Hello everyone! I hope the day has found with with a smile on your face and a song in your heart! Today I find God's love for me miraculous. His desire for me to live overwhelms me some days. In the realm of it all I am here but a moment just like you, yet He sent his son to save us all. What a gift. What a blessing.
I have these flash cards that my church printed up and I flip through them sometimes when I am trying to get in the mood to write. I found these three fitting for the mindset I am in this afternoon. This next weekend is the Women's Cross Roads Great Banquet #45. I attended #44 back in February. My small group is going to attend the send off this week.
Going to the Great Banquet helped me completely get the concept of Forgiveness, Grace and Agape. It is an experience I will never forget. In the simplest form, attending the Great Banquet was Life Changing.
It was while in reflection upon that weekend I found myself reading these flash cards. These 3 spoke to me and I have decided I must share all 3 of them with you.
Beginning with Galatians, Chapter 2, verse 20:
verse 20: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Next we go to Ephesians, Chapter 4, verse 22 - 24:
verse 22: that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
verse 23: and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
verse 24: and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
And we end with 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, verse 17:
verse 17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
It is my opinion that if you are not seeking God with all your heart, you are not reading His word. It is by reading His word that you begin to understand exactly what walking in the spirit feels and looks like.
I think many people believe that once a person accepts Christ for their savior they should no longer sin. It is also my belief that Satan planted that lie to cause confusion within the church as well as separation among believers. After all if you are saved and then you stumble how well does that represent God working in your life?
Satan convinced us to hide our shames and failures from one another. My sisters and brothers, we are flesh. We wake up day after day and go immediately into a spiritual battle. As soon as you spread gossip, as soon as you say something with a sarcastic tone, as soon as you react in anger, you have sinned. I don't know about you, but on occasion these fleshly characteristics have a way of making an appearance in my life.
These actions never leave me with a good taste in my mouth these days. My righteousness convicts me of this behavior. It is not what I desire to be and it does not sit well with me upon reflection.
Walking in the spirit means I try to resemble Christ in all ways. Satan knows this. He also knows my faults as well as my weakness in all areas. I am convinced the more one tries to walk in the spirit the harder the evil one attacks in all forms. Last Sunday one of our members made mention of how he envisioned Satan checking his database for the best way to attack us. I know he is a smooth operator and quite capable of seeing through the cracks in my armor at any given moment. This alone is why it is so important to dress daily for battle.
My life belongs to Christ. I begin my days with preparation. Some mornings I read out of a devotional first thing. Every morning I listen to Christian radio. Singing praises and laughing will always put you in a more joyous, hopeful mood. Each day I have devotionals I read, I go through my flash cards, I check out my alphabet picture with Bible verses on it, I carry my Bible with me and I pray.
It is my goal to walk by the Spirit always. Jesus is my focus. With that being said, there are days when I stumble. Today I no longer convict myself of being unworthy of God's love. I know that is another lie from hell. Now, I get on my knees and pray for more strength, wisdom and understanding. I thank God for sending Jesus who died Once for All sin, including mine. I know I don't need to pray for forgiveness when I have occasion to stumble for I am already forgiven of all my sins for all time. The evil one wants me to focus on my sin and my fear of my sin being too big to be forgiven. God wants us to focus on our righteousness, understanding forgiveness because in doing so, we will actually improve our walk!
I find it ironic that the perfect song just came on the radio to tie up this post. I have been interrupted countless times and it has taken all day to put these thoughts down on paper. I hope they are an encouragement to you.
Wendy, Mom of Many
© Wendy Glidden 2013
I have these flash cards that my church printed up and I flip through them sometimes when I am trying to get in the mood to write. I found these three fitting for the mindset I am in this afternoon. This next weekend is the Women's Cross Roads Great Banquet #45. I attended #44 back in February. My small group is going to attend the send off this week.
Going to the Great Banquet helped me completely get the concept of Forgiveness, Grace and Agape. It is an experience I will never forget. In the simplest form, attending the Great Banquet was Life Changing.
It was while in reflection upon that weekend I found myself reading these flash cards. These 3 spoke to me and I have decided I must share all 3 of them with you.
Beginning with Galatians, Chapter 2, verse 20:
verse 20: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Next we go to Ephesians, Chapter 4, verse 22 - 24:
verse 22: that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
verse 23: and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
verse 24: and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
And we end with 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, verse 17:
verse 17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
It is my opinion that if you are not seeking God with all your heart, you are not reading His word. It is by reading His word that you begin to understand exactly what walking in the spirit feels and looks like.
I think many people believe that once a person accepts Christ for their savior they should no longer sin. It is also my belief that Satan planted that lie to cause confusion within the church as well as separation among believers. After all if you are saved and then you stumble how well does that represent God working in your life?
Satan convinced us to hide our shames and failures from one another. My sisters and brothers, we are flesh. We wake up day after day and go immediately into a spiritual battle. As soon as you spread gossip, as soon as you say something with a sarcastic tone, as soon as you react in anger, you have sinned. I don't know about you, but on occasion these fleshly characteristics have a way of making an appearance in my life.
These actions never leave me with a good taste in my mouth these days. My righteousness convicts me of this behavior. It is not what I desire to be and it does not sit well with me upon reflection.
Walking in the spirit means I try to resemble Christ in all ways. Satan knows this. He also knows my faults as well as my weakness in all areas. I am convinced the more one tries to walk in the spirit the harder the evil one attacks in all forms. Last Sunday one of our members made mention of how he envisioned Satan checking his database for the best way to attack us. I know he is a smooth operator and quite capable of seeing through the cracks in my armor at any given moment. This alone is why it is so important to dress daily for battle.
My life belongs to Christ. I begin my days with preparation. Some mornings I read out of a devotional first thing. Every morning I listen to Christian radio. Singing praises and laughing will always put you in a more joyous, hopeful mood. Each day I have devotionals I read, I go through my flash cards, I check out my alphabet picture with Bible verses on it, I carry my Bible with me and I pray.
It is my goal to walk by the Spirit always. Jesus is my focus. With that being said, there are days when I stumble. Today I no longer convict myself of being unworthy of God's love. I know that is another lie from hell. Now, I get on my knees and pray for more strength, wisdom and understanding. I thank God for sending Jesus who died Once for All sin, including mine. I know I don't need to pray for forgiveness when I have occasion to stumble for I am already forgiven of all my sins for all time. The evil one wants me to focus on my sin and my fear of my sin being too big to be forgiven. God wants us to focus on our righteousness, understanding forgiveness because in doing so, we will actually improve our walk!
I find it ironic that the perfect song just came on the radio to tie up this post. I have been interrupted countless times and it has taken all day to put these thoughts down on paper. I hope they are an encouragement to you.
Father, today I pray more of my fellow brothers and sisters wake up and begin seeking you. I pray they do not allow the evil one to convince them they are not worthy of your love. I pray they discover what your grace is. I pray they come to realize how special they are to you. I pray more and more of my fellow brothers and sisters begin seeking you in greater more devoted ways. I pray together, strengthened by You, we as the body of Christ become bolder. I pray we begin to move as a body moves when agile and healthy. Father I thank you for the strength and understanding you have blessed me with over my lifetime. I thank you for all I have lived through for living through such trials and tribulations has taught me to find the silver lining that always exists in the midst of all storms. I pray that all my brothers and sisters come to realize there is nothing more special about anyone of us when it comes to you and your love for us all. I pray they realize the difference in the relationship between you and all your children merely lies in whether they are seeking you or not as well as how often they seek you. I pray they come to know in their hearts that You are Faithful. You have provided us with a handbook for survival. Today I pray that more and more and more of us begin to get into Your word Father. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
© Wendy Glidden 2013
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