by admin | Dec 18, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments, Personal
As we celebrate this wonderful time of the birth of Jesus, we all receive requests to give. And we all have a desire to do as much as we can.
This is certainly a time to thank God for all our blessings and enjoy the special music and pray that sales will be high all over the country, that we don’t lose any more stores or businesses.
And, we certainly pray for those less fortunate that the next year will be better for them, and God will fill their heart during this time!
There are so many ways to give, that each of us can do:
Give a smile and initiate some joy!
Give a hug and someone will feel better!
Thank people who serve you in any way, and share you are grateful they are there.
Give a warm “God bless you!” when ever possible.
After spending some time in prayer, with the help of the Holy Spirit we can write a special letter to a special person in our life about how much they mean to us, how special they are, and point out the things we like the most about them. That could be the best gift they receive.
Those who can buy, and give, and donate, can also look for someone to bless that they normally do not see in their busy lives.
This is “Dollar Donation Day” for Blessed Abundance and we want to thank you for your donations, also FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!
God doesn’t ask us to give what we don’t have and we should always give from the heart where we feel directed.
So we thank God for you and pray God will prosper and bless each and every one of you!.
Love, Joy and Blessings in our Jesus,
Carol
by admin | Dec 12, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments, Relationship Not Religion!
I know, I know……we aren’t supposed to be offended. But, I was! Why? Because a man accused me of ‘saying I was religious.’ To be exact he said, “You say you are religious and yet you won’t take me off your email list, and I don’t want any more of your emails.”
First of all, I didn’t know he wanted off. It is so easy….there is a link at the bottom of each message where anyone can unsubscribe. For some unknown reason that did not work. So he was ‘hot’! I got the job done as soon as I knew there was a problem. I don’t send those emails out from my office….they go through another company (a really good one) Automated Sales Machine. We only want those on line with us who are blessed by the messages.
The statement that I said I was religious….got me ‘hot’…..one thing I live by and try to impart is that following and believing in Jesus is relationship not religion. Religion is what man must do for God and Christianity is what God has done for man.
Well, I argued with myself (a little), “Why did that upset me?” Then I decided to look up religion and religious in my concordance to see what it actually means. That was a surprise, because it means to worship or worshiping. And, religion and religious are only used 7 times, all in the New Testament. I pulled up definition from Webster’s Dictionary: “concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; “religious texts”; “a member of a religious order”; “lords temporal and spiritual … having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity; “a religious man”; “religious attitude”
I had thought it meant a form of doctrines or beliefs of any kind, like Buddhist, Mormon, Muslim, New Age, Satanism and those all have doctrines about ‘working’ or pleasing a god, or the ‘god within’. In Christianity we accept Jesus into our heart, believing He is the ‘Way, the Truth, and the Light’ and we have eternal relationship with God, by His mercy and grace, not works. Then because we love Him we do work and serve Him out of desire not obligation!
This did give me a little different perspective. However, I think the words have come to mean what I described for most people, i.e. Tom Cruise refers to Scientology as a religion.
I did do what I preach…..I forgave the man and prayed he would know Jesus personally, that he would be blessed and God would take all judgment out of my heart. Amazing how God does just that when we do our part. So now I guess I am truly religious and might even say that because I do worship Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I doubt that I would claim it very often because I would never want people to misconstrue my meaning. Jesus is great, I am not. I am blessed and important in the scheme of things as is everyone reading this Blog. I have great confidence in knowing who I am in Christ Jesus, (See Home Study page at the right, #4 for more on that.) and extremely thankful for all He does for me! But my self-worth is in Him not what I do.
P S I am sure this will not be the last time I am offended….and it does matter what we do with an offense. It is to the glory of man to overlook an offense (Prov 19:11) and certainly shows ‘class’…..I’m going to work on that!
Pressing in and pressing on….
by admin | Nov 12, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments, Relationship Not Religion!
Why me? WOW….there is such a good reason you will love it.
Every-time we bless someone else, three things happen:
1. We have the thought of the blessing! (Good for your mind and soul. Phil 4:8)
2. We speak blessing through our mouth! (Words can bring life! John 6:63)
3. As we bless, we are blessed! (In words we are justified; declared righteous! Matt 12:37)
To bless means to:
- To consecrate or sanctify, or pronounce holy.
- To request of God, divine favor.
- To impart good of any kind.
- To commend as holy; glorify. (To bless God.)
- To protect or guard from evil.
Those are some of the definitions of the word bless. How wonderful that we can impart such awesome things in just ‘blessing’ a person or situation!
As we work in partnership with the Holy Spirit (He is the senior partner and we are junior partner), we use our mind, our mouth to speak, we are blessed, and the Holy Spirit does the rest, and He is soooo good at what He does! As it goes forth those who receive the blessing will be blessed, those who do not, the blessing will return to us! (Luke 10:6)
Whee…!!! What a blessing to give a blessing and be blessed! All because of Jesus, for Jesus and in His Name, we can rise up each day to over come evil with good! (Rom 12:21)
Blessing makes the heart sing!
by admin | Nov 7, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments, Relationship Not Religion!
The simple answer is: “Because that is all He has!”
Jesus was without sin; Jesus said, “Only God is good.”; so where does that leave the rest of us?
The Lord spoke to my heart not long ago, that unless we realize we are imperfect and God loves us–we will not have the love we need to love others who are imperfect!
Why is it so easy to be critical? Be suspicious? Be full of fear? Blame others? Whoops! That would be the ‘fallen nature’ of man, right?
Why is joy so illusive and happiness take so much effort? Because they require good thoughts, a good attitude and if we don’t have them we can make a decision of our will (free will that is) to change our attitude, and let go of the pain. It may take some work on our part!
When we face our own imperfection we are able to be kinder, and more compassionate to others who annoy, offend or deceive us. Sometimes it takes effort, but sometimes it is just a change of attitude.
God really does love us, so much so, He gave His Son, to demonstrate that love! So know that you don’t have to be perfect. Don’t expect others to be perfect before you love them. It isn’t always easy….I am here to say….just very, very rewarding!
If the ‘fallen nature’ and some of what I said is a ‘mystery’ to you, I invite you to take advantage of our ‘Weekly Book Offer–Free to All’ listed on this page. We will share what we have learned and hopefully others will share with us.
Signed,
Carol Definitely imperfect, but mightily Loved of God!
by admin | Nov 5, 2008 | Kingdom Comments, Politics
The United States of America had an election yesterday, where one side won by a good sized vote. Although it seems to be over….maybe it isn’t.
As I watched the acceptance speech I was amazed at the 200,000+ people, (many had been waiting in Chicago for ten hours or more) the happiness, excitement and joy in their actions and on their faces. And, I was smitten once again with the results of the power of agreement.
King David, of Bible fame, faced the loss of a son because of his own actions prior to his son’s birth. Here is what the Bible says, (when David was told the baby was dead), “So David arose from the ground and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.” There is a very interesting and profound principle here.
The word ‘anoint’ according to the dictionary means: to consecrate or make sacred in a ceremony that includes the token applying of oil; to dedicate to the service of God. Usually we see this from the stance of the Holy Spirit doing the anointing. In this case David rose up and anointed himself. We could talk all day about his sins that brought this about, but that would not serve us well, nor is it my purpose.
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE….we know the sins we have committed, we know how the enemy is working to kill, rob and destroy in America….well, the whole world. So let’s get on with the solution. It is not a program, idea, or a ‘president’. It is the Kingdom of God on earth with Jesus as King.
Let’s anoint ourselves–worship our King–both literally with words and song–but especially with our ability to serve. Let us clothe ourselves in right actions, let’s work in the market place, the business place, the schools, the media, the government (where ever we have a place) with integrity, kindness, blessing those who are against us, and using forgiveness always to take the power from the enemy and give it to God.
Let’s pray for our Government Leaders–the ones we have now and the ones we will have. Not with judgment about how bad they are, but with forgiveness, blessings and faith in God to change hearts, reaffirm freedom, and move mountains of hostility, violence and arrogance from the minds and hearts of those who know not what they do.
And, as Charlie Brown–cartoon character– said, “I have seen the enemy and it is us.”
We need to anoint, refresh our minds, our faith in God, not man. We are not American’ts, we are Americans. We are, as David said when he faced Goliath, the giant, “Who is this that should defy the armies of the living God?” The war is not against men, but is spiritual. Regret, remorse, self-pity–the negative emotions do not serve us well. We must be part of the armies of the living God. Who ever won a war believing it was lost?
What a challenge, what a great opportunity to be an influence on the world, for the goodness of God, for the abundant life Jesus paid for–not just in a church building–but in the world. Believers in God, unite in loving agreement and prayer, to change the world for Jesus! Condemnation and judgment will not work! Lord let your light shine through us, give us direction, vision and purpose; Lord let Your Kingdom come!
by admin | Oct 31, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments
It is almost time to vote, in fact some people have already sent their ballot in. However, I received two emails that truly stuck out in my mind this week.
How do we know the heart of God? I think we listen to Jesus! And, voting for ‘life’ as much as possible. I don’t mean economics, or health insurance, or taxes–as truly important as they are. Here is something to think about, as I sure did….
One email was from a woman who survived the Holocaust of Hitler. It was quite long as she described the campaign he waged to get into office. I don’t think many of our young people know that he was quite popular when he took over in Germany. He seemed to polarize the country with his charisma and passionate speeches. They thought he was their savior, as the country was in great need, and he seemed to be the answer.
One of the first things he did (she recounted) was to abort babies they (German Government under Hitler) and dispose of the unwanted–one way or another.
Her point was to check the moral fiber of a candidate. I have felt strongly that morality comes from God–from the heart of God. Preserving life is one of his main concerns.
The second email that impacted me was from a woman in Orissa, a state in India. A Hindu priest was killed and they blamed the Christians, and horror began. Hundreds of churchs burned, dozens of Christian tribals have been slaughtered, just for being Christian. A computer technician and a Priest were locked up and burned to death in the building. And, there is so much more….
Should we consider taxes, politics, or economics….or maybe life….and history. I have said, that if I were an atheist, a Hindu, a Muslim or whatever, I would want Christians in office because they are the most tolerant of worshiping other faiths.
Who has voted ‘life’ and who has not? Charming is just not the right answer to God’s heart. I don’t believe He is against ‘charming’ but as I commented on another blog, the blood of the Saints cry out for this nation to remain one Nation Under God!
We need to pray against the spiritual forces behind propositions and views of the candidates. We need to forgive and bless those we disagree with, and pray the Holy Spirit draws them to a place of knowing God and the reason Jesus died for us. Did Jesus not say “The thief comes to kill, rob and destroy”? More importantly did Jesus not say, “But I came to bring life, and life more abundant.”?
We must be careful how we vote. Behind the promises of bigger and better things may be a loss of life and loss of freedom!
