowing that God's Spirit is working in me means so much.  I came across a 'cleansing miracle' that I have read many, many times but it didn't hit me until this morning what a miracle it really is and so very simple anyone can do it and it only takes a few minutes of your time but I can tell you that if you take the time, you will be so rewarded that you will probably take more time each day until like yesterday I spent over two hours and I had such a wonderful day.

Psalms 119:9 tells us what this miracle is.  "How can a young man cleanse his way?  By taking heed according to your word."  This was written to young men, but believe me it works for us oldies too.

John 15:3  "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."  This is just two verses but packed with instruction that really works a miracle in our lives and doesn't take that long each day but it does become such a good habit that you want to spend more time and more time until you feel that you can't survive without it.  I know because it has become the first thing I want to do when I get up in the morning.  I usually spend time with God talking to Him in prayer and ask for His blessing on my study and on my day and then I am ready to see what He has for me this day in His word.  It is a wonderful way to start your day

I have been reading a book called 'At Jesus Feet', by Doug Batchelor, it's about Mary Magdelene and it really is worth getting if you want something spiritual to read.  I only read spiritual material because I want my mind to be fortified with the word and strength to resist temptation when it comes.  I mean as far as books go, I glance at the paper when I get one but that's about it. Once a week a little newspaper from our town comes and its nice to know what is happening locally.  I am not an ostrich with my head in the sand not knowing what is going on but it doesn't occupy much of my time.  If you want that book, just press the Amazing Facts button and follow the instructions.  I do not receive anything for advertising this, I just want to help you.

So what do you think of my cleansing miracle?  It works so wonderfully that I can't help but share it with you.  I hope with all my heart that you will try it and don't give up, because it doesn't take long to see what it is doing for you.  And by the way, thanks for your prayers for me, God is really helping me with my patience and I feel so much better about my problems when I trust Him with them.  I hope my prayers for you are an encouragement and that you are growing in Christ each day.  It really is a beautiful way to live.

Grandma Joan

The Perfect Work

What in the world is the 'perfect work'?  It is something that I just found out that I am very limited in and need an abundance of.  Can anyone guess what that might be?  I am sure that I am not alone in this.  It is one of the fruits of the Spirit and of all the fruits, this is probably the one that I am in most need of.  I would love  to have this 'perfect work' done in me.  My need is so very great.  I must confess to you that I am profoundly in need of patience.

Patience means the ability to bear trials without grumbling.  Can you do that?  I am not sure that I ever have but hopefully somewhere in my life I was able to do that but right now it is hard, there are so many things looming up in my life without a solution or should I say with only one solution that I can see but God is trying to teach me to bear this trial without grumbling.  I hope I will not disappoint Him.

James 1:2,3,4  "My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Let patience have its 'perfect work'.  I never saw these verses in this light before, but I can see what God is trying to teach me.  I hope the testing of my faith produces lots of patience, because I need it just now.  I need this 'perfect work' done in me and I believe He will do it.  That I may be perfect and complete lacking nothing.  What a promise!!  I need to write this one down in my promise book.  By the way, I have a little note book that I write all my special promises in and then at night if I am a little down and want to be lifted up, I start reading in my little promise book.  What a boost it is!

Why don't you try keeping a little note book filled with your favorite promises?  You could start out with this one.  This is a good one to read every day or even more if you hear yourself start grumbling about a trial that you have been subjected to.

If you believe in prayer, why don't you pray for me to have an abundance of patience right now so that I may  
be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  Even though I don't know most of you, I pray for you every day that God will bless you and save you.  I know that He is.  Grandma Joan

Happy Promises.

How many of you desire happiness, I mean real happiness, no flawed happiness?  I desire that kind of happiness with all my heart and I would guess that just about anyone out there would desire that kind of happiness.  So today I am going to share some Bible promises with you about happiness.  Because I need them, I thought that some of you might just need them too.  So here goes.

Psalms 144:15  "Happy is that people whose God is the Lord"  If God is our Lord, then we should be a happy people, shouldn't we?

Proverbs 3:13  "Happy is that man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding." According to this verse, finding wisdom and understanding will bring us happiness.  Let's search for it, OK?

Psalms 146:5  "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." We should be happy that we have Jacob's God for our help, that is a wonderful promise.

Proverbs 14:21 "He that hath mercy upon the poor, happy is he." We should have mercy upon the poor and that will help us in our search for happiness.

Proverbs 16:20  "...whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."  Trusting in God will for sure bring us abundant happiness.

1  Peter 4:14  "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you."  If we are being made fun of or criticized for our Christian beliefs, we should be happy knowing that the spirit of glory and of God is resting upon us.  We need to remember this in case we run into this kind of problem.

Job 5:17  "Happy is the man whom God correcteth."  Most of us do not like correction but when God corrects us it is for our future, eternal good and we should not only be happy about it but be grateful for it.

Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."  We need a vision of what God can do in our life, otherwise we perish in our own thoughts.  Keeping God's law will give us vision to keep us going in the right direction.

I hope these verses helped you with your happiness.  Pray about it and God really will work in your life to bring happiness.  I have always been a happy person until my husband passed away and I have had a real hard time getting my happiness back again.  But this little study has helped me and I am going to ask God to bring my happiness back to me.  You can do the same.  Grandma Joan

Friends

I guess I never realized how important friends are until my husband passed away and all of a sudden I realized that I had not made any close friends since I have lived in Washington.  I have family, of course, that love me and try to take care of me but the friends that I have always had in close proximity, I have not made since living here.

I have good friends but they are either gone or live far away so I cannot visit them or they cannot visit me.  One friend visits me twice a year and she is a faithful one, I love her and we have such a good time when she comes, wish she were closer.

Now, I said that I didn't have any close friends, but I do have friends but not the kind that visit or come by just to chat and see how I am doing.  That is what I miss, someone I can call when I am hurting or down and they will come over to just be with me for a while.  What a blessing those kinds of friends are!!!

I want to be that kind of friend to someone, but at my age it is hard to get out and do much of anything unless someone takes me or they are just a short distance away.

Now that I have told you all about my friend situation, I want to tell you about my very best friend.  He is always with me, beside me, counseling me, comforting me, blessing me with His presence and helping me through my hurting times, He is the One and only friend that will never fail me, ever.  I can talk to Him any time I want and don't even need a phone.  He walks beside me through thick and thin and helps me with my decision and He is always right, I never have to worry about His counsel.  At times I can feel His presence close beside me, even though I can't see Him I know He is there and every day He becomes more dear to me than any earthly friend could ever be.  You guess it, His name is Jesus.  What a friend I have in Him.

There is a song, 'What a friend we have in Jesus'.  It is so very true, He is the best friend you could ever possibly have.  He never turns away from us, we have to turn from Him if we don't want His presence.
It's always our choice.

Proverbs 18:24 last part "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother".

Jesus said in John 15:15,16  "No longer do I call  you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give it to you."

He chose me to be His friend and keeps me informed as to His Father's will for me and has appointed me to bear fruit so that whatever I ask the Father in His name He will give it to me.  I realize that I must ask according to His will not mine, that is called surrendering my will to His.  Not an easy task but very rewarding to those who are willing to do that.

What do you think of my Friend?  I love Him and hope that you do to.  He is the very best friend you could possibly have and never fails to love us and care for us, even in our most dire need, He is there.

Grandma Joan

More Wrinkles out.

There are some important things we need to know regarding discernment in order to get all the wrinkles out of our life.  For one thing the more wrinkles you have in your life, the less happier you are and the less people will like to be around you.  Believe me, I know, I have had plenty of them, too numerous to mention and you wouldn't want to know anyway, would you?

Let's turn in our Bibles to 1 John 4:1,2  "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God;  because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God;  Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God."  How can we discern which spirit it is?  If the person believes that Jesus Christ came from God in the form of man or as it says in the flesh, that spirit is from God.  I have run across people that do not believe that Jesus Christ came from God and took on the form of man, it was hard to believe but it is true.

Verse 3 says, "and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.  And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Verse 4 says, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the wold."

Now we know how to discern which spirit is of God and which is not.  If the spirit that is working in our life is of God, we will believe that Jesus Christ came from God in our flesh to redeem us from this world of sin and degradation.  This really will take a lot of wrinkles out of our life, if our life is hid in Christ and we keep in His presence at all times, soon the ironing will be done and Jesus can come and take us home with Him.
What a day that will be!  There is a song by that name and one of the phrases that I like in it is ' when He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be.'  I can't wait for that day, how about you?  Can you picture Jesus taking you by the hand and showing you the promised land that will be yours forever more?  My husband and I use to lay in bed at night and sing that song together and someday I will see him again and we can sing it together again and it will come true.  I can't wait, can you?
Grandma Joan

Wrinkles ironed out.

To discern means to detect or perceive with the eye or mind.  Is it important to be able to discern between right and wrong?  Is it possible for us to be able to discern between what is good and what is bad?  What do you think?

Personally, I believe that it is a very important part of our life according to the Bible.  Let's take a look.
Solomon prayed for discernment in 1 Kings 3:9.  "Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.  For who is able to judge this great people of yours."  And the Lord heard his prayer and answered.

  In verses 12 and 13.  "behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.  And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days."

There was also another gift in verse 14, but there was a condition to this, "So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments as your father David walked," and the extra bonus was, "I will lengthen your days."  He never asked for riches, honor or long life but only for an understanding heart to judge God's people.  God blessed Him with all the other things, riches, honor and long life.

Solomon's father David prayed in Psalms 119:18 "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law."

As you can see, it is important for us to be able to discern right from wrong and good from bad and the way we receive good discernment is to ask God for it.  If we are sincere like Solomon, we will receive the discernment we need to make life much less complicated and more smooth.  Who wouldn't like to have some of the wrinkles ironed out of life.  So we can pray the prayer of David, 'Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.  And God will answer.

Tomorrow I want to study a little more into this thought, so hang in there with me and we will find out more about keeping the wrinkles out of our life.  Try some ironing today and see what happens.

Grandma Joan

A Very, Very Expensive Gift.

Have you ever received a very, very expensive gift?  I am talking about maybe thousands of dollars.  I am sure that some have but not me, at least from a human.  But I have received a very, very expensive gift from my Father in heaven when He sent Jesus to pay for my sins.  I cannot imagine the cost, and I believe it will take all eternity to learn the real value of that gift.

Can you imagine yourself giving your very own child to pay for someone's sin, small or great?  And then on top of all that, watching them be tormented and tortured and spit on and nailed eventually to a cross?  I read somewhere that when one was beaten with thirty nine stripes, any more than that could be lethal and Jesus was beaten twice with 39 stripes.  In those days the whip they used had metal strips on the end of the cords and tore the flesh open.  Can you imagine what He went through for you and me? That is a hard one to comprehend, isn't it?  I am pretty sure that none of us could watch our child suffer like that without fainting, which is exactly what His mother did.  But His heavenly Father watched it all and I am pretty sure that He suffered extreme agony watching His Son treated in such a hideous manner.

He paid the price for your sins and mine and every murderer, every rapist, every thief, everyone's sins that day on the cross and what do we do in return for such an expensive gift to us, some turn their backs on Him and deny Him, some pretend to be Christians and deny Him or bring reproach on His name and others choose to follow Him and serve Him and glorify Him with their lives, words and deeds.  What would your choice be?

Read John 18 and 19 and then from what I have described to you answer the question I just asked.  I do hope your answer is that you will glorify Him in your life, I want to and I really can't imagine anyone not wanting to, but I am sure there are some.  May God help us to have the desire to be one of His followers.

Grandma Joan