Really, you gave yourself away…

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For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:24 KJV

Have you really given yourself away? Has God found you in the hurricane, or are you on the cliff watching-looking at what you have climbed out of by the grace and mercy of God. Have you giving yourself away enough to stop complaining about what it means to be given away?

Most of us have given something away. It could be in the form of clothing, food, money, our love or even our blood. When we do these acts of charity we know that we are not going to get those items back and we will not get paid, they are gifts. We may feel good about ourselves in knowing that we have helped others, but that is about it. Some of us even take on the understanding that when we give things away we cannot decide what happens to those things once they are out of our possession. The kind of authority belongs to the receiver. I came to realize this myself when I chose to give away something I favored.

I had a sweater that was given to me by my sister. I wore the sweater several times pairing it with jeans or leggings and making fit my style. I really liked the sweater, but I eventually stopped wearing it and it became more of a sentiment because it was a gift from my sister who has passed away. About a year ago I decided to give it to charity. It took a couple of charity truck pick-ups before I stopped taking it out of the give-away box and storing in my basement. Once I gave my treasured sweater away I could no longer decide if it would be washed in Woolite, Tide or a bargain brand detergent. I couldn’t tell the new owner to lay it flat to dry and never to hang it on a hanger. It was no longer up to me to decide what looked great with it and what didn’t. I had given it away to be used by someone else.

If our lives are given away to God, we are completely his. Our life is not ours, but it is in the complete care of God. We are no longer guided or instructed by previous owners or ourselves, but by God because we have received the life of Christ as a way of transformation for us. Don’t be confused or deceived about giving your life to God. We are not given away while we are complaining , lacking love, cheating, gossiping, killing the lively hood of others, lying, being self oriented, having ungodly anger, or while looking for recognition after helping others for God. These are just a few examples of the characteristics that keep us from being completely and unselfishly given away.

Your life is given away to God if you are subject to his Holy Spirit, the love he exudes and do the opposite of what keeps us from being completely given away. You have no problem with new ownership if you find yourself doing what is not always the easiest of most popular choice, if you ride the waves instead of swimming away from the direction God gives to you. If you can call on Christ, (because you know this is where strength generates) when it is rough instead of going to a high place and leaving those in need behind, you are given away. When you know you can rest in God’s glory when needed, and keep an ear to his voice to be ready to work as he see fit you are completely Christ-like, you are his.

There is more to saying you are given away for Gods use. Words get us there mentally if we hear them, but actions and responses kept us there. Are you given away enough as of today?

Scripture Inspiration; Luke 9, Ephesians 2

Rest

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

KJV Isaiah 65.24

 

rest

God has heard your need for joy

And rejoicing,

Peace and stillness,

Bread and nourishment,

Protection-

Deliverance-

Love-

A Father-

Integrity-

Faith-

Strength-

A place to lay your head-

His Holy Spirit-

All your prayers God knows.

He hears your cry.

Prepare for a return.

Encompassed by God’s Spirit

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Listen, God’s voice is in the air. His presence has not left you. You may feel inhibited because the path you walk on has curved without notice, but God’s hand is still near. Even when your eyes are full of tears and your life is nothing but a blur, you can travel forward. With your hand connected to His existence you will be guided through the curves and carried over the drop offs.

Call out to him, send your prayer above your abilities and hindrances, and send your praise past your discomfort and excitement. Reach out to him and allow him to touch you, and encompass you with his love and comfort. Receive God’s entire Spirit the moment he sends it to you. You can resist the delay of overcoming what is on life’s platter when you allow God to enter your spirit and fill every space.

Faith will make it easy to look for God’s presence. When you cannot hear Him believe he is speaking, when you cannot feel Him trust that he is near, when you see no evidence of Him, you must faith it. God wants to help you and he wants your confidence to be in Him and nothing else.

Don’t hesitate to communion with God. The level of language does not matter, but the sincerity of your heart does. Go ahead and talk to God today, he is waiting.

 

Scripture Inspiration; Psalms 28, Philippians 1

 

My Voice

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Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  Psalm 55:17 KJV

 

I call, you hear.

My stillness is rewarded.

Answers come as I wait.

My pain ceases quickly.

I hunger no more, you provide.

 

My meditations bring peace.

Quietness takes control of a noise stricken life.

A superabundance of joy floods my sunken heart.

Love rains down rinses my hate away.

Sin surrounded me upon exiting my mother’s womb;

Calling out to you caused your power to consume.

The sin is now removed.

 

I travel forward in this race,

My meditations give me a place.

Always hear me when I call,

I need you every day of my walk.

Petition

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Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. Psalm 62:8 KJV

Prayer is an action that must be done continuous in our lives. It is a way to keep us connected to God by emptying out all that fills our heart and clouds are thoughts. God wants to help us and improve our lives. He desires to take away what you are willing to give up and return something that is needed or desired. He will even give to you what you did not expect.

I want to take this week to petition prayers, prayers from every direction of the world for every need and desire, and to initiate and accelerate solid connections and growth with God. The prayers can be for anyone someone you see every day or for strangers who experience societal things that you cannot do anything else for, but pray. You can even pray for yourself. The point is to empty out our concerns to the one who can hear them all and cause us to change our ways through prayer so that the situations around us can change.

God will heal his land and the people in it if we seek him and follow his ways.

My Prayer:

God I give you thanks and I praise your name; you are wonderful and excellent in all you ways. I am seeking you for connections to made with you that have never been made, for spiritual growth where it is lacking, God someone has never heard your voice, God move closer to those as they pour out there confessions and desires, even as they repent God hear their cries; some are sick and need a cure, others are cured, but cannot let go of the attention the symptoms bring, God build the esteem of these and open their spiritual eyes reveal to them their ways and renew their trust; God there are some who suffer from human trafficking I ask that you send an interruption and  be the force against the evil, unite the family once again be the strength and the healing; God be a rock for the hopeless and build their joy, send your peace for the oppressed; place meals in the hands of the hungry, bring clean water for others; release the resources God; God you have done great things already, but I ask because you said to and I live as you desire because you command it. God I thank you for the things you placed in my heart and I give them back to you expecting a change. Thank you for all that you have done; in Jesus name I pray Amen.

You pray.

Are you one of those…

overcome

 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7

In all that we fall short in and all that we achieve Christ knows that a certain amount of us will overcome.

In his message to the seven churches he says exactly that. He states what will be given to those who overcome. He does not say “if” we overcome, but he uses the words “to him that overcometh” or “he that overcometh”.

There are issues and accomplishments within each church that Christ speaks to and he tells them in plain language what they are doing and where they have deceived themselves into believing that there status has made them whole or held them back from the completeness that is desired through Christ.

Though their actions are known and revealed Christ gives them instructions on how to receive what is to come by being overcomers. He promises something to all who are able to overcome.

If you are doing the good you know to do and it aligns with the righteousness of God continue along the path. Christ is willing to teach and guide you; he will place the right resources on your path and in your hand to help you along the way. Listen for God’s voice so that you will not be deceived or forget his righteousness and live in contradiction.

If you have never lived a life reconciled to God through Christ you should consider your options. Consider living a life that offers eternal life and a way to make it through everything you face here on earth rather than living a life feeling like something is missing and never finding it. Living a life reconciled to God will allow you to take on life differently. You will see your successes and obstacles through new eyes.

What if you are one of those who Christ speaks of? You, the one who overcame until the end; how can this happen if you never choose to live a reconciled life or if you being reconciled to God fall into a lukewarm state of being and never push yourself to change. Smash the deception trap and stop giving the Devil the advantage over your life. He already has an outlined goal to derail and destroy you don’t help him succeed, but pay attention to what is taking place in your life every day so that you can eat from the tree of life. You got this!

Inspiration Scripture, Revelation 2 and 3 

Don’t just talk about it, live it…

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For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you. Matthew 6:14-15 KJV

To open your mouth and apologize, ask for forgiveness, or to forgive someone else is not always the thing the mind and heart wants to do. It is not difficult to talk about forgiveness, but actually doing it when there is a need is when the hesitation and struggle show up. How do you actually forgive others or seek forgiveness for yourself, making it something that is achievable rather than something that is only talked about.

I will share my experience with this issue from both sides. There are some people that I had to forgive and some that I had to apologize to so the air between us would clear. Forgiving others was not any easier than seeking forgiveness. I had to understand what I was doing and why. It was about letting go of what could not be changed in each situation. In some cases it meant forgiving those who did not apologize, those who were not sorry about their actions and apologizing to others in a general way for what I was not aware of doing.

What really had to happen for me to apologize and to forgive others is a change in my heart about what I felt others deserved and what had happened to me. I also had to consider what was more vital to me holding on to what occurred or letting it go so that I could live better. I let it go, vengeance and all that was keeping forgiveness from flowing out of me and into me. My trust in God and my relationship with him allowed me to see and do this.

To master forgiveness you have to come to a point of believing that you will be okay if you let go of what cannot be undone or changed. Release it like a balloon full of helium and do not worry about where it lands. Remember to trust God. If you are trusting God there is not any situation that you have to go through alone. Keep him in your life daily right at the front and he will be with you during every good or trying situation you enter into.

Scripture Inspiration; Psalms 30 KJV

Belief Is Enough

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Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalms 37:5

Having trust in God is enough. You do not need to perform some kind of religious act or measure your transformation prayer according to your lifestyle to be transformed by God. Just talk to God and ask him to save you. A morally good person and a immoral person can each desire to be saved and if each has belief in God, and trust that he will do exactly that, that belief is enough to move God.

Often this is complicated by what the human eye sees when he or she looks at a sinner. There is an idea that so much more will need to be done in order for a criminal or a lair to be saved than what will need to be done for a honor student who is living morally well. This is a self deceiving way of thinking. God works with the belief and desire, he just needs to hear the request. His vision is enhanced when ours is failing and he locates the heart and deals with it, while we are convincing ourselves that a special act must be done first.

Live with a life status of belief and you will find that your are good enough for God’s hands to touch your life. Once God touches your life it will be enhanced in ways that you thought were not reachable. Keep trusting God for every change you need to make in your life so that your ways align with his standards.

Perspective

Perspective

You may have viewed your path a certain way so many times that you began to travel it the same way. Though the scenery and direction has changed, you expect the same experience you have always had. Transform your perspective.

Determination

In the Deep

These arms of mine have lifted more weight than some.

My legs are strong and have challenged my lungs.

Strength is within me,

Yet when the water comes…I am beyond heavy.

I wonder…What is my strength?

In this water there is no air,

And I realize I am really under here.

Under here, it is a struggle, but I won’t struggle.

My thoughts begin to question my authority:

Will I float?

Will I see bubbles?

I am surrounded,

And the water demands my life.

I hear my voice thinking,

“what can come to destroy me”,

“To steal my joy, my peace,

To destroy what God has invested in me”.

Not these ripples, nor these waves,

I will keep my life, and my soul too!

Immediately, my arms begin to move the water,

And my legs begin to move me.

My thoughts focus on my existence

“bring me out of the deep”  “lungs carry me to the surface.

You shall not fail!”

Oh my Rock, my Fortress, my Strength, I am standing on faith.

With my eyes to the sky, I see a clear path before it appears.

With motivation, I speak, “move water MOVE!”

I am light, I see the Son, I breathe, I live.

Though my body had been condition for this event,

I found that my strength was weak without determination.