GO BACK AND SAY THANK YOU!

Luke 17:11-19 tells the parable of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus. Lepers were considered UNCLEAN and were kept away from others because of their disease.

Jesus merely told them to “Go show yourself to the priest.” This statement alone should have told them they had been healed or that he was going to heal them at some point, since they were not to be around others, but yet he was sending them to the priest.

In route to show themselves to the priest, each of them noticed they had been cleansed. However, of the ten, ONLY ONE returned to say, “Thank you Jesus.”

Each day, God blesses us – with His grace, His mercy, life, health – always supplying the needs of His children. His ultimate gift to everyone was his Son Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection - for our sins. Knowing this fact, how often do we show ourselves to the world?

Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. (Matt. 5:16)

How often are we telling them what God has done for us and what trust in Christ can do for them?
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Lastly, how often do we simply tell him, Thank You?
Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. (1 Chronicles 16:8)

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.
 (1 Chronicles 16:34)

If you didn’t know it - Without Christ, we are nothing, nada, zilch.

Often, in the busyness that is life, we can take on a mentality that God is SUPPOSE to do all that He does for us. We see his blessings and his provisions as his responsibility, without giving much thought to showing him the gratitude He deserves.

In order to thank Him, one need not think so big. The next time you inhale and exhale – yes, like right now – Say Thank You, because He didn’t have to do it – but He did!

God is STILL God, sin is STILL sin

It's been said on several occasions as an excuse to LIVE HABITUALLY in sin that God knows/sees your heart NOT your issues. I beg to differ based on the WORD of God which DOES say God looks at the heart, but which also says "Out of the HEART flow the issues of Life." This makes it impossible to separate your ISSUES, aka SINS, from your heart.

If your life is out of line with the word of God, which is NEVER vague in God's feelings about sin, then you are treading on dangerous ground, especially if you claim to be His child. 

Stop whimping out with "I ain't perfect and I'm only human." God is well aware of who you are, he created you. He says "Be ye Holy, for I am Holy." Perfection is NOT the goal of a child of God, holiness is, and last I read, SIN of any kind, is NOT holy. Holy does not mean living an habitually sinful life, while believing God is OK with it because you have confessed it. 

According to Scripture, These are indeed the last days. It's evident all around us. Itching ears are being scratched in the four walls of the church. People are living in sin and lashing out when God's ppl tell them the truth. GOD told us to tell you. there's a difference between telling you the truth of God's Word and judging you. Trust that God ain't playing around. He has not and will not change. Continue to Interpret the Scripture to fit your mud puddle and you'll regret it. 

I'm So tired of those who use the fact that God is love to convince themselves that their lifestyle of sin is condoned by Him. Yes, He is love, but he is also Just, sovereign, and he HATES sin any which way you put it. 

DON'T JUST STAND THERE, PRAY SOMETHING!

 I read this this morning in a YouVersion devotion 

This is what it means to me in my life at this moment in time. 

There are times throughout our short existence when it's seems we are aboard a ship being tossed to and fro by the turbulent winds of our situation. While I've known it for years, I am now more frequently living out my faith by trusting the ONE who made the sea, the only ONE who can calm the sea. 

Come what may - and trust me  it has, is, or will come - keep your eyes upon Jesus. Cry out to Him as Peter did when he began to sink. Put your UNWAVERING faith in Him, no matter how bad your circumstance may be. If you are His child, He's got you.

Faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things NOT seen. Heb. 11:1

Mother - the ultimate role model

Brenda hasn't seen her five children in a year. Actually, this 35-year old mother only gets to see her kids once a year. You see, she is serving an 11-year sentence for arson in a California prison.
Visually, nothing about Marlene says mother. With here tattoo-covering arms, neck and chest, the 24-year old - simply put - looks hard. Her short life has been a whirlwind in and out of trouble. Her latest crime - robbery, has landed her in a state prison for six year. That will be two more years away from her 4-year-old son.
A week ago, I visited a women's prison with an organization that takes kids to visit their incarcerated parents.
As I watched these women nervously pace the floor, fix their hair and anxiously watch the security door through which their children would enter, I found myself pitying them. Although they were women who had been convicted of serious crimes, they were mothers. Mothers who loved their children, but whose very bad choices had taken away their privilege to raise them, spend time with them or even something as simple as read them a bedtime story.
At the sight of the children, dozens of mothers smiled and cried as they moved anxiously toward the door to greet their children.
And so began the clock. Four hours - that's right, four hours was all they had to spend with the children, who many of them had not seen in as long as two years. Mothers led children to tables filled with arts and crafts, where the children would draw pictures for their mothers. Others played board games, while still others played on the fenced in playground topped with barbed wire.
Finally came that dreaded moment - saying goodbye. The laughter stopped and the tears again began to flow as mother and child embraced.
As a mother, it's hard to fathom being away from my two children for years. Often I find myself missing them during the few hours in a school day.
For these incarcerated mothers, time has allowed many of them to assess the effects of their actions.  In the quietness of their cells many have accepted their punishment,  taking full responsibility for their crimes.
As a mother, do you sometimes find yourself taking for granted the time you spend with your children? Have you forgotten the importance of your role as a mother?
A mother not only disciplines her children when they do wrong, thus teaching them the consequences of their actions, she loves unconditionally, values the special moments, encourages and compliments her child(ren).
So, mothers, the next time you look at your child, think about the importance of the impact you have in what that child will become. Search the Scriptures for God's instructions on rearing children. I encourage a daily read of the Proverbs. Live a godly-life before them so that your light leads them to Christ. Never underestimate the knowledge a child has where The Lord is concerned.
Take a minute to think about the incarcerated mothers, many of whom are longing to hold their child, to spend time with them and to teach them right from wrong.
Often, mothers are the epitome of the following Army motto: we do more before 6 in the morning than some people do all day. Make sure that what you do in the run of a day counts in the long run....eternity.

The PEACE of God

I've been having some trying times over the last year or so - scraping around trying to find that thing that any average person wishes for in their everyday life - PEACE. 

One would think as a Bible-believing Christian - I say that because there are those who identify themselves as Christians who don't believe the Bible to be true - I would be quite familiar with the one and only Almighty God who possesses the peace I so desperately need everyday.

Well, actually I am. However, there are times, like in recents months, when I have totally allowed others and different circumstances to invade my peaceful place. 

I've shed more tears than I care to mention, for fear that I may hear the distant chants of my childhood, "cry baby, cry baby." Anybody remember that? Anyway, enough of that.

I am extremely thankful to God for surrounding me with people who refuse to jump in the pity party ditch with me, but who remain on the outskirts of that, often deep place, with a life preserve of Scripture to save me from drowning in my sorrows.

One Wednesday, in a mere effort to appease my 5-year old daughter, I attended Bible study at @Cottonwoodchurch. She has missed her children's church so much. There was a guest minister @mikekeyes who spoke on Peace. Who knew, but God, that I needed that sermon. 

He shared several Scriptures on the peace of God, all of which, in my 44 years in the church, I had heard. But somehow it hit me in such a way I found myself in tears as I listened to God speak directly to me, never mind the other few hundred people who were there. 

I was reminded that I and I alone had been ALLOWING people and circumstances to rob me of my peace. No more. Enough is enough! I will trust God, despite the circumstances that surround me and rise up to taint my character, my worth and my dignity. I will trust God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are his works and it's time my soul acknowledges that. 

If you have allow people and/or your circumstances to rob you of your joy and your peace - whether it's work, family or life in general - cast those cares at the feet of Jesus and trust him at his word. Study his word. Draw nigh to God, resist the devil and he will, he has to flee!

I don' t know about you, but I'm getting my joy and my peace back. The Joy of The Lord is my strength and the peace from God surpasses ALLLLL understanding.