WINGS LIKE EAGLES - FAITH, STRENGTH

WINGS LIKE EAGLES

Isaiah 40:31NLT

31 

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

God is not dead.  Regardless of what we see and hear, regardless of how terrible things may seem, God is sitting high and looking low.  My heart is heavy for the children who are being separated from their parents.  It's frightening to think that people would be in such deplorable and desperate situations that cause them to flee under such conditions.  It's frightening to think of children in homeless situations with no parents (in this country and those from other countries).  

It's frightening to think of the heartless decisions and actions of people who are poor in spirit.  But my faith tells me that God is in the midst.  So, I fear not because He's watching.  

No matter what is laying heavy on your heart or burdening you, be patient and faithful. Continue to pray and watch God change things.

Money & Wealth Won't Save Your Soul

Money & Wealth 

Won't Save Your Soul

Psalm 100:5NIV

⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The same God who was there for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel, Jesus Christ and many more is here with us today in 2018 - eternity.  Don 't look at the material things in life and expect that those things will save your soul or buy God's love and mercy.  He loves us in spite of our shortcomings.  He continues to shine his love and mercy on us without cost.  He is good.  He is great.  He is the keeper of our souls...don't sell out to darkness.  Suicide is not an act of faith in God.  Nothing is worth taking your life.  God is sovereign over ALL things.  

God is faithful to us - Keep your faith in Him.  

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE

James 1:6; 22 NIV 

⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, 

because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea,

blown and tossed by the wind.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

1 Peter 1:14 NIV

¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

God is not our personal assistant.  He doesn’t master in doing everything we we want Him to do.Therefore, we must trust Him in His work.  As we embark upon faith and obedience, we will learn that our prayers are answered by God’s will and purpose for our lives.  Sometimes, He answers yes, no or wait.  The Word of God tells us that we must always pray, we must be faithful and obedient.  Believe God for whatever you're praying for.  Be obedient to  Trust God even when we cannot trace Him or understand what He’s doing.

                                        

NO WORRYING

Worry for What?

John 14:1 NIV 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”

Jesus instructs the disciples not to worry during his absence…but to believe.

The same message and instructions apply to us today.  Do not worry. 

As Christians, we have a God and a Christ.   Do you know Him/Them?

Knowing should empower us to take life in stride.  Don’t fret over things we can’t control anyway.

Receive every opportunity to demonstrate the character of Christ, the conduct of a Christian – do not worry.

How can we let our light shine if we perceive every mishap as a downfall?

God has it all under control. 

COME FORTH LIKE PURE GOLD

PURE GOLD

Zechariah 13:9 KJV

⁹ And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined,

and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name,

and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

God promises to take care of us in the midst of turmoil.

Your test of fire is God’s way of bringing you into your purpose.

Everyone has a tempering process, trials that SHOULD make us wiser, stronger, faithful and better.

How you react and cope with struggles can be a testament to God’s work in your life.

Allow your trials and adversity to make you like coffee beans in a pot of hot water.

That is, you change the environment and let the aroma of love and strength permeate the atmosphere.

Excerpt from CARROT, EGG, COFFEE

“The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. 

When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. 

 If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?”

SPEAK with GRACE

SPEAK WITH GRACE

ART BY CIDNE WALLACE

Colossians 4:6 NIV

⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).  This is a passage that is easy to say and hard to live by.

People, circumstances and mishaps can catch you off-guard and before you know it, you’ve stepped in the risky or danger zone.

The slip of the tongue happens just that quickly.  Think of the word grace and what it means. 

A good rule of thumb is this: “If what you are saying doesn’t glorify God – don’t say it.”

Think first:  Is it true?  It is necessary?  Is it hurtful?  Is it helpful?  Is it gossip?  Is it slanderous? 

Is it fair?  Is it judgmental?  Is it substantive? (that’s the salt) and lastly… Is it something that we would want someone to say about us?

Just by guarding our hearts and spirits, we may avoid some of the devil’s tackles.

Be careful of your speech.  Once you say it, you can’t take it back.

DISCIPLINE

DISCIPLINE

Blog below by

Rev. Maria Mallory-White

Hebrews 12:5-11 (MSG)

5 So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.

6 It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.

7 God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training,

8 the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?

9 We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live?

10 While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best.

11 At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

“...God is a perfect parent. And if you have a love relationship with Him, you have to live in this knowledge: We live in a world that's broken. There's all kinds of bad things happening to everybody because we live in a world that is broken by evil and sin. Some day God's going to fix it, but for now there's disaster, there's sickness, there's disease, there's death—there's all kinds of suffering, and everyone is involved in suffering. But we are told this: If you create, through faith in Jesus Christ a love relationship with God, God arranges your suffering so that it's discipline. Do you hear me? He says you're going to have suffering, but He's going to arrange suffering so that nothing comes into your life except that which is for [disciplining and not punishing] you."

So our text tells us, “don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.”

So, let us trust God, our Abba Father, knowing everything that happens in our lives is filtered through God’s hands for shaping us into the likeness of Christ. He is our loving Parent, and even our trials and troubles, God uses to mold us that we may become more like Christ.