live second

This past week I have joined the "live second Blogger Launch Team".
The week of December 9-15 we will all be writing four posts, about the story of our own spiritual journey, as we read four readings from the new book...

live second: 365 Ways To Make Jesus First

One of my favorite verses is this...

John 3:30 (NLT)

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

I can only do that by remembering that I am second and JESUS is first. The only way that will happen is...

to live second everyday of my life...which at times is a real challenge for me. 

Where Is Your Hope?

Today I have to ask myself...as we all should...where does my hope lie? Who is my true...and sure...foundation? When things in my life start shaking...where will I run and to whom?

This morning I read a few scriptures.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁶ Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.

¹⁷ For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],

¹⁸ Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.

Titus 2:11-13

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹¹ For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind.

¹² It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world,

¹³ Awaiting and looking for the [fulfillment, the realization of our] blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One),

Isaiah 40:31

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³¹ But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

 

The Lord is my hope. When it comes right down to it...HE is my only hope. My Rock...Strength...and sure foundation! When all else fails in my life...the Lord is always there for me! This next verse really sums it up well...

Psalm 62:5-8

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁵ My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.

⁶ He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.

⁷ With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!

⁸ Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress and a high tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Here is a little saying that fits in well. I may have used it before but it is so good.

A Little Hope For Your Heart

GOD is for us

God is in us

God is with us

We all know that but at times we need to be reminded of it.

So...to answer my questions...

My hope lies in the Lord. He is the true foundation of my life...my world. When things satrt shaking...it's only Jesus that can help!  A few years ago I could not have said that. Oh, how thankful I am today that I can! My life...like yours...is shaken to the core sometimes. But I know as long as I stay close to Jesus I will be okay.

How about you? Where does your core strength come from? Is your foundation shaking today? Your hope...where does it lie?

Be Refreshed Today

Hosea 6:3

Oh, that we might know the Lord!
    Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
    or the coming of rains in early spring.”

Do you feel the need to be refreshed today?

Think about it. Who is that can refresh you? Only the Lord! It doesn't matter what is happening in your life. The Lord is the one we lean on. He loves us all so much. In fact...we can't even fathom how much He loves us.

Ephesians 3:18

¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

If we know Jesus as our Savior nothing can ever take His love away from us. 

Romans 8:39

³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As you go through your day today just think about how much Jesus loves you. Nothing else in life can even compare! 

Be refreshed in Jesus love today!!



Linking up today with Tracy at Winsome Wednesday!

Pray For Wayne

I know there are many Christians that read this blog from all over the world and I have a favor to ask of you. You may remember me posting about Wayne and Marge in the past and asking for prayer for them. Well, I'm asking again because Wayne isn't doing so well right now. He has lung cancer and has been having radiation treatments for the past few weeks. He has four treatments left to go. They have intensified the "beams" to hit the areas harder over the last six or so times. It's made it almost impossible for him to eat or drink and keep it down. Now Wayne is dehydrated and having to get infusions to get some liquid into him. He is having a very hard time. Please pray for Wayne that all of this will improve and he will be able to get through these last treatments without complications. He needs strength and healing that only the Lord can provide right now.

I may not have gotten everything technically correct but the important thing is that you just please pray. Pray for Marge as well as I know this is a hard time for her.

Thank you all so much and I know GOD will bless you!

Fully Engaged

Do you engage fully or do you live out on the edges of where you should be? For myself there are times when I'm fully engaged and other times when I'm out there...just reaching in every now and then to barely touch the edges. The edges of what?

My relationship with the Lord...

There are times when I am so close that excitement fills my soul! Every thing I hear and read touches me so deeply that at times I feel like I might explode! My soul is so full that I want to tell everyone! I send e-mails telling about all the good things He is doing and write posts of what the Lord is talking to me about. In those times I can't get enough of anything having to do with the Lord! Overpowering love and excitement seem to fill the air! That's when I am fully and totally engaged. And that's where I am now...Fully engaged and excited about everything the Lord has done and everything I'm believing that He is going to do. Not just for me but for others in my life that need His touch today!

But...there are the times when I'm barely hanging on. I feel as if I'm on the edge of a cliff flailing about trying to keep my balance so I don't go over. There isn't any excitement when I think about the Lord...nothing seems to get through to me. My soul is empty. The walls go up and I don't talk to the people that mean so much to me. As for writing...a numbness fills my soul as well as my thoughts. Nothingness is all I have. Discouragement...

These are tactics of battle...spiritual battle...a ploy from satan himself. He wants to get us down and keep us down. He doesn't want us to feel excitement and joy from the Lord. NO! Satan wants us to feel emptiness and numb! He tries to keep us from engaging because he knows if we do that he will lose us.

I've thought a lot about this lately because I seem to be on the edge...just barely reaching in...a lot more than I should be. We all have times of discouragement but we aren't supposed to live there. When things are going bad for us we need to press in and engage more than when things are going great!


I can relate this to being blind. Not blindness of the eyes but...for me...a blindness of my soul and mind. Blinders...or walls...go up around me and I can't seem to feel or hear anything good that the Lord wants me too. When this happens I need to do something different before the numbness sets in. There is a story in the Bible that comes to mind...

Mark 10:46-52

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

⁴⁶ Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. ⁴⁷ When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
⁴⁹ When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” ⁵⁰ Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Bartimaeus was blind but he knew that Jesus could heal him. When he cried out to Jesus what did Jesus ask him? "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus told Jesus he wanted to see! He had faith to believe that Jesus could make him whole. And instantly...he could see! 

Isn't that how we should be? We don't have to be physically blind to call out to Jesus! For me...

Blindness of soul and mind is worse than a physical sickness. I know what it feels like to be made whole by Jesus. I know what it feels like to have Him touch me...clear to my soul...and heal me of things I never thought would be okay again! I also know what it feels like to be on the edge...afraid I'm going to go over. Because of this I have decided to call out to Jesus...to have the faith of Bartimaeus...whenever I feel the battle start to begin. Stop satan in his tracks before he has the chance to start pushing me off balance. 

Fully engaged for Jesus and because of Jesus...that's how I want to live my life. Jesus is coming back soon. We don't have time to waste flailing about on the edges of our relationship with the Lord. We want to be as close as we can be. Living our lives fully engaged and devoted to the Lord doing what ever it is He wants us to do to further His kingdom. 

How about you? Are you fully engaged today...despite the circumstances that you may find your self in? If not...there is no better time to get that way. Don't let satan win the spiritual battle. Have faith and call out to Jesus like blind Bartimaeus did for healing.

Reach Out

Did you know that strength is a gift from GOD? When we think we are too tired to go on...to sick to go on...the GOD of our lives gives us the strength to keep going. HE is all we really need. This morning I read in Isaiah...

Isaiah 40:28-31

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁸ Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
³¹ But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

What sticks out to me today is how our everlasting GOD, our LORD, gives us the strength we need. When we are weak...HE holds us up. HE meets our every need and HE will never let us down! He is all that we need to make it through our day! HIS strength that HE gives to us is all encompassing. We are surrounded...picked up...and nourished by the strength that our LORD gives to us. 

If you need strength today...if you need peace of mind...just call out to your FATHER. HE is there with HIS arms out stretched just waiting for you. HE won't let you down. Our LORD loves us with an everlasting love.

There is an old song we sang when I was young...

Reach Out And Touch The Lord

chorus:

Reach out and touch the LORD as HE passes by.

You'll find HE's not to weary to hear your hearts cry.

HE's passing by this moment your needs to supply.

Reach out and touch the LORD as HE goes by.

Reach out to HIM today. HE will meet you where you are if you will only ask.