Tag: encouragement

He is Faithful and Just To Forgive

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

When we confess, God forgives. It’s a simple truth, but can at times be hard for us to accept, especially when we struggle to forgive ourselves. Sins we’ve committed, rather past or present, can keep us stuck in a place of guilt and shame if we let it. Conditioning our minds to receive God’s forgiveness can take determination.

We must be determined to see ourselves through God’s eyes and understand that He is faithful to forgive us when we confess our sins to Him, no matter how big or disgraceful the sin is. Although God forgives us, there still maybe consequences we have to endure. For example, if someone steals, they may have to repay money and go to jail. If someone gets caught cheating on an exam, they may end up failing the class. But God will strengthen us as we walk through any consequences we must face. The key is to receive His forgiveness and let His love bring healing to your heart.

Photo by: Josh Sorenson of Florida, USA 🇺🇸

Remember the criminal on the cross beside Jesus in John 23:39-43. He recognized his sin, and he spoke these words…

“We are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

“…Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”

And Jesus spoke these words back to him…

“…Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

He acknowledged that Jesus was the One who could save Him. Jesus forgave him and promised Him a home in eternity. Jesus forgave this sinner, even as he was facing death. He also forgives you and me.

We must believe what God says about forgiveness and reject the lies of the enemy. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), so enjoy freedom from guilt and shame, and rejoice in the victory that His forgiveness brings!

When God Opens Our Eyes

Isaiah 43:19 NIV, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Since I just returned to the area, all week I had been using my GPS for the drive to and from work until I get used to the route. Yesterday was the first time I felt pretty confident without it. When I left work, it was about fifteen minutes earlier than usual, so it was lighter outside. It was interesting though, because as I drove home I kept feeling like I was lost. But I really wasn’t. I was on the right path home. It was just that, due to the fact it was lighter outside, I was seeing things that I didn’t normally see. All before I had been driving home in the dark and was not aware of my surroundings. Instead off relying on what I saw, I was relying on the sound of the GPS to tell me where to go.

Photo by: Daniel Frese of Germany 🇩🇪

Through this little experience, I thought about the many times we can be headed down a certain path or going about our daily activities and not even be aware of what’s around us. When we turn off things that are distracting us, our spiritual eyes will be opened and we will become aware of people, things, or even opportunities we had never noticed before. When God brings us to a new place, we have a choice to embrace the new thing or stay comfortable with what we know.

I believe God wants to do a new thing. His people, you and me, are the vessels He will use to help accomplish it. But in order to be part of His vision, we have to turn off any distractions so God can open our eyes to His plans. Often times what we’re looking for is right in front of our eyes, we just need to take time to see it.

I pray that the Lord would open your eyes to see all the opportunities around you to love and serve people in even the smallest ways. As He equips you for your daily tasks, may you find everlasting joy, satisfaction, and purpose in contributing to His vision.

Photo by: Samantha Garrote of Brazil 🇧🇷

One of the many reasons I love Him…Patience

One of the many reasons I love the Lord is because of His patience. My heart overflows with thanksgiving when I think of how patient He is. Looking back I can see how far I’ve come and how consistent and unchanging the Lord has been. Rather I was being faithful or faithless, obedient or disobedient. He remained the same. He was still God. He never wavered in His love for me. He patiently waited as I grew in faith and obedience.

Any discipline I have received from the Lord has always been done in love and tailored just for me (Proverbs 3:12). It was exactly what I needed to cause me to repent and turn my heart back to His. But there were many times He waited for me, and even today, although I have made some progress, the reality is that He is still waiting on me.

Psalm 139:16 NIV, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Photo by: Samer Daboul of Turkey 🇹🇷

I’m thankful that God loves us and is patient through our ups and downs. We often become impatient as we are going through periods of waiting. But as we wait, we must remember God is waiting too. Our lives were His idea in the first place. As Psalm 139:16 tells us, the plans He has for us were in His heart before we were even born. His love for us will not allow Him to rush anything. Now that’s true patience!

I pray the Lord would strengthen you as you continue to patiently trust His timing in every area of your life. May we be a reflection of His patience to others. May patience have her perfect work in you and me.

James 1:4 KJV, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Seeing The Good

This phrase came to my mind recently, “Seeing the good”. As I pondered it, I thought of how it can be hard to see good when things seem less than good. Our vision is limited when we only look at the natural circumstances that are before us. However, when we look at circumstances through our eyes of faith, we are able to see past the natural and have hope. We can “see” the good that the Lord wants to do in our lives according to the promises in His Word.

Ephesians 3:20 NIV, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”

Photo by: Davis Sanchez of Panama 🇵🇦

I was also reminded that when the Lord Himself looks at us, He can see good. He sees all that He can accomplish through us. I can’t imagine the excitement that flows from His heart when He sees us becoming who He desires for us to be. When He sees us taking steps of faith to see past the natural and believe Him for good things, I know He is delighted.

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV, “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Our Heavenly Father is proud of us when we work to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Sometimes we can feel discouraged if things are not happening as fast as we would like. But our Father makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Even now, there is beauty in the process as we are growing day by day. If you struggle to see the good in where God has you today, don’t lose hope. Embrace His promises and choose to believe that what He says is true. And also remember that…

“Those who hope in the Lord will never be put to shame.” Psalm 25:3

Keep “seeing the good” through your eyes of faith. And wait expectantly for God to move on your behalf!

Photo by: Kenex Media sa of South Africa 🇿🇦

Keep The Lord First Place

Psalm 37:5 ESV, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”

The Lord always takes notice of our dedication to Him. When we give our hearts and lives to fulfill His purposes, He will act on our behalf. He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Committing our ways to the Lord does require humility and sacrifice. Having a humble heart will allow us to be open to the Lord’s direction. His direction can come from His Word, the voice of the Holy Spirit, or He will sometimes use other people to speak into our lives, just to name a few.

God is not limited in His ability to get through to us, but we must be willing to listen. In order to go deeper with the Lord, we must also be willing to make sacrifices or give up things that are hindering our progress in our relationship with Him.

Photo by: Garon Piceli of Brazil 🇧🇷

Learning to trust the Lord, requires spending adequate time getting to know Him, the same way we do with our earthly relationships. There are many things that we commit to as we go through life, but our relationship with the Lord should always be number one on our list.

I pray that we would make the Lord first place as we commit our ways to Him. We can be confident in His faithfulness, as we trust Him to act on our behalf.

Trust With All Of Your Heart

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

No matter how familiar this verse is to us, it will never lose its essence. As we trust in the Lord, He promises to make our paths straight. Even if we feel lost, we aren’t, because as long as we are trusting in Jesus and acknowledging Him in all of our ways, we know He is directing our paths. Every twist and turn we encounter is part of His divine plan. We don’t even have to understand everything, all we have to do is trust Him.

Photo by: Quang Nguyen Vinh of Vietnam 🇻🇳

Submit every worry and uncertainty to the Lord in prayer and trust Him to work out what is best for you. Even if things don’t go exactly like you thought it would, still choose to trust God. Some of our greatest joys will come from allowing the Lord to lead us into unknown territory. When we are depending solely on the Lord for guidance and provision, we will grow in our faith in Him, grow in our relationship with Him, and we will experience His abundant blessings like never before.

I pray the Lord will continue to empower you to trust in Him with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and acknowledge Him in all of your ways.

Florida Memories: The Sweet Fragrance of Jesus

2 Corinthians 2:14 ESV, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

A couple of days ago I finally got around to cleaning out my purse. I had been putting it off for awhile, but as the old saying goes, “better late than never”. There were so many papers and other unnecessary items stuffed in there, and it was so heavy. Florida’s tropical climate produced a lot of rain, so it was also nice to remove the little umbrella I kept in my purse at all times.

Amongst the many papers, I even found a few Publix receipts from last summer. If you’ve ever been to Florida, then you know Publix is the main grocery store there. By the way, I do miss the five dollar sushi rolls special that Publix had on Wednesdays. Here’s a picture of the vegetable rolls I loved to eat with soy sauce…

$5 veggie rolls!!

Anyway, while working at my company in Florida, there was this really nice lady. She had worked at the company for quite sometime. I vaguely remember her introducing herself to me in the hallway shortly after I started working there. Although we worked in different departments, I would usually run into her in the hallway or the break room. I always enjoyed our short chats because she seemed so genuine, and was always very kind and peaceful. There was something very unique about her.

Well she ended up becoming very ill and was out of work for several months. I can remember the morning they informed us that she had passed away. After she passed away, her son, who also worked at my company, sent out an email expressing his appreciation to everyone for the kindness shown toward his family during the passing of his mother.

At the end of the email, he shared his mother’s favorite prayer with us. While I was cleaning out my purse, I found a copy of the prayer. I had printed it out and put it up on my desk when her son shared it with us. And during my last week of work, I took it down and put it in my purse. So while I was cleaning out my purse, I found it.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, Help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so completely, that all my life may be only a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that everyone with whom I come into contact may feel your presence within me. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only you Jesus. Amen. (author unknown)

Photo by: Mareefe

Coming across this prayer not only reminded me of my lovely coworker, but it also reminded me that when we walk in the ways of Christ, people truly notice. When we are devoted to Him, we will give off a sweet fragrance that will be pleasing to those around us like my coworker did.

My coworker had a desire to, “spread the fragrance of Jesus” everywhere she went. Although we never talked about Christianity, I saw it through her actions and could feel her love for Jesus through her warm and gentle spirit. She allowed the Spirit of God to live through her. When her son shared her favorite prayer, it confirmed what I had already experienced in my encounters with her. I’m glad I had the chance to meet her.

What a privilege it is that we as Christians are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are privileged to spread His fragrance everywhere we go. When people meet us, they should also meet Jesus.

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