Poetry: A New Life

A NEW LIFE

Your scriptures are so wonderful.

They energize my soul.

I love to read the stories

Of the patriarchs of old.

And also of the women

Who were prominent in Christ.

Who prayed and gave in faithfulness.

No fleshly guile or strife.

But most of all the thing I love

Is what your Word doth do.

It changes all the heart of me,

Transforms and makes me new.

For through the daily cleansing Word

I'm changed to be like you.

The Word restructures all of me.

I'm living life brand new.

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Poetry: My IV

MY IV

Dear Lord, your Word gives me such joy

And causes my spirit to soar.

It’s hard to explain,

But those who eat it daily

Know that exhilaration from pain.

Like an infusion or injection of jet fuel,

I am made to feel like

Anything is possible.

I can soar above

Problems, offenses and lack.

Dear Lord, your Word is my IV.

I’m on it every day,

All day, throughout the day.

I’m hooked up,

And I live!

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Why Read The Bible Daily?

Reading the Word of God is essential to growth in Christ Jesus.

The Word is living. It is alive.

Putting it into our minds and hearts daily is the only way for ongoing transformation.

Over time, we develop a taste for it and must have it everyday.

There is no better addiction than to the vital lifeline to God. This is through the revelation of his Son via the Holy Scriptures.

Like our daily meals, scriptures need to be put in daily. We must eat and drink them, for man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

*****

Daily Living God's Way Everyday

I pray every morning that as I go about my affairs, I will see myself and my life as God sees them. The way that God sees me is with understanding, love, compassion and hope. For God knows the thoughts that he thinks towards me, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give me a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

I also pray for the strength to allow the love that God has shed abroad in my heart to flow out to my enemies, to pray always for those who use me and plan spitefully against me. (Matthew 5:44)

I pray daily to be committed to never repaying evil for evil in any way, form or fashion; not through thoughts, words or deeds. I pray to always be of a mind to overcome evil with good, to trust my Dear Father and to walk in his light. (I John 1:7)

Trust God Acknowledge God Commit It To God

Is there something that you're trying to do all alone, as you've always done? Are you taking that step without the guidance that is available to you? Have you forgotten that Our Father is always ready to assist you in your decisions, directions and pursuits? 

Do you realize that Jesus wants you to give him the things that concern you and that he is favorably talking to Our Father about you? 

Have you learned that the Holy Spirit will comfort you as you face that new plan or goal, if you invite him in and listen to him? Have you learned that he will guide you on the path so that you don't have to worry about the direction in which you are going?

Trust God today.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and learn not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Commit your works unto the Lord and your thoughts will be established. Proverbs 16:3

Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5

Trust God Acknowledge God Commit It To God

Witness In Peace

 

Don't stress yourself or press yourself into pressuring others to come to Jesus. There is no one way or perfect way to witness. 

Sharing salvation should flow with your spirit and personality type. God reveals our personality types to us and how we are most inclined to share The Gospel. 

Every person who knows Jesus can witness. It is talking at the appropriate time, to anyone who is receptive, about our relationship with God and what his Son Jesus Christ has done for us. The Holy Spirit reveals to us those who are ready. 

It is not we who bring people to salvation. It is the Holy Spirit. God prepares the heart of a person to receive. If it's not the right time and God's Holy Spirit has not yet prepared that person's heart, then he/she will not accept Jesus.  No amount of cajoling, pressuring, threatening and shaming that person will work. He or she will only become stubborn in spirit and be pushed further from God. 

Be at peace. Work with God, not against him. Let the Holy Spirit do his work and go with God's flow in talking to people about Jesus. Witnessing should always be done in peace.

With God All Things Are Possible

Do you believe or do you need Our Father to increase your faith? 

The Holy Word tells us over and over again...ALL things, not some things, not a few things, but ALL things are possible to him who believes. 

If we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he hears us. IF we believe that he hears us, then we know that we have what we have asked for, BECAUSE we asked according to HIS will. (I John 5:14-15)

All of the scriptures that encourage us to believe in the impossible, including Matthew 21:21-22, Matthew 17:20, John 15:7 and Mark 9:23, are explicit in stating that ALL things, ANYTHING is possible.

I don't believe that the Bible states things just because they sound good or that it doesn't mean what it is plainly saying. Our problem is that in our fleshly minds we demote The Word.   

Choose to believe today! Ask Our Father to increase your faith today so that you can start promoting The Word to where God intended it to function in your life.

This plaque, Nothing Is Impossible With God, was made by a young lady who presented it to me, many years ago, when I was moving away to a new start in life. She was apologetic because when she made it some of the glaze that she added ran down the front. I assured her that it was beautiful. I cherish it. No matter where I am, I display it so that I can see it.

*****

Prayer Before Bible Reading

Dear Father: Thank you for your Word which is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I thank you that it will take root in the broken up stony ground of my heart and bear much fruit. I know that it will transform me by the renewing of my mind. Help me to rightly divide your Word of Truth so that I can apply it to my life in a practical way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!

Pray & Sleep On It

~ Proverbs 15:1 Are you angry, upset or disappointed in someone? Do you want or need to respond to them? Don't do it until you pray. Also, sleep on it for at least one night if possible. It will make a world of difference in your response, your relationship with God and in your Christian walk. ~

Forgiveness Gives Us Power

It feels better to forgive than to be angry, frustrated and resentful. We who love God forgive because we can, not because we have to. Because of Our Lord and Savior's sacrifice, we can choose the power of the Holy Spirit in our everyday interactions. Forgiving is a powerful tool of the Holy Spirit and that power can be felt! 

They say that unforgiveness hurts us the most, but that truth is not enough for us to claim the power to forgive. We are used to hurting ourselves in subtle and non-subtle, covert and overt ways. Our society promotes and applauds it. The power to forgive at every turn comes through the fact that Jesus Christ has provided a way out for us.

~ Worry is the root of all unforgiveness. ~  

We don't have to bear the burden of unforgiveness as the only solution to hurts, afflictions and the wicked intentions of others. Forgiveness is the answer to the pain of worry, which is the root of all unforgiveness. We have an answer. That answer is that God truly knows, sees and hears all and it is going to be ok. 

~ Unforgiveness is seeking an answer to fix what we can never fix through our flesh. ~

We don't have to find an answer to what has happened to us. Forgiveness removes the burden from the shoulders of our minds to have to fix things. That is what unforgiveness is, seeking an answer to fix what we can never fix through our flesh.

Forgiveness gives us the power to rest and to move on, in a Godly direction, to other things.    

Sweet Smelling Savor To God

Daniel answered and said: 

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.

And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 

He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. 

I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You.

Let us be like Daniel. Send up a sweet-smelling savor, a sweet incense of praise to Our Father today and everyday!

Bless The Lord Oh My Soul!

Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits: 

Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases, 

Who redeems your life from destruction, 

Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

And its place remembers it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children’s children,

To such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

The Lord has established His throne in heaven,

And His kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 103

***

Ask God Only Once

Yes, it's good to ask Our Father for something only once. After that, we should thank him for it when the desire to ask for it again arises. Don't ask again. We should thank him for what we have already asked for. 

When I ask, I also follow Jesus' example and I say, "Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done, Father." I am acknowledging that if the answer is not as I expected, I trust that he has planned something better.

***

We Need The Entire Bible For Transformation

It is important to read several scriptures, a whole chapter, a complete passage and over time, the entire Bible. We must also try to read it everyday. We learn the context of points, lessons and stories and get a more accurate understanding about what is being said.

Christians who only read and quote favorite scriptures do not grow. 

We need all of the Word over a period of time for our minds to be renewed and to begin to be transformed. 

As we daily read the Bible the conversion begins. This is through the Holy Spirit. He took up residence in our reborn spirits when we acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as God's ordained Savior. The Holy Spirit is a person, like Our Father and Our Savior. He's not a dove, a tongue of flame or a breeze, though he can use these things to operate. 

Working with the Holy Spirit through acceptance and obedience, and eating and drinking a variety of Bible scriptures daily starts the miracle transformation within us. We can then learn to apply the Word to our daily lives in a practical and beneficial way.

Obedient By Choice

The Holy Spirit is the voice of authority and the voice of knowledge within. When he speaks, the growing Christian automatically hears and does, with contentment.

We are obedient because we want to be, not because we have to be. We are contented to obey because we know that not only will God be glorified but we will be blessed richly.

It is a pleasure to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit because of the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that we can partake of. Those resources make a difference. 

Knowing God is supposed to make a difference in our lives. Those who love God covet that difference. We embrace the authority of God's Holy Spirit because we want to live in the blessings of God. We want to daily experience the difference that knowing God can bring. We are obedient to the authority of God's Holy Spirit because we choose to be.

Walking In The Reborn Spirit

Galatians 5:17 tells us that the flesh fights against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. This is because our flesh is not reborn when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Our spirits are reborn. The fleshly attitudes in us are against God and will never be subjected to him. The fleshly way is against God and the flesh can never be subjected to God's way, love or law. (Romans 8:7) I know that when I am disappointed in God, unhappy with him and not appreciating and respecting him, I am walking in my flesh. 

My reborn spirit loves God with a perfect love. The more that I walk in the spiritual life, or in the spirit, the more that I am happy and satisfied with God. This knowledge and revelation helps me to quickly get back into my reborn spirit side of my being, with the help of the Holy Spirit, when my thoughts and feelings are not helpful or fair. It is difficult to resist the fleshly way of thinking because we are born into it. We always need the help of God's Spirit in us to get back into our reborn spirit's way of functioning.

While on this earth, we as Christians have our reborn spirits and we still live in bodies that function by fleshly control. The best that we can do with our flesh is to crucify and bring it under.  (Galatians 5:24, I Corinthians 9:27)  Doing that with that same flesh, however, does not have lasting effects. The flesh, any way that you cut and dry it, profits us nothing. That's why we fall back into our detrimental habits and destructive ways when we try to make ourselves do better.

Romans 8:13 shares that through the spirit man we do mortify the deeds of the fleshly man. This profound knowledge helps me to know that I am not bad or wrong when I suffer through my fleshly attitudes and habits, because my fleshly influence does not go away or die in this life. My reborn spirit man is real and I need to use it like God means for me to. I must always remember that I have a reborn spirit and that I must spend quality time building it up. I must use the spiritual strength that comes from God to quickly get back into my reborn spirit when the flesh directs my thoughts.

Spiritual Weapons For A Spiritual Devil

Satan wants to destroy your happiness and your hope. Don't allow him to do it! He will use every little thing that he can find. The big attacks are obvious. The little attacks are not. Recognize how much he hates you because you love God and have acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. His commitment to devastate you never ends. He never rests in his malevolent goals.

It's not the people who are attacking you and making your life difficult. It's evil influence from the fallen Lucifer, who was once an angel in Our Father's kingdom. He is the father of lies who was cast out of Heaven with his fallen angels followers who kept not their first estate. You believe and want help from God's angels but you find it difficult to believe in a devil and demons? 

Our daily battles are not against flesh and blood, the people that we encounter. The battle is in the spiritual world. We are spiritual now, no longer choosing to live in the flesh, though we are still here in this world and in the flesh. Our Heavenly Father helps us in his spiritual ways. We are not alone. We are not without battle weapons but the weapons that we must use are not carnal through fleshly fighting. 

Our weapons are mighty to defeat the devil's plans, though it may seem like he wins at times. Our weapons of power are not of this physical world. They are Godly weapons that establish God's plans and purposes in our lives. It's not about stopping people and getting back at them. It's all about triumphing through God's good, expectable and perfect will.

Learn about the weapons of warfare that we can successfully use (Ephesians 6:10-18) against the very real principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. Every little evil thing matters to the very real devil. Every little holy and righteous thing should matter to us! Ask our Father to sharpen your spiritual eyes so that you can detect the wicked works of the devil against you. Ask him also to make the weapons of his warfare real and practical to you!

6 Powerful Spiritual Weapons Of Warfare

Our loins girded about with truth. 

Having on the breastplate of righteousness.

Having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 

The shield of faith with which we can quench the enemy's fiery darts.

The helmet of salvation.

The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Living In Harmony With God

Where love is there truly is harmony. 

The love of God shed abroad in our hearts will not allow confusion, dishonesty, deviousness, deceit or ulterior motive. 

Is God's love ruling and reigning in your life? Have you allowed his divine love to break down all of those waste places in your life so that his love can flourish and produce in like kind? Some characteristics of God's love are:

• Organization
• Honesty
• Straightforwardness
• Trustworthiness
• Openness

God's love is supreme and corrects everything! When we are allowing God to work his love in our own lives, we inspire it in the lives of others. It multiplies outward all around us. Where God's love is there is harmony in all of its various forms.

Allow God's love to take over YOUR life and experience the evolution and expansion of harmony! 

***

How Can You Forgive The Unforgivable?

There is no trespass, debt or transgression that we cannot choose to forgive through the power of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The operative word is choose. When forgiveness is difficult or next to impossible, we have to choose it. 

When we come to understand just a little of what Jesus did for us, we then get the power to forgive anything and everything. It takes a revelation of Christ's sacrifice. We will never understand, in this earthly life, just what He did for us. We can grow into a better understanding of this Perfect Gift. 

Our Holy Spirit-given knowledge of the obedience of The Lamb of God will begin to give us the Heart of God. Why is this important? Because God's love covers a multitude of sins. (I Peter 4:8) His love can't cover our sins and not the sins of those who have hurt and damaged us. His love given to us through the shed Blood and the broken Body of his precious Son covers all sins. 

Now, the Bible speaks of a sin against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven but that is another issue. For our understanding of forgiveness towards others, Jesus paid it all. There is nothing that we cannot forgive because of His total sacrifice.

We can be proud and grateful of our ability to forgive through God's provision of his only Son, Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Ask God today for a revelation of what Jesus did for you so that you can soon start your new, holy journey of forgiveness.

One Of These Is You. Start Your New Journey Of Forgiveness Today. Ask Our Father To Give You A Revelation Of Christ's Sacrifice For You.

• There are some things that you feel you just can't forgive and never will be able to.
• You've told someone that you will never forgive them.
• You've said "I forgive you," but in your heart you are secretly unforgiving.
• Something so unfair, so devastating, so tragic happened to you and that is why all of these years, all of these decades you have not been able to forgive those involved.
• You want to forgive but you don't know how.
• You have forgiven but you still feel weighed down and you do not feel free.
• You can't forgive what the adult(s) who raised you did to you or did not do for you in your formative years.
• You know that you're weighed down with so many grudges but can't shake them.

We Forget To Ask God About The Small Things

Though we pray faithfully, we forget to ask God for many things, big and small, before we step out and try it ourselves. It's easy to go to God with the big things. Sometimes, we go to him for distressing and devastating things when we haven't been giving him the daily time that we should. Our Father, however, does not condemn us and we can always devote more time to building our relationship with him.

What about the small things that we could ask him about? He has time and time again given me favor about something that I was thinking about but never asked him for. I know it was him because after he blessed me he lovingly touched me through His Spirit and let me know. I always feel bad when he shows me this because I know that what I received was what I was thinking. I know that it only came from him and I feel bad because I didn't ask him, that I didn't acknowledge that he was there. 

Instead, I did the old habit of thinking fleetingly about a want or need and quickly shoving it on the back burner to bring it about later by myself. My Father let me know, however, that he was there and heard my thoughts. I did not talk to him about those small things but he chose to respond. He let me know that he wants me to ask him about the small things, because he is there for me, always listening.

Some Christians say it's being obsessive and that we don't have to ask God about every little thing. Well, I say ask God about what they are saying. I know from him communicating with me after he blesses me with simple little things that he is telling me to rely on him more, communicate with him more, love walking with him more. Committing to asking him about small things and for help with small dilemmas will help us to walk better with him. Determining to consult him about small decisions and to ask him for small blessings will help us to draw closer to him.