Real Christian Talk, For Real Christians - Consecrated To Him

Hot Wheels & Barbies

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:48:00 +0000

I got this email from son's teacher yesterday about a project that his 2nd grade class will be participating in. It so touched my heart I had to share. Here's what his teacher wrote:

Dear Parents,

In our classroom we have been reading and discussing what we think the true spirit of the “Winter” holidays are. The students and I have agreed that family and faith are the most important and that giving is indeed better than receiving. After much discussion we started talking about what we could do to give back to others this holiday season. One of my students suggested doing something for kids who are sick and in hospitals during the holidays. So I told my students my story with my son and they all agreed that we should do the toy drive in our class. We also discussed how else we could help those kids and we came up with the idea of raising funds to donate to Saint Jude’s to use for cancer research.

In short I am going to tell you my story and share with you all the ideas we came up with to make the above possible. Our class wishes to thank all of those in advance that will help make this short project a success for all children.

A few years ago my two year old son Jesse was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma (cancer of the muscle tissue). My family and I learned a lot about the life of cancer patients and their families. We had great doctors and nurses at Texas Oncology and got to know the caring staff so well. Children with cancer make weekly doctor visits that are never filled with much fun. They always result in pokes, pulling of skin, and sometimes the dreaded unplanned hospital stay. The staff did everything they could to make the patients happy and comfortable. They often gave stuffed animals to the kids after unpleasant visits or before being admitted for treatment. On one such visit, the doctor came in and offered Jesse a stuffed animal. Jesse looked at the doctor and said, “Doctor Goldman, I am a little boy and I like cars. Do you have any cars?” Doctor Goldman went to look and returned with the response,” I am sorry Jesse, but we do not have any cars.” Jesse responded “well you need to get some.”

My husband told this story to the students in his class and one boy said, “We need to get some cars for the doctor to give to the boys.” Then one girl asked, “What about the little girls? Some don’t play with cars.” The students then decided the girls should get some Barbie Dolls for the girl patients. Long story short the students started bringing in Hot Wheels and Barbies for the kids at the Texas Oncology office and thus Hot Wheels and Barbies were born in honor of my son, Jesse Mooney.

Jesse went into the hospital December 4, 2007. His cancer had returned. We spent 47 days in the hospital. The Hot Wheels and Barbies arrived just before Christmas. Before the doctors came to pick up the toys, Jesse took three cars to his friend Dillon who was finishing a two week treatment of antibiotics. We also met Samantha. She, like Jesse, was going to be spending Christmas in the hospital. Samantha had not smiled once for anyone the whole two weeks she had been there. Until, Jesse took her one of the Barbies. Dillon started bringing his cars to the hospital when he had to stay. His grandfather said Dillon would not leave without them. Samantha asked about Jesse every time she came to the hospital.

Then on March 11, 2008, Jesse went to the doctor for the final time. We were admitted and told that the cancer had consumed one of his lungs and that the other was partially covered. Jesse never regained consciousness after he came out of surgery. Samantha came to visit him on March 12. She held Jesse’s hand and gave it a kiss before she left. Dillon came and placed a car Jesse had given him beside Jesse and told me that it needed to go with Jesse to heaven. On Jesse’s final evening, March 13, he was surrounded by family and friends while his favorite movie, Cars, played in the background.

You see those small tokens; Hot Wheels and Barbies help provide those bits of happiness needed to help those that have cancer live the daily fight. My class and I wish to thank all of those who participate in this toy drive that helps keep Jesse’s memory alive.

After Jesse’s passing and through those years of exhaustive research
we found that his type of cancer was not widely researched and studied. Saint Jude’s was the only place that was beginning to study his type of cancer and was trying to develop new treatment plans. So my family and I began to donate every year to their foundation in our son’s name so that maybe one day those children will have a fighting chance for survival.

In short our class has pledged to at least bring in one Hot Wheel or Barbie or both by Friday the 16th to donate to the doctor’s office. We are also collecting pledges to donate to Saint Jude’s on December 16th. Your child will have an envelope in which you will need to help them write the person’s name who wants to donate and how much they are willing to donate to the foundation. Then on December 14th our class will participate in an 8 min. marathon of solving addition and subtraction math facts. After that each child will bring home the number of problems completed and collect their pledges and turn them in to me on Friday December 16th and we will donate our pledges to Saint Jude’s. It is important to remember that you can pledge a flat donation or an amount per completed problem.
Many thanks and please let me know if you have any questions,

Mrs. Mooney and Class
-----------

If you would like to help Mrs. Mooney's class by donating a Barbie or Hot Wheel or both to the kids at Saint Jude's please ship your toy to:

Rueben Johnson Elementary
Attn:Mrs. Mooney 2nd Grade Class
3400 Ash Lane
McKinney, Tx. 75070

If even it does not make it to them by the 16th. It's ok. They will make sure that it gets to the kids.

If you would like to donate financially. Please contact Mrs. Mooney directly for more information, emooney@mckinneyisd.net .

Thank you for helping us keep little Jesse's memory alive.

Christians Arguing Over Halloween :(

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:22:00 +0000

I recently participated in a conversation on FB about whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. After much prayer, research of the origins of Halloween, research of what it means today to witches and pagan, and most of all confirmation from God's Word, my husband and I decided that we would not have our family participate in the celebration of Halloween. This is our choice. (For more on the research I've done on Halloween and what I have to say about the question, 'Should Christians celebrate Halloween?' follow this link http://consecratedtohim.blogspot.com/2009/10/should-christians-celebrate-halloween.html . Here are also some conversations on the subject from WeUsed2bu Ministries - http://www.weusedtobeyou.com/category/common-subjects/halloween/)

The debate on FB got offensive. I saw other Christians verbally attack and insult one another because they had different view points on whether we as believers should celebrate Halloween. At one point one honest sister shared that she questioned if her Christian friends and even the ministry that posted the original comment were truly Christians. This broke my heart. The founder of the ministry that posted the thread is a beautiful woman of God. She loves the young women she ministers to and has a sincere love for our Savior Jesus Christ. Her ministry helps many young women all over the world and is a light in the darkness of cyberspace.

I just felt the need after seeing this series of posts last night to encourage and challenge you to, whether or not you choose to celebrate Halloween, when someone asks you why you do or don't be ready to tell them, BUT do it in a gentle and respectful way.” (1 Peter 3:15) This is the instruction the Spirit of God has given us through the apostle Peter. We are not supposed to get involved in foolish arguments that just provoke fights amongst us. Don't argue with your Christian brothers and sisters who have different views about non-salvation issues. Don't try to be the Holy Spirit in peoples lives. Share your perspective, listen to their perspective and then if you don't agree, it's ok to agree to disagree, move on from the conversation before contention arises and someone gets offended.

I know that in our hearts when we share why we believe the way we do we want others to see the Truth that God has revealed to us, but when we share our revelations aggressively and disrespectfully we do not win the person over. We cause the other person to feel attacked and judged because they don't believe the same way that we do. The Truth of the matter is that God's Word clearly says,

“All things are legitimate [permissible--and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].” - 1 Corinthians 10:23.

Each of has to pray and seek God in His Word about whether or not HE would have us participate in the celebration of Halloween. It is His Spirit that leads us into all Truth. We have His Word that is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

We can not force our views on each other. We can only share what the Spirit of God has shown us in a gentle and respectful way. It is not our job to reveal Truth, that is the Holy Spirit's job. Are job is to love one another no matter what. Are we loving one another when we think less of each because we do or don't celebrate Halloween?

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” - John 13:34-35

Allow His Love To Embrace You

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:25:00 +0000

Recently a very special woman of God and dear friend sent me a sweet little card. It was just a note to remind me of how much I am loved by her and by our God. It is not uncommon of her to send me little words of encouragement from time to time. She has faithfully sent them to me for some 15 years now. It never ceases to amaze me that when she sends them they are always right on time with a word that I need to hear for a situation that I am facing at that time.

I know it is our Heavenly Father that put it on her heart to send me this little love note because it came on a day that I would totally miss the mark. I mean I messed up big time. That's right I'm am one of those imperfect Christians. I am fully aware that as long as I'm here in this world living in this flesh of mine that I will fall short. I know that I can become a slave to whatever I choose to obey, sin or God. So when I fall short I try to quickly confess my shortcomings to God, repent, and then I try to receive His forgiveness. However often times first I go through an awful battle with a spirit of condemnation, guilt, and shame that attacks my mind. That's where I was at when I felt led to reread her note. Part of my dear friend's note read:

God bless you my Lisa and always keep you safe, full of peace and joy!

Romans 8:35-39

The Holy Spirit knew that I would feel down on myself that evening for my shortcomings. My peace and joy were gone. He knew condemnation would try to fling its nasty accusations and put downs at me. He did not want me to sit in a pile of 'woe is me' dung. He made sure that card made it to me right on time. He wanted me to know that NO MATTER WHAT my Heavenly Father loves me. He wanted me to know that He saw and He knew what I would do, but that Jesus is on my side sticking up for me. He loves me regardless of my shortcomings. He believes in me no matter what others have to say. No matter what I do, or don't do, nothing I can ever face in this world will EVER separate me from the love of God, NOTHING.

So He had her send this note to me with Romans 8:35-39 written in it knowing that I would search out His Word. I read it and I have been so encouraged in my heart ever since by these verses that I have read plenty of times. This time though I felt led to read them out of the Message Bible. I would like to share these verse with you now:

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.

We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. - Romans 8:35-39 - The Message (MSG) -emphasis mine

Isn't that just beautiful? He loves us!! He loves us NO MATTER WHAT! Thank you Jesus!

I want to encourage whoever is reading this to allow these verses to get down deep in your heart. I pray that the Holy Spirit would give us power to really understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His is love is for us. May we experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to fully understand. Then we will be made complete with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:18-19)

We need to remember that God is not some far away being. He is near to us. He cares about every detail of our lives. Even though we will face troubles in this world, that does not mean that He has abandoned us. He has given us His Spirit to help us get through and overcome in any situation, in any circumstance. No problem is too big for Him to solve. He has given us His Spirit to help us to forgive ourselves and others. Yes even our accusers, persecutors, or haters. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us and helps us to love the unlovely, to share the same mercy and grace that we have been given, to continue to do good and believe even when we feel we just can't any more. He helps us not to give up. It is His love that comforts us and gives us hope, confirmation, direction, and encouragement.

He is not mad at us. He hates to see us hurt. He hates to see us fall for the traps that the demonic spirits set for us. He hates to see us being led by our flesh, instead of by His Spirit because He wants to see us walk victoriously. He wants to see us live life abundantly, free from the bondage of our sin nature.

This card confirms to my heart that He loves us and does not give up on us even when we fall short. He does not give us the silent treatment or lose hope in us.

Let us open our eyes and allow even creation to testify to the love of God. Let us look at how He has blessed us today. Look at how we are still alive today because He still has a plan and a purpose for us here. He is NOT done with us yet. Mediate on His love and realize that His love is what has really set us free. We don't have to sit in a pile of condemnation when we fall short. Let us instead be humbly sorry for our sins and run to His throne room for help and mercy. He will be faithful to give it to us. Then let us turn away from what is causing us to stumble. He will help us to overcome whatever it is that is trying to overtake us.

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Let's choose to endure and let's choose to let him continue the good work that He has started in us. He is not finished with us yet. His love will help us grow and change daily. Allow His love to embrace you.

Stop Pulling The Not Under The Law Card

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 15:11:00 +0000

“It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom.” Galatians 5:13-14 – The Message Bible

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the misuse of our freedom in Christ and how some Christians will use the "not under the law" verse to justify something that we want to do, that may technically be legal, permissible (allowable and lawful) for us; but may not be spiritually appropriate or helpful (good for us to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). (1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23-24)

So often times the Christian will say as a means of justification for something that they want to do, that may not be the best thing for them or others around them, “We are free. We are not under the law we are under grace”, instead of truly praying and seeking God about whether it is HIS WILL for them to do whatever it is that they are contemplating, even if it is technically legal.

"[Many things] are not specifically condemned by the Scriptures, and thus we must apply other criteria. For example, would these matters cause us to sin, or harm our bodies, or cause a brother to stumble, or tempt us to fall into a pattern we could not control? Clearly if those things occurred, then it would be wrong for us to do them. If not, then we have the liberty to enjoy these activities" - Curtis C. Thomas

I love how The Message Bible translates 1 Corinthians 6:12,

“If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims.”

Our freedom in Christ is not a means of justification for us to do whatever it is we think we want to do, especially those things that are just us trying to fit into to our culture or us wanting to fulfill a selfish or even sinful desire. We are called to live in freedom, but our freedom is meant to serve God by living in the Spirit and by serving one another in love, not for us to live without restraint. (Romans 7:6, Galatians 5:13-14)

It is dangerous to claim freedom in Christ as a means of indulging the flesh. Some claim, "I'm free. I'm free" only to find that their 'freedom' has led them into shame, regret, isolation, and bondage because their freedom was not freedom at all. It was a false sense of liberty that led to a lack of self-control, self-discipline, and discernment. Some have been so deceived in their 'freedom' that they justify old behavior, thoughts, attitudes, and self-expression causing themselves to slip back into their old ways of living. Some have even allowed themselves to become so 'free' that they've harden their hearts and will not allow themselves to receive loving correction and exhortation accusing the concerned brother or sister in Christ of being judgemental or legalistic. (1 Peter 1:14, Ephesians 5:21-24, Proverbs 3:11-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Proverbs 27:5) I like what Sam Storm has to say about this:

"The Christian is not free to do what the Bible forbids. Christian freedom does not entail the right to fornicate or to steal or to lie or to persist in an unforgiving attitude or to do anything else the Scriptures explicitly prohibit. And a person who lovingly points this out to you is not a legalist for having done so!" - Sam Storms

For the record let us get it right, Christians are free from the law but not lawless. Often time people will quote Romans 6:14 saying, “We are not under law but under grace”, well we really need to know what that whole verse says in order to really understand what Paul meant. Here is Romans 6:14 out of the NLT Bible:

“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”

Paul is showing us that since we have died with Christ we are not under that old way of being right with God, which was by trying to do what the law tells us to do without the power to do it. That way, made us slaves to sin. It was SIN that took advantage of God’s good commands and deceived us. The problem has never been with God’s law. The problem is sin in us that incites us to do what the law prohibits. The law is spiritual and good. (Romans 7:12, 14) However,

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”-Romans 8:3-4

Because we have received Jesus Christ as Lord we now live under the freedom of God’s grace that empowers us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to serve and obey God and love and serve our neighbors and also to walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) Christ’s liberty is truly about loving service to God and man. I read a quote that said,

“Love’s slaves are the true freemen.”

Living under the freedom of God’s grace does not mean that we do not have to follow God’s commands or are free to live a life without self-discipline. (John 14:15) It means that now sin is not our master anymore and that we are now able to please God by living by the Spirit’s power, by faith, not by trying to obey the Law of Moses.

“Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” – Romans 3:31

I read another quote by A.T. Pierson which says:

“True Freedom is found only in obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to flow, only between banks: without these it would only spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool. Planets, uncontrolled by law, would only bring wreck to themselves and to the universe. The same law which fences us in, fences others out; the restraints which regulate our liberty also insure and protect it. It is not control, but the right kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which make the free man.”

My goal with this post is to encourage those who like to pull the "not under the law" card as a means of justification for their actions to "Stop It". I would encourage you to first really pray and seek God in His Word as to whether or not He truly wants for you to do whatever it is you're thinking or planning to do in your 'freedom', even if it’s technically legal. Allow God to help you check your heart and motives. Be sure you are not slipping into your old ways. Be sure it is the Holy Spirit leading you and not your flesh. Also may we all beware of the deceiving spirit that would have us think that our freedom in Christ is a license to sin, or to live to satisfy our own desires and whims. Let us follow the instructions given to us in Romans 12:2, let God transform us into a new people by changing the way we think. Then we will learn to know God’s will for us and we can do what He would have us to do in every situation.

I pray that through the verses shared throughout this post we all see that we are free in Christ, given power to live a life of righteousness, love, and service to God and others. May our lives bring Him glory and may we hear our Master say one day,

“Well done good and faithful servant”

Remember All The Wonderful Things That God Has Already Done

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:21:00 +0000

Part 2 of Supernatural Perfect Peace In The Middle Of Life’s Storms

“O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.” - Psalm 40:5 - (NLT)

I believe another component to obtaining that perfect peace is to remember all the wonderful things that God has already done in our lives, in the lives around us, and of course we should remember the wonderful miracles and stories of deliverance in the bible.

When we allow ourselves to remember how faithful God is we will be encouraged in our hearts. Faith will rise up in us. We will begin to feel confident that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We will have a knowing deep inside that He delivered us then and He will deliver us again. He brought us through then and He will bring us through again. He sustained us then and He will sustain us now. (Hebrews 13:8)

When we allow ourselves to mediate on the wonders and the miracles He has already done in and around our lives, we begin to find ourselves assured that He will get us through this situation also. We may not know how. We may not know when. But we are sure that He is faithful to His promise to never leave or forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5)

“He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.” - Job 5:9 - (NLT)

Take some time out and really get in the Word. Read about these stories of deliverance. There are countless stories in His Word that will bless your heart and give you a revelation of the God we serve. Stories like:

• God’s faithful servant Daniel who was thrown in the lion’s den for worshipping God even when a decree was made that no one was to worship any other man or God except for the king for 30 days. The next morning after he was sentenced to the lion’s den the king who cared for Daniel goes out to check on him. He found that because Daniel had trusted in God, he was alive and did not have one scratch on him. God’s angel had closed the mouths of the lions. Daniel was removed from the lion’s den. His haters that tricked the king in to implementing that decree got thrown in to the den instead. (Daniel 6)

• Then there’s Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown in a blazing furnace because they refused to bow down and worship a gold statue that the king had erected. The furnace was heated 7 times hotter than usual and they were thrown in bound, but they were not alone in there. There was a fourth person in there that the king said, 'looks like a god'. The king called for them to come out of the fire. When they came out of that fire they were not burn, not even a hair on their head was singed, and their clothing didn’t even smell of smoke. (Daniel 2-3)

• One of my personal favorite stories is the story about Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. Even though he was in slavery God gave him favor no matter what situation came against him. He ended up in prison but then God lifted him out of prison and set him in a place of honor, second in command to the Pharaoh. He helped prepare the country for a terrible famine. His high position saved his family from that famine. God turned what his brothers meant for evil for good. (Genesis 37-50)

• What about Jesus raising His friend Lazarus from the dead after four days of being dead and in his tomb. Jesus revealed that He is the Resurrection and The Life. (John 11)

These are wonderful stories of deliverance! God is still in the business of delivering his people and giving them favor. He is still in the business of resurrecting dead situations. Just think back over your own life and allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of times where God did some wonderful miracle or act of deliverance. Don’t minimize it. Don’t justify it with rationalization. Allow those times to be exactly what they are; one of God’s countless miracles in your life.

“Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever.” – Psalm 136:4

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Now give him thanks! Lift up your hands in worship and thank Him for everything He’s doing in your life, regardless if you understand it or not. Thank Him for being so faithful to take care for you. Don’t allow your emotions to rule you. Allow yourself to hope and believe. Fall in love with his faithfulness. Allow this confident hope in His faithfulness to fill your heart with that perfect peace that comes from believing His promises and trusting in Him. He will never fail you! (Psalm 134:2, Isaiah 55:8)

Supernatural Perfect Peace In The Middle Of Life's Storms

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:31:00 +0000

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]” - John 16:33 Amplified Bible (AMP)

As long as we live here in this world we will have troubles and trials. We will at times feel overwhelmed, stressed, distressed, and frustrated. But we do not have to allow ourselves to be agitated and disturbed by our circumstances. We do not have to permit our hearts to be troubled, fearful, intimidated, cowardly, and unsettled. We can have a supernatural perfect peace that surpasses all understanding in the middle of life’s storms. (John 14:27 Amplified Bible)

But how do we get to the point where we have peace in the middle of our most unsettling trials? How do we take courage; be confident, certain, and undaunted when we feel completely overwhelmed?

We get that peace by remembering what The Word (Jesus) has to say, by praying and trusting God even in the middle of the storm.

Jesus has said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence.” Jesus is The Word. (John 1:1) His Word is what will infuse peace and confidence into our spirits. We have got to run to The Word for comfort, encouragement, direction, and for protection from the attacks that will come against our minds and try to overwhelm us in our most trying times. Then with the Word we have to run to the throne room of God and pour out our hearts to Him. God has promised that when we do this we WILL receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Worry, fear, doubt, unbelief, anxiety, and depression will come against us and try to get us to throw away the confident trust we have in the Lord. But patient endurance is what we’ll need in these seasons of tribulation so that we can do God’s will in our lives and circumstances. (Hebrews 10:35-38)

We have to do exactly what Philippians 4:6-14 says in order to experience that supernatural peace. It says,

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Emphasis mine)

The Word is clearly telling us in these verses that we don’t need to worry about anything. All we need to do is pray, tell God what we need and thank Him for everything that he has done. He is telling us in verse 8 to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. To think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. I believe right here He is telling us to mediate on His Word, which is all of these things. His Word will speak to our hearts and minds reminding us that we are not alone in our troubles, reminding us that God has not left or forsaken us. It will reassure us that we are more than conqueror’s because of our faith in Christ Jesus. It reassures us that no weapon formed against us will succeed because Jesus has overcome the world and its power to truly harm or conqueror the real us, the redeemed us. (John 14:18, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:37, Isaiah 54:17, Romans 10:17)

Look at what these verses say about trusting God: (Emphasis in the verses mine)

Nahum 1:7 (NLT) - The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

Isaiah 40:31 - (NLT) - But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

1 Chronicles 5:20 - (NLT) They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.

As we pray and read His Word we will increase in faith and trust, resulting in our taking courage; being confident, certain, and undaunted. It is this trust in the Lord that will draw us closer to God, that will renew our strength, and that will lead us into victory.

Don’t allow your circumstances to overwhelm you. Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Draw close to Him in prayer and in His Word like never before. Allow yourself to walk by faith and not by sight. Don’t ever lose hope and be assured that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. He WILL make everything work out according to His plan so that even what the enemy means to destroy or harm you God will turn for good. That’s the kind of God we serve! So keep trusting Him no matter what! (Proverbs 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, Genesis 50:20)

Here's a song called Let The Water's Rise by Mike's Chair I wanted to share with you. I hope that it speaks to someone's heart.

Enclosing, like Paul, I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

To The Parents of the Prodigal Children

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Earlier this month we celebrated Mother’s Day. Usually my Mother’s Day is full of love, peace, and joy. My husband and children go out of their way to make this day special for me. This past Mother’s Day however was full of sadness, hurt, and confusion as one of my teenagers chose that weekend to make some seriously selfish and dangerous choices. My husband and I spent this last Mother’s Day weekend crying and praying for our wayward child.

By the end of that weekend when things had settled down some I felt the Holy Spirit showing me that I wasn’t the only mom crying for her child this Mother’s Day. He reminded me of the other mother’s of prodigal children everywhere who’s situations are terribly worse than ours. This past Mother’s Day weekend the heavens were full of our prayers and tears.

I was filled with compassion and moved to write a word of encouragement to the praying parents of the prodigal children. I believe this is what the Holy Spirit is saying to us in this season:

“Don’t give up praying for your children. Don’t give up believing that God can and will find them where ever they are in whatever situation they are in. Keep believing that the seed of God’s Word that you have spoken into your child’s life will not return void. It will produce fruit and it will prosper, just continue to wait patiently. (Isaiah 55:11)

Hold fast to God’s promises that He has put on your heart. You know the words that He has spoken directly to your heart and shown you in His Word, hold on to them. They will prove true!

There will be times where you feel like throwing in the towel. Don’t give up because just at the right time you will reap your harvest of blessings IF you continue to do good and do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Beware of the words you speak. Your tongue will bring life or death to your situation so speak wisely. Don’t speak out loud words of defeat over your child’s circumstances. Speak words of life and power. Speak words of deliverance and restoration over your child’s life. (Proverbs 18:21)

During this season draw even closer to God and He will draw closer to you. He will sustain you in this battle. He will renew your strength when you feel weak and encourage your heart with living His Word.

Do not allow your heart to be hardened by the trials that you are facing with your children. If you allow your heart to be hardened and you allow bitterness to take root in your heart you will never enter God’s peace. His peace is what will protect your mind and heart as you think on His Word and promises, so do not harden your hearts to his voice. Allow Him to comfort, correct, and encourage you. (Hebrews 4, Philippians 4:8-9)

Stop blaming yourself. The tormenting condemnation that will come against you is not from the Holy Spirit. It is a tool of the enemy to keep you feeling bogged down with destructive emotions. Your child has free will and has allowed the enemy to deceive them. Pray for the veil to be removed from their eyes. Trust that at just the right time, God’s time, the Holy Spirit will open their eyes and ears to hear the Truth and they will be set free.

This is a season that you will have to walk by faith and not by sight more than ever. The more you pray and seek God, the more He will increase your faith.

Finally remember that this is a battle that needs to be waged in the spiritual so stay on your knees. Pray constantly. Praise and thank God in the middle of this storm. Your praise and worship will be the weapons that will tear down strongholds. “

Soul Surfer- A True Story of Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:37:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading the book Soul Surfer, A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton. I also recently saw the motion picture Soul Surfer based on Bethany’s story. I personally liked the book better because it had more faith-filled and motivating quotes from Bethany. However both were very inspiring.

For those who have not heard the story of Bethany Hamilton, Bethany is a twenty-one year old pro-surfer. But she is no ordinary surfer. You see Bethany is a survivor of a shark attack. When she was thirteen years old she was out surfing with her best friend and a fourteen foot shark attacked her. The attack left Bethany with a severed arm. Bethany did not allow that shark to take away her dream of becoming a professional surfer. Less than a month after getting out of the hospital Bethany was back in the water determined to surf again.

As I read her book I was so moved by her faith and determination. She was only 13 years old and her confidence and hope in God was so strong. Her outlook on what has happened to her causes me to look at my own life and my problems and say to myself, “Lisa, God has a plan and a purpose for allowing all of this, keep trusting Him.”

I want to share some quotes with you from her book and I pray that they inspire, challenge, and encourage your heart.

Page 91: But for me, knowing that God loves me and that He has a plan for my life that no shark can take away is like having solid rock underneath me. Look, lots of bad stuff happens to people. That’s life. And here’s my advice: don’t put all your hope and faith into something that could suddenly and easily disappear. And honestly, that’s almost anything. The only thing that will never go away, that will never fail you, is your faith in God…

Page 92: But most of all, I have a relationship with Christ that keeps me strong and helps me see how good can come out of a bad situation. I think the reason I haven’t gotten all bummed out about losing an arm is due to God. I think that the reason I have been able to tell my story on TV and in magazines is because God wanted other people to know that He is the rock that you can build your life on…

Page 65: I’d like to meet as many as I can and share with them my story, maybe help them work through all the fear and self-doubt. I’ve experienced it all firsthand, and I’m living proof that there’s no such thing as a handicap-it’s only in your head…

Wow! Reading these exerts again sparks faith in my heart! What a blessing and inspiration this young woman has become to so many.

No matter what we will face in this world God is for us. He has a plan to use what the enemy means to destroy us and turn it around for our good and for His glory. God took this terrible tragedy that happened to Bethany and has made her a trophy of hope. She could have given up on her dream, but she chose to fight for her destiny. She allowed herself to be empowered by Christ to do all the things that He put on her heart to do. She is a living testimony of Philippians 4:13. “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].” – Amplified Bible

Bethany was able to overcome the attack because she kept her eyes on God. She trusted Him even though she could not understand why this happened to her. She didn’t blame God. She believed in Him. She trusted Him regardless of her circumstances. Let us remember that God is no respecter of persons, if He helped her overcome, He will help us also. All we need to do is keep believing.

What God Has Joined Together, Let No Man Separate

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:03:00 +0000

I was just reading on USA Today Religion’s page an article that was talking about the divorce rate among Christians. It said that the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, conducted a vast demographic study and found that Christians, like adherents of other religions, have a divorce rate of about 42%. They also claim that among religiously unaffiliated Americans the divorce rate is 50%. This is just so sad.

I have been with my husband now for 13 years this August. It is both of ours second marriage. We were both married young. We were not Christians and we lived very selfish, destructive lives that helped destroy our first marriages. Eight years ago my husband and I decided to stop playing house and get married. We agreed that if we were to make marriage vows again that it was till death do us part. We had seen what our children from our first marriages suffered and the thought of tearing apart another family was not acceptable.

So we have been determined to fight for our marriage. We have been determined to love each other through good and bad times. We have most certainly had some terrible times and we have had many more wonderful, beautiful, passionate good times. We are in a really good place right now. Thank you Jesus!

We know that we are together today because of our faith in Christ. He has been our strength. He has been our source of wisdom, forgiveness, patience, longsuffering, and perseverance. When we have wanted to give up we remember, and remind one another, that God joined us together for a reason. He has a plan and purpose for our marriage and our family. So we forgive each other for our mistakes and we make allowances for each other’s faults. We lift one another up and encourage each other to be better at being us. We have become best friends. Our marriage is not perfect but we have certainly come a long way.

I want to encourage anyone who maybe reading this who is going through many trials in their marriage and feels like giving up. Don’t give up on your marriage! No matter how long you have been praying for a change, don’t lose hope. You will see a breakthrough IF you keep praying and believing. At the darkest hours of my marriage this is the verse the Lord kept bringing up to my heart.

Galatians 6:9 “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

I have been blessed to have mighty women of God who have given me godly counsel, corrected me, challenged me, spoken truth into my marriage and encouraged me when I felt overwhelmed. God used them and the examples they set in their marriages to help push me along in mine. Today I want to share with you wisdom that I have gained about marriage.

1) Seek GODLY counsel and encouragement from people who you know love the Lord, understand the covenant of marriage, and will speak life into your marriage. Don’t share your marital problems with friends or family who will talk bad about your spouse or your marriage. You may also want to consider getting counsel from a pastor or Christian counselor. (Proverbs 12:5, Proverbs 19:20)

2) Never stop praying. Pray alone. Pray with your spouse. Pray even when you’re mad, especially when you’re mad, cry out to God. Pour out your heart and then go to His Word and read and listen to what He is speaking to your heart. He WILL comfort you and give you hope. You just have to choose to receive it! (1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22, Psalm 119:114,76,50)

3) Be willing to change. Seek God about how you can change and be a better spouse. Don’t focus so much on your spouse’s issues and what they aren’t doing right. Trust God to deal with them. It is not for us to do the Holy Spirit’s job.

4) Give grace, be merciful and quick to forgive. When you are unforgiving bitterness will take root in your heart. (Hebrews 12:15) You will become overwhelmed with resentment and it will corrupt your marriage. Let things go! Don’t throw past failures in your spouse’s face even if it just happened yesterday. Our Lord brought me to Colossians 3:12-14 to check my heart on the issue of forgiveness and mercy. It says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

5) Study the Word of God. Look up scriptures on marriage, divorce, anger, forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love. As you read the Word of God your mind will be renewed on these issues and the Lord will help you to change and to do what is pleasing to Him in your marriage. You can also get books on marriage and love. Here are some good one’s that I know:

Five Love Languages by Dr.Gary Chapman

Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs

Healing A Broken Marriage by Deborah Ross. (If anyone wants a free copy I have 3 left to give. Just message me below)

There are many other good books out there. These are just 3 of my favorites.

6) Focus on the good. Don’t allow yourself to mediate on all of your spouse’s imperfections. Allow God to help you see your spouse’s strengths, giftings, and potential. (Philippians 4:8)

7) Enjoy one another. Go on date nights often. It’s important to spend quality time together talking, sharing each other’s dreams and visions. My husband and I incorporated this principle into our marriage about two years ago. It has really helped keep the sparks flying. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7)

8) Last but certainly NOT least, Make love! Be quick to have make up sex. Don’t allow a lot of time to go on without making love to your spouse. Making love helps to release stress and creates a stronger bond in the marriage. (1 Corinthians 7:5)

Enclosing I leave you with this word,

“What God has joined together, let no man separate!” – Mark 10:9

Tell Those Who Mourn

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:41:00 +0000

“…tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.” – Isaiah 61: 3

My heart aches as I write this post. I just got news that a friend of the family lost her husband. He had fallen down a flight of stairs and hit his head. He went to sleep and never woke up again. He was in a coma for more than 9 days. He leaves behind his wife and three small children.

I can’t imagine the terrible anguish that she must be experiencing from losing the love of her life and the father of all her children. There must be a terrible hole in her heart. While I do not know the pain that this young mother is experiencing, I do know what it is to lose someone you love with all of your heart. I lost my mother when I was just sixteen years old. I was devastated and lost. My world was upside down. I did not know what would become of me. But God did!

Over the past almost two weeks, as I awaited the daily text updates on this young father’s progress, I have been mediating on suffering. I have been thinking about how people suffer so much in this fallen world and how we will all continue to experience suffering until the end of this world. There will continue to be famine, earthquakes, tsunamis, death, sickness, diseases, and sorrow for as long as we are here. Thank goodness for us believers that our God has a new heaven and new earth for us where there will be no more suffering. (Rev. 21:1, Is. 65:17) Our God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone FOREVER!! Thank you Jesus! I can’t wait!! (Rev. 21:4)

Until then we must encourage one another and NOT LOSE HOPE. We must remember that our Lord is still in control no matter what we or anyone else we know is facing. He was in control when Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He was in control when the Hebrew girl Hadassah, better known as Queen Esther, was taken without a choice to the king’s harem. He was in control when three Hebrew boys were thrown into a furnace alive. He was in control when Lazarus died. He was in control when my mother died. He was in control when our innocent Savior Jesus died a brutal death for all of our sins.

We may not always understand why He allows certain bad things to happen in our lives, but our God can certainly take situations that seem like that are meant to destroy us and turn it for our good. (Gen. 50:20) Let us not allow the suffering that we will experience to harden our hearts against our God. He has not left or forsaken us in this world. He warned us that we would have many sorrows and troubles in this world. But He also reminds us that He HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD. (John 16:33) In our times of utter distress let us cry out to God and confess our brokenness. Let us cry out for His strength. Let us confess just as Paul did,

“ I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].” ( Phil. 4:13 Amplified Bible)

It will be by His strength and His Spirit, not by our own might that we will overcome the traumatic trials that we will face here on this earth. We are not alone! His Spirit comforts us in all of our troubles. Then one day when someone else is going through troubles, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

In our times of sorrow and despair we must hold on with eager hope to the promises, that one day, in glorious freedom we will be redeemed from death and decay. Let us be encouraged knowing that what we suffer now is NOTHING COMPARED TO THE GLORY He will reveal to us later. (Romans 8:18-22)

Please pray for this sister, her children and her family.

We Will Face Persecution

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:28:00 +0000

About a year after I decided to get off the proverbial fence and truly surrender all of my heart, my plans, my will, my entire life to Christ Jesus I began experiencing persecution in my life and ministry. I had never really experienced persecution for my faith, until I decided to live a more consecrated life and start walking in my calling. The Holy Spirit reminded me and led me to Matthew 5:10-12,

10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
After reading this I was prompted to write in the margin of my bible, “Be encouraged Lisa, it’s just the beginning.”

It’s the beginning of a new year and He has brought me right back to this subjection of persecution by bringing me to 2 Timothy 3:12 which says,

“Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”.

Definition of persecution - The act or practice of persecuting on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or beliefs that differ from those of the persecutor.

Definition of persecute - 1. To oppress, harass, or maltreat, esp. because of race, religion, etc.
2. To bother persistently

It has become quite clear to me that when we decide to go against the flow of the world and take a stand for Truth and live by the Word of God we are going to face opposition. Persecution is going to play an integral part in any devoted Christian’s life. The enemy is angry at us because he knows that a godly Christian’s life is a threat to his deceptive demonic activity. A godly life is a testimony of God’s grace, mercy, and power working through us as a witness to others. So he has to come against us. He will use hard hearted, unrepented people in our lives who feel convicted by our witness. We will be talked about and lied on. People will call us names, mistreat us and look for ways to discredit us, but we must not lose heart. We must stay focused and keep doing what we know is right. We must not become angry or bitter, but willingly forgive and pray for our persecutors. (Matthew 5:44, Romans 12:14)

Persecution may tempt us to second guess what we know that the Holy Spirit has taught us, but we must not be discouraged. We must take courage, be confident, certain and undaunted in what our Lord has taught us and walk in it. We cannot live to please people and God. As Christ’s servants living to please God must be our goal. (1 Peter 3:14, Galatians 1:10)

As we go through this New Year determined to fulfill the vision that the Lord has given us we will face persecution, but let us remember that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. We have strength for all things in Christ who empowers us. We are ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into us. He has already overcome the world for us and deprived it of its power to conquer us. So let us boldly walk in Christ and work towards the vision that the Holy Spirit has put on our hearts without fear of persecution. (Philippians 4:13, John 16:33,)

Enclosing I leave you with Isaiah 54:17,

“But in that coming day no weapon formed against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from Me. I. the Lord, have spoken!”

He Has Not Abandoned You!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:12:00 +0000

“O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.” – Isaiah 40:27-28

This is a word that I have on my heart for my brothers and sisters that have been faithfully serving our Lord and His people. To those of you who have been diligently pressing forward in your faith in the face of persecution, trials, and testings. For those of you who are going through difficult times and are crying out to God with a broken heart or contrite spirit. I feel lead to tell you,

“Our Lord has NOT abandoned you!!!”

He knows you are tired and weak. He knows you are hurt and angry at your oppressors. He knows that you are grieving your loss. He sees the struggle with your loved ones. He sees you and He IS with you in your trouble. You are not alone in the storm.

Although you are weary you must not give up! If you do you will not reap the harvest that you have been praying for. Don’t give up just yet. Your breakthrough WILL come! You just have to keep believing. Keep walking by faith and not by sight. Reject your emotions. Reject the anger and bitterness that will come against you. They will only hinder your progress. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. That is where your strength will come from. You will not win this battle in your own strength and with your own might but by His Spirit. This battle belongs to our Lord. You just need to keep praising and worshipping Him. Your faith in His Word will sustain you. Don’t reject the ones who love you and come to you in His name bringing you words of encouragement, admonishment, knowledge, and wisdom. (Galatians 6:9, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 12:1-3, Galatians 5:13-26, Zechariah 4:6, 2 Chronicles 20:15, Matthew 7:24-26)

Let His Word dominate your mind. Take those negative thoughts captive that contradict the Truth that you know our Lord has spoken to your heart. He is not liar! He is always true to His Word. His Word will reap a harvest in your life if you don’t allow the enemy to steal the seed from your heart. (Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 10:5, 1 Samuel 15:29, Matthew 13:18-23, Isaiah 55:8-11)

Stop trying to figure things out in the natural. Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? Truly our Lord works in mysterious ways! (Romans 11:33-36, Isaiah 45:15)

We were given the mind of Christ so that we could understand His counsel, not so that we could teach Him. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan and purpose for everything that happens in our lives and we know that He can and will take what the enemy means to destroy us and turn it around for our good and His glory. Has He ever failed us before? (1 Corinthians 2:16, Jeremiah 29:11, Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28)

So do not throw away your confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36)

Enclosing I leave you with the remainder of Isaiah chapter 40. Really receive it in your spirit. Speak it out loud!

“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD WILL find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:29-31

He has NOT abandoned you!!!

Get A Grip! Keep Believing!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:09:00 +0000

I don’t know about you, but my life is NOT perfect. I have problems, trials, and testing’s daily. It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that I have the strength to overcome life’s adversities. I have moments where my faith and hope is so big that I immediately remember who I am in Christ and I stand on the Truth of God’s Word. Its during these times that I can instantly resist fear, doubt, anxiety and all the other spiritual forces and emotions that will attack my mind. However there are those other times (which are not often, but they do happen) when I feel tired and worn out. I start looking at my circumstances and over evaluating them, instead of remembering what the Lord has already spoken to me about the situation. That is when I begin to feel despair, anger, bitterness, depression, doubt, and sadly even hatred. God forgive me. I’m sharing this with you because I KNOW that I am NOT the only who has gone through this or is going through this now.

Sometimes we have been praying and hoping for years for a breakthrough in a situation or in the life of a loved one. Since we haven’t seen the full manifestation we may begin to feel a little faithless or hopeless. We may even find that we are allowing our hearts to be hardened over the situation which will only lead to unbelief and it will begin to push us away from God.

IT’S TIME TO GET A GRIP!!

We are NEVER EVER going to experience God’s peace and rest over our situations and in our lives if we stay in unbelief. It’s time to take a step back and reflect on all of the breakthroughs that we have already had. It’s time to remember His promises and BELIEVE AGAIN! The enemy wants us to think that our Lord has forgotten us and that His Word will not be fulfilled in our lives and in the lives of those we love. He wants us to give up, to stop believing, stop praying, and stop seeking out God’s Word.

Recently when I was on some straight ‘woe is me’ crap I cried out to God and said please help me. I don’t like to sit very long in that overwhelming feeling of hopelessness because I KNOW IT’S A TRAP! It’s a trap to pull me away from the truth of God’s Word. If we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness we will find ourselves depressed thinking God won’t come through on His promises and that things will never change. But the truth is if He said it then it is already done, we just need to believe it NO MATTER WHAT!

So that day I sat on my front porch and allowed His Word to minister to my broken heart and spirit. I felt led to sit in Hebrews chapter 3. Verses 3:12-14 spoke to me.

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. “Hebrews 3:12-14

I felt like our Lord was saying to me, “Lisa, beware of hardening your heart. Keep believing. Trust me. Remember all that I have already done in your life and in the lives of your family. Don’t be like the children of Israel that hardened their hearts against Me, even after all the miracles they saw Me do.”

The children of Israel saw God manifested in their lives through many miracles. They saw Him part the sea. They ate bread that He rained down from heaven to feed them in the wilderness. He gave them water from a rock when there wasn’t water to be found anywhere else. He led them through the wilderness with a cloud of fire by night and cloud by day. They saw awesome miracles and they still hardened their hearts, tested and tried God’s patience. They refused to do what He told them. They complained and refused to believe in Him. The result was that the unbelieving generation died in the wilderness. They died in their own wilderness of unbelief, doubt, bitterness, and complaining. They never entered His rest. (Hebrews 3:7-19)

Twice in chapter 3 of Hebrews and once in chapter 4 it says,

“Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts...” (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7)

Life isn’t going to be peaches and cream all the time. We are going to have hard times. We are going to feel weak and tired some times, but we CAN NOT GIVE UP! We need to choose to believe that our Lord IS working things out in our lives according to His purpose. Let’s remember that He IS FAITHFUL to fulfill His Word. Let’s choose to walk by faith and not by sight or EMOTIONS. For it’s ONLY if we start BELIEVING again that we will begin to have peace over our situation and find rest from our turmoil. (Hebrews 4:3)

I will leave you with this last scripture the Lord showed me when He was encouraging and correcting me about that situation I was going through. It’s Hebrews 10:35-36,

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” – NLT

Each Of Us Has A Divine Purpose On Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:56:00 +0000

“I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. Now, Father, bring Me into the glory We shared before the world began. ” John 17:4-5

I just recently finished reading through the book of John again. When I got to verse four above I had to stop and really reflect. You see at this point in the book Jesus had been betrayed and his accusers were on their way to arrest him. He knew that they were going to kill him. The final hours of His life had come and He knew that He was completing the work that He had come to this earth to do. Facing the end of His life He could confidently say to our Heavenly Father,

“I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.”

This made me think, will we be able to say the same thing when our lives’ are nearing its end? Will we be able to say that we have brought Jesus glory in this world, in our families, in our communities, in our work places, and in our schools? Will we be able to say that we have completed the work He gave us to do?

I believe that we can say these words IF we begin to seek Him first in everything we do and IF we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily lives. Then we will fulfill our divine purpose in this world.

Let no one reading this be confused in or in doubt, EACH OF US HAS A DIVINE PURPOSE ON EARTH. Our lives are not an accident. Our salvation is not a coincidence. We are part of His divine plan and He has something specific for each of us to do here on this earth. We were born and reborn in Christ, saved for God’s service. Our Heavenly Father confirms it in Jeremiah 29:11 when He says,

“For I know the thoughts and PLANS that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.” (NLT)

Ephesians 2: 10 reaffirms that our Lord has a divine and specific plans for us by saying,

“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” (Amplified Bible)

This is why He has given each of us special gifts and talents. We are gifted to serve Christ and others. Our gifts bring glory to God when we are using them to minister to the lost, love and comfort the hurting, and encouraging others to keep pressing forward. Our gifts both natural and spiritual are given to us so we can help each other. Our divine purpose and the work He has given each of us to do is to be His mouthpiece. We are called to be His ambassadors and conduits of His love. Our gifting, whatever they may be, will help spread the message about Christ Jesus. He will use our gifting to open divine doors of opportunity to share the Truth about Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:7 & Ephesians 4:12)

When our Savior laid down His life for us He did it so that we who would believe in Him would become new people in Him. We are no longer to live for ourselves. Instead we are to live for Christ. Our new life in Christ is a gift from God. In our new life we have a task to complete and is to reconcile people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. This is our divine purpose, to share the Gospel, the message of salvation with the world around us. (Ephesians 4:20-24, 2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

So like our Lord we must let our light shine for all to see. We must share the love of Christ with those He puts in our path and help those in need. Let us be living testimonies of Christ Jesus and glorify God by completing the work He gave us to do here on this here. May the day come that we hear our Lord say,

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Our Children Are Under Attack!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:27:00 +0000

For many days now the Spirit of the Lord has had it on my heart that our youth is under a severe attack of the enemy. The enemy has determined to steal our children’s faith by trying to pull them away from the truth of God’s Word. He is determined to get them to serve and make material things, money, drugs, alcohol, their boy friends/girlfriends, sexual immorality, entertainment, technology, and their own sinful selfish desires their gods. He is constantly sending subliminal messages through certain movies, TV shows, books, music, ungodly friends and even their cellular phones. Their cellular phones, video games, and laptops are stealing their time, keeping them distracted, and are becoming open doorways for the enemy to come into their lives.

As Christian parents we need to remember that we are in a spiritual battle fighting against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. There are mighty powers in this dark world and evil spirits in heavenly places that are determined to steal, kill, and destroy our children. (Ephesians 6:12)

Let’s not be naive. Look around you...listen to the news. There are teenagers taunting and bullying each other. They’re violently attacking and killing one another. They’re being arrested, charged with lewd and lascivious conduct because they are getting caught engaging in oral sex on school buses. They’re hurting emotionally and expressing their pain by cutting themselves. Many young girls are so desperate to be skinny like the super models and altered images they see in magazines that they are starving themselves and purging when they do eat. Statistics are showing that one in four women will be a victim of attempted sexual assault during their time spent in college. Other statistics show that nationally more than half of our teenagers are virgins only up until age 17. Still other stats say that four in ten women become pregnant at least once before age twenty. Many teens and young adults aren’t ashamed about showing their half naked bodies in social network photo albums or sitting in front of a webcam in their undergarments trying to seduce the viewer on the other end. Having text sex has become the norm.

This is horrible! This is what is becoming of our next generation. What are we going to do about it as Christian parents?

These are perilous days. We need to be actively involved in our children’s lives talking with them, giving them direction and wise godly counsel. We need to really know who their friends are. We must make their business our business.

We must lift them up and encourage them to not be afraid to be different, but to live for Christ Jesus and to be the salt and light in their schools, hangouts, neighborhoods, and social clubs. They need to know and understand that our enemy the devil is real and that he has assigned his demons and imps to come against Christian families. The devil does not want our children to live for Christ. He does not want them to love one another. He does not want them to be living testimonies and ambassadors of Christ Jesus who stand for Truth. He wants to snuff out their light. But we have a say. We can pray and make a difference in our children’s lives. It is up to us to decide whether we are going to ignore what we see. Are we going to ignore the warning signs? Or are we going to teach our children morals, self –respect, honor, to love themselves and others, and to live holy and pure lives?

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

We can teach our children to live godly lives and direct them on the right path which is found in the Word of God. If we do not get the Word of God into our children they be destroyed for lack of knowledge. They will go through terrible unnecessary hardship and drama if they are not rooted in the Word of God. Just think of what some of us went through before we knew Jesus and allowed the Word to renew our minds. That is what needs to happen with our children. They need their minds renewed from all the junk too. (Hosea 4:6, Romans 12:2)

The Holy Spirit has been impressing on my heart that I must counter the attack on my family by encouraging my children to get into the Word daily and for them to build their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I feel led to become more diligent in praying over them, and to speak His Word over their lives constantly. I am standing on the promise that He has given us in Isaiah 55:11 that says that He sends out His Word and it ALWAYS produces fruit. It will accomplish all that He wants it to and it WILL prosper everywhere He sends it. So now I will be sending them off in the morning with little Bread of Life notes. They are scriptures for the day that they will walk out of the house with. I trust my Lord to bring them confirmation of His Word. He always does and they always stand in awe.

I pray for every Christian parent who reads this that our Lord will open your eyes and ears to hear and see the traps that are being set for your children. I pray that you rise up in the authority and power of the Holy Spirit and take dominion over your family. May our Lord give us wisdom and direction to handle each situation that we WILL encounter. May He help us to close any doorways that have been opened to the devil and his demons in our lives. I am entrusting your family and mine into God’s hands. Greater is the Spirit that lives in us than the spirit who lives in this world! (1 John 4:4)

I Want To Do What Is Right, But I Can’t

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:50:00 +0000

“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:18-21

Recently a sister wrote into to WeUsed2bu.com who was born again about a year ago. Her concern was that she did not feel like a new creation because she was still having a lot struggles with sin. She said that like Paul in Romans chapter seven, she wants to do right but can’t seem to. She keeps doing what she does not want to do. I am sure that we can all relate to what this sister is going through because all though we are saved we still battle the sin nature that lives in us. So I wanted to take some time and share what the Lord has laid on my heart about this. More importantly I want to share what His Word says about our struggle with sin and how to overcome it.

Let me begin by first addressing the first part of this sisters comment, “not feeling like a new creation”. She is referring to 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” I believe to get a better understanding of this verse we need to go back up a couple verses to 14 & 15.

“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

When we believe in Jesus we are born again in our spirit man, but our mind doesn’t automatically become new. We still have to go through a process of dying to our old life. We have to CHOOSE to no longer live for our own selfish desires and sinful nature. We have to CHOOSE instead to live for Christ Jesus who died for us.

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you CHOOSE to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can CHOOSE to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey his teachings we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.” (Romans 6:16-18)

We have a choice to submit to our sinful desires or to submit and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is in our obedience to the Word that we find freedom from our slavery to sin. It is our love for Him that moves us to give up our old life and selfish ways to follow Him and live a new life in Christ. I am reminded of when our Lord said to His disciples,

“If any of you wants to be My follower, you MUST turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

So how do we die to our old self when we are struggling with our sinful nature? The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. When Jesus left He did not leave us alone. He sent us His Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in us and is working in each of us, GIVING US THE DESIRE AND THE POWER TO DO WHAT PLEASES HIM. (Philippians 2:13) We are not left alone to fight sin and temptation. We CAN overcome temptations. The temptations in our lives are no different from what others experience. Our God is faithful. He will NOT allow the temptation to be more than we can stand. When we are tempted, He will show us a way out so that we can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:13) We don’t have to be controlled by our sinful nature. We can be controlled by the Spirit. We have no obligation to do what our sinful nature urges us to do. We can by the power of the Holy Spirit put to death the deeds of our sinful nature. (Romans 8:9, 12-13)

As long as we live in these bodies here on this earth we will always battle sin and temptation. But Jesus died for us so that our sins would be forgiven and to free us from the power of sin.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

He freed us from the power of sin to live a life of rightouesness. He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. (1 Peter 2:24)

Here are some practical steps to overcoming sin and temptation in our lives.

#1) We MUST renew our minds with the Word of God – Look up specific scriptures that address your issue. Meditate on them day and night until they are engraved in your memory and rooted in your heart. Only then will you prosper and succeed in your efforts to overcome sin. (Joshua 1:8-9, Psalm 119:9-11)

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. “ – Romans 12:1

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16

#2) RUN from anything (people, places, or things) that causes you temptation and call out to God for help immediately –

“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faitfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.” 2 Timothy 2:22

“So humble yourselves before God resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” James 4:7

“In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me.” Jeremiah 29:13

“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5

#3) Accountability – We are the body of Christ and each of us needs one another. We can not walk out our Christian journey alone. Find on fire for Christ brothers and sisters that you can trust with your struggle who will encourage and challenge you to not give up. Who will pray and intercede for you, who hold you up in this battle, and speak the truth of God’s Word into your life. Don’t stop going to church. You need to be around other believers. (Exodus 17:12-13)

“So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less diginty. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.” 1 Corinthians 12:24-26

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16

“And let us not neglect out meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of the His return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25

#4) Fast, pray, and put on your armor – Some struggles are so intense that they can only be broken by prayer and fasting. Remember that we are not in a battle against flesh and blood but against evil rulers, spirits, demons, and imps who are determined to see us overcome by sin, temptation, and evil. Get militant and fight back in prayer. Go straight to the throne room.

“This High Priest of ours understands our weakness, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we WILL find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:14:15-16

Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29
“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” Ephesians 6:1-18

#5) Be patient with your progress and don’t give up! – We are under construction. Our Lord started a good work in us when He saved us and renewed our spirit. He will continue to work on us daily until the day He comes back for us. Don't lose hope when you mess up. Get back up and dust yourself off and keep pressing forward.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6

“Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Romans 12:12

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9

I Know The Thought I Have For You!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:28:00 +0000

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. “– Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT

These three verses are some of my absolute favorite verses in the entire bible. Since I got saved these verses have sustained my faith and hope throughout many trials and tribulations. I will often quote these verses to someone who is facing adversity and needs encouragement. It’s a reminder that no matter what we are going through there is no need to worry and stress out because our Lord has A GOOD PLAN that He’s working out in our lives. In His plan there is ALWAYS hope for our final outcome. He promises that if we will pray that He WILL listen and when we look for Him WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, requiring Him as a vital necessity to make it through our daily lives, we will find Him.

I love how these verses read out of the Amplified Bible. Read it out loud that your faith my increase, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) So speak out loud now,

“For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and NOT for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.
Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”Our Creator and heavenly Father is telling us clearly that he thinks about our life and has a specific plan for us here on earth. Our life has a divine purpose. Look at what Psalm 139 says,

Verse 16, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Verse 17, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

We are always on His mind! His is always thinking good things about us. I believe He is thinking how He will save and deliver us from the hand of the enemy. When we’ve gone astray I believe He’s already thought of where He would put a detour on the road that we are traveling to get us back on the right path. I know He thinks of how He would love to bless and increase our resources so that we can be a blessing to others. I know He is thinking of ways to help us grow in faith, perservance, and love. I believe He’s thinking of who He can put in our path so that we can share our testimony and the Good News about Jesus Christ. Most of all I think He is always thinking of ways to reveal Himself to us, that we would recognize Him and know Him more intimately. He is always thinking of us!

His plans for our life is so much better than our own. When we try to live this life on our own apart from fellowship with Him we will always feel like something is missing. We will always need more of something to fill the void and longing in our hearts that belongs to our Creator. We will attempt to fill that void with materials things, riches, notoriety, alcohol, drugs, bad relationships, business, work, staying busy, partying, sex, having children or whatever it is that we are putting in front of God. Our ways do not produce the abundant life full of peace and hope that having a true relationship with Jesus Christ brings. In fact Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” We need Jesus. He is the Light of the World meant to be the lamp to guide our feet and the light for our path.

When we begin to seek the Lord with all of our hearts, calling out to Him in prayer knowing with our entire being that we need Him, we will find Him. He promises that if we will draw near to Him He WILL draw near to us. He removes the scales from our eyes so that we can see and hear from Him, so that we can understand His Word. We don’t have to walk around blindly wondering what God’s plan is for our life, all we have to do ask for direction and seek His will in His Word. We will begin to see that He has always wanted the best for us. He has always been calling us and knocking on the door of our heart. It is us that have chosen to go our own way.

When we begin to follow His plan for our lives we will have peace and hope. Our minds and hearts will be protected from overwhelming thoughts of defeat, inadequacy, anxiety, and fear as we mediate on His promises to us. Our hope will be in knowing that He is faithful and true to His Word and that He never leaves or forsakes us. He has not left us alone in this world without help and comfort. He has given us His Holy Spirit which will remind us of things that He has taught us, direction that He has given us, words of encouragement that have reassured us. Following his plan and path for our life will lead to us to an abundant life that we have always dreamed of full true hope, peace, and security.

If you are reading this and have turned away from walking with Jesus, I strongly exhort you for your own good to come back to the narrow path. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few every find it. (Matt. 7:13-14) Our Lord is not mad at you. He loves you and always has. He is patient and slow to anger. He is waiting for you to humble yourself at His feet so that He can lift you back up again.

If you have never known that God has a good and specific plan for your life and what to surrender to Him you must put your faith in His son, Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we are saved. It is through Jesus that we will have a new life and become new creations. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no other way.

In either case you need to confess your sins to God, believe in Jesus, turn and go the opposite way that you are going now. It’s time to surrender your will and plans for His. You will not be sorry. I cannot tell that you will not have trouble. Jesus said that on this earth we will have many sorrows and troubles, but that we should take heart because He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) We will overcome this world by putting our faith in Christ Jesus. He is our Deliverer and Savior!

In Christ love,

The Way, The Truth, & The Life

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:51:00 +0000

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” –John 14:9

This is one of my personal favorite verses because I believe it reveals one of Jesus strongest names, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When we personally know Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life it is a life changing revelation. This name says it all really. It gives us divine direction and clarifies any confusion as to which way is the right way to go. It confirms what and Who is really the Truth. It validates that we truly find new and eternal life in Him. When we get to digging into the Word we can see clearly why Jesus referred to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I want to share with you what I learned about this name on my search through the Word of God.

Jesus IS the Way to…

Salvation and right standing with God.

“For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus.” - 1 Timothy 2:5

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) The ONLY way for us to be saved from our sins and to be made right with God is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. God the Father declares ALL sinners right in His sight when they BELIEVE IN JESUS. (Galatians 2:15, Romans 3:26). He is the One all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name. (Acts 10:43)

Jesus IS the Way to…
Freedom from slavery to sin.

“We know that our sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are NO LONGER SLAVES TO SIN. For when we died with Christ we were SET FREE FROM THE POWER OF SIN.” - Romans 6:6

There are many who have been in bondage to sinful habit, attitudes, addictions, thoughts, and behavior. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the renewing of their minds, through the Word of God, they have found freedom from their slavery to sin. I am one of those people. You see we do not need to let sin control the way we live any more. Jesus died to set us free from slavery to sin. We don’t have to give in to sinful desires that will try to attack our minds. (Romans 6:12) We must realize that we become the slave of WHATEVER WE CHOOSE to obey. We can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or we can CHOOSE TO OBEY GOD, which leads to righteous living. (Romans 6:16) When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So YOU ALSO should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:10-11)

Jesus IS the Truth…

That reveals the true God.

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Word. (John 1:1) When we sit down to read the Word of God we are actually sitting at Jesus feet fellowshipping with Him. These are times when we need to ask His Holy Spirit to make us holy by His truth and to teach us His Word which is truth. (John 17:17) Through the Word of God we will learn God’s will for our life. We will learn His character. We learn to hear and recognize God’s voice. He will show us what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong in our lives. He will use the Word to prepare and equip us to do every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17) It is through His Word that He will teach and reveal many truths to us. And if we are truly His disciples we will remain faithful to His teachings and then we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free. (John 8:32)

Jesus IS the Life…

New life

“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

Through faith in Jesus Christ we become new creations in Him. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17) His Holy Spirit begins the process of transforming us into the image of Christ. He begins working in our minds and hearts, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. (Philippians 2:13) He guides our life. When we allow ourselves to be directed by His Spirit our lives will manifest joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a)

With this new life we become His witnesses, telling people about the good and wonderful things that He has done in our lives. Our new lives become a testimony to others of God’s mercy and grace. So we become Christ’s ambassadors. He makes his appeal through us when we plead for others to come back to God. Many will see what He has done in our lives and be amazed. They too will put their trust in the Lord because they see our new life. (Acts 1:8, Psalm 40:3, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

Eternal Life

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die..” (John 11:25-26)

This is my personal favorite. Jesus promised that ANYONE who believes in Him and lives in Him will never die but will have eternal life with God. He has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us. When everything is ready He will come and get us and we will be with Him forever. (John 14:2-3) There will be no more sorrows, sickness, suffering, or evil. We will be in the presence of the Almighty God and see Jesus in all His glory and majesty.

What better way is there? What better truth can there be? There is no other life that will give us what Jesus Christ has died and risen to give us.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

One of His handmaiden’s journal entries

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 28 May 2010 22:15:00 +0000

5-28-10

My Lord,

How mighty You are! NOTHING can stand in Your way. When You decide that we will go this way or that way You will not allow anyone’s rebellion or hard heart to stand in our way. You touch the hearts of the stubborn and give us favor. You make a way out of no way. You prove Your Word is true above all circumstances. You are faithful to Your Word always and forever.

I have seen you move mountains and all I had to do was believe in Your Word and have faith. I have delighted in Your Word and in Your ways. I have found my stability in You. You have rewarded me because I delight in You, because I abide in You. You have blessed me in the presence of those that waited to see us fail. You have lifted me up when I have humbled myself at Your feet. You are blessing my family so that we could be a blessing to other families.

We are leaving a legacy of faith and hope in Jesus Christ. We will tell our children and all who ask why we are so blessed, You are the One who has blessed us with wisdom, honor, and prosperity in our minds, body, soul and finances. We have given you offerings and our tithes. We have given to the poor, but most of all we constantly bring you offerings of thanksgiving and sacrifices of praise for you are worthy to be praised now and forever more.

We are thankful to You for lifting us up out of the pit of despair and for setting us on the Rock of our salvation. We shall NOT be moved because Jesus is the immovable Rock on which we stand. We will rule with Him one day. Praise, honor, and glory be to You Lord, the King of Kings.

Loving You will all my heart,

Your Handmaiden

Ready for ANYTHING and EQUAL To Anything Through Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:59:00 +0000

Here's an article I wrote for WeUsed2bu Ministries.

Ready for ANYTHING and EQUAL To Anything Through Christ
On my journey with my Savior Jesus, I have discovered that He has not left me alone in this world full of sin, corruption, evil, and destruction. He is actively present in my life, helping me and bringing me comfort, hope, and security through the promises in His Word. There have been times where I have felt like I am just going to break under life’s pressures, that if one more thing happened, I was just going to lose it! But how quickly and faithful the Holy Spirit is to bring to my remembrance the promise in His Word which says,

“I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!” (Philippians 4:13)
I just love this promise. I do not take it lightly. This Word sustains me. I realize that I DO NOT have to crumble under the pressures of this world because I have put my faith and trust in Him to help me, to strengthen me when I just can’t any more. I have come to humbly realize that I need to actively walk in this promise, even when I am not at my breaking point, because it is not by my own strength or power that I want to live any more, but by the Spirit and His power. I am weak without Him.

Christians, our Savior has empowered us with the same power that raised Him from the dead: the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can daily learn to live as overcomers in this world. (Romans 8:11) When life’s troubles or obstacles come our way, we don’t have to tremble with fear or anxiety. We don’t have to freak out and wonder what we are going to do. Instead, we can trust in His promises, run to His Word for wisdom and direction, and rely on Christ’s strength to face all things that will come against us.

The Holy Spirit is the source of this strength. He is Christ’s Spirit living and working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. It is through Him that we are equipped with everything we need for doing His will in every situation. The Holy Spirit infuses us with His strength from the inside, making us sufficient to endure trials and tribulations, able to overcome temptations, and having the boldness and courage necessary to make certain changes in our lives. (Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20-21)

I love how Philippians 4:13 reads out of the Amplified. Read it out loud.

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who EMPOWERS ME [I am ready for ANYTHING and EQUAL to anything through Him Who INFUSES INNER STRENGTH INTO ME; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].”

If we will trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, we can live by this verse. We can apply it to every trial that we will ever face, because He has promised us that by His grace we will always be sufficient in Christ, ready for everything and equal to anything. His power works best in our weakness and He always works everything out for our good. (Proverbs 3:5, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:28)

Sisters, we can confidently say that through Christ Jesus WE CAN...

Overcome fear, anxiety, worry, and doubt. (Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:25-34)
Refuse to be slaves to sin in our lives. (Romans 6:6)
Resist the devil and his temptations. (James 4:7, 1 Corinthians 10:13)
Live holy and pure lives. (1 Peter 1:14-16)
Change and renew our minds. (Romans 12:2)
Forgive those who hurt and used us, gossiped, and spoke ill words against us. (Matthew 5:44)
Be His ambassadors in this world, sharing the Good News that Christ saves without fear of persecution, with courage and boldness. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

We can be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who strengthens us! Let’s learn to live and walk out Philippians 4:13 in our daily lives.

Judging Versus Condemnation: Judging Unto Correction

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:45:00 +0000

It's amazing to me how many believers try to hold on to Matthew 7:1-6 as a means of rejecting exhortation from the body of Christ. I read this article on Judging Versus Condemnation and I wanted to share it with you. I thought this was a good teaching on biblical judging unto correction.

Cross post from Fellowship of Christ International

Written by By Rev. Dr. Trudy Veerman

Web Site: A Christian Counselor

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad...
1 King 3:9

Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. Job 34:4

The word "judging" has been wrongly interpreted by many believers in Christ. If by judgement you mean to accuse someone of wrongdoing, then follow Jesus' example and do not judge until you are certain that you are perfectly pure.

Judge NOT, that YE be NOT judged... Matthew 7:1-6

The above speaks of judging in the flesh, with a carnal mind.

If we stop here, then you could say DON'T JUDGE, but since Jesus went on we see that we CAN judge. Let us look at the rest of what He said, "For if you judge, you will be judged by the same standard by which you judge." Jesus says that if we are to judge, we'll be handed back the same measure that we judged with. If your life is right with the Lord, then why would you fear the judgement on yourself? But, how do we judge one another?

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. John 7:24

God's Word is sufficient for guidance regarding judging and evaluating. John 8:15-24 teaches us how to judge. Jesus himself does not even judge according to the flesh. But, if we judge according to the scriptures, we better make sure that we don't fail ourselves in the particular area in which we judge others.

We must judge according to the Scripture, not unto condemnation, but correction. Judging is often misunderstood and misused as accusation and condemning. That is why many Christians think we should not judge. But the God-like Biblical judging is a wonderful way of opening the eyes of the one who is falling by the wayside. If nobody tells him he may get lost and he may not know how to come back. We judge others in the Love of Christ, not with harsh words and condemnation, but according to God's Word.

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother.
Zechariah 7:9

It should be the Word of God that the believer speaks, that will judge the person, NOT the believer's opinion. God is the only Judge to judge unto condemnation, but when we judge each other, we must judge as to correct, not to condemn. Not with an attitude as if we know it so well, or are so good, but in the Love of Christ. Really, God has judged sin already, but also provided a Remedy.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Leviticus 19:15

Judging as in estimating, determining, measuring your brother's sin according to the scriptures. Approaching him, helping and supporting to bring him back on track with the Lord. That is in simple English what Biblical Judging means. Admonishing , warning, correcting and restoring is called Nouthetic Counseling, according to Paul.

"...Thou hast rightly judged" (Luke 7:43) were Jesus words to Simon Peter.

Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Luke 12:57 )

This is how we should judge, using the scriptures as our standard:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

1 John 4:1-6 tells us to test the spirit of those addressing you. Measure what I and others say with the Bible. It is the standard provided by God.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 )

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1 Corinthians 2:15 )

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? (1 Corinthians 6:2-5 )

Of course there are some who don't want to hear any warning or admonition. They would call the approach "judging" as accusation, hiding themselves behind this, as not to have their sins revealed. They would like to bring Biblical judging to a stop , or a halt, throwing back the ball to the believer who tries to bring them back to obedience unto the Lord.

Let us as brothers and sisters in Christ strive to find the TRUTH, the Word of God, that we may have eternal life. It is a blessing to be judged correctly by anyone who speaks TRUTH per God's principles and NOT man's.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:6, 7)

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD. (Psalm 107:43)

MAY THE LORD ADD HIS BLESSING TO HIS WORD

Harvest Of Right Living For Those Who Are Trained In This Way

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:39:00 +0000

“As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.” - Hebrews 12:7, 11-13

The definition for discipline is:

1. Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.
2. Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training; self-control.

Over the past weeks the Holy Spirit has brought me to different scriptures in the Word showing me where our heavenly Father uses trials, testing, and hardships as divine discipline or training to produce in us godly living and Christ-like character, and also to prepare us for our callings. Even those terrible attacks that the enemy will try to use to destroy us or those bad things that happen in life that we just don’t understand, God turns for our good. He did it for Joseph, Jacob’s son, the dreamer who was sold into slavery by his own brothers.

I’ll give you the very short version of what happened to Joseph. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and they intended to rid themselves of him forever so they sold him into slavery. He suffered loneliness, betrayal, and sadness. While Joseph was in slavery God never left him. He gave him favor, wisdom, and prophetic dreams with the gift of interpretation. He used these giftings to lift Joseph up to a position of authority and prominence in Egypt. Many years later a famine hit the land and the only place to find grain was in Egypt. So that is where his family went to buy food. Joseph forgives his brothers and the family is reunited. In the end Joseph looked back at all that had happened to him and finally understood why God allowed everything to happen the way it did. It was so that He could use Joseph to save the lives of many, including his own family. (Genesis 50:20)

Now I want to take you to some other scriptures that our Lord brought me to and showed me specifically how He uses life’s troubles to do the following:

Humble us and to prove our character, whether we would keep His commandments or not and to teach us to rely on His Word.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 “2 Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (NLT)

To test the genuineness of our faith

1 Peter 1:6-7 “6[You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, 7So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.” (Amplified Bible)

To reveal or demonstrate to us the true quality of what‘s in our hearts.

2 Chronicles 32:31 “31 However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.” (NLT)

To teach us patience endurance, maturity of character, joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

Romans 5:3-4 “3Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. 4And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.” (Amplified Bible)

To develop steadfastness and Christ-like character

James 1:2-4 “2Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. 3Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. 4But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.”

It can be difficult while we are going through these holy trials and tribulations. But we must remember that our divine God sees the future and He has always had good plans for our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11) These scriptures confirmed to me that trials and testing are meant to test the reality of our faith and produce the likeness of Christ in us. They are meant to bring out the best in us, if we will allow them to. It’s part of our remolding and refining process. So let us not lose hope when we our heavenly Father lovingly trains us up. He has assured us that EVERYTHING that happens in our lives works together and is fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose. (Romans 8:28)

As I write this I am reminded of when our Heavenly father told the prophet Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So Jeremiah did as He told him and Jeremiah found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Brothers and sisters, God is our potter and I believe the Lord is saying to us today,

“Can I not do with you as the potter does? (Jeremiah 18:6)

Let’s allow Him to continue the good work He has started in us and trust Him in the middle of the refining fire. He is here with us. We will come out unbound and with stronger faith. So keep joyfully and hopefully pressing on! (Philippians 1:6, Daniel 3:26-27)

Pressed In On Every Side

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:47:00 +0000

“We are hedged in (pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed in every way], but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair;

We are pursued (persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed;” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – Amplified

The Lord reminded me of these verses this morning. I read it out of the NLT and then the Amplified. It really hit home for me. You see I am currently going through a season of intense discipline and training through many trials and temptations. (Hebrews 12)The demonic attacks are so evident. I have felt pressed in on every side by spiritual oppression in some of my closest relationships. Even my children are under attack. At times I feel crushed and overwhelmed. The problems and trials I face often times feel like too much to bear. I would be lying if I said that thoughts of giving up don’t run through my mind. But I know who I am in Christ Jesus and I WILL NOT not be driven to utter despair! I know that our Lord has NOT deserted me or my family and left us to stand alone.

I am sharing this with you because I want you to know that if you are suffering through many troubles, trials, and temptations YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Listen to what the Holy Spirit has said through Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

“No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.” – The Message

Here’s parts of this verse out of the Amplified.

“NO temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance..

But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [CAN BE TRUSTED] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [ALWAYS] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.”

Did you see it? Our troubles are not new to human experience. Many others before us and many now are going through the same or very similar problems that we are facing today. Others before us have overcome by remembering how faithful God is to His promise to never leave or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we see that He has promised to never allow the temptations or trials that we face to be more than we can endure. He will ALWAYS provide a way of escape to overcome any temptation the enemy will put before us. He will also ALWAYS provide a way for us to go through whatever trial it is that we may have to face.

No matter what it is that we are facing we need to remember that He is our Strength and WE CAN do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us! Here is Philippians 4:13 in the Amplified. Read it. Receive it! Believe it! Confess it!

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].”

The Lord has spoken to me so many words of encouragement, affirmation, and comfort over the past several weeks. His Holy Spirit has ministered to my heart and given me peace at times where I probably would have fallen apart. He has hugged me through the arms of other believers full of his love and compassion. His presence has filled my room as I slept I knew that He was there with me. His love has sustained me through this all.

He will do the same for you as he is doing for me! Do not give up hope! He is by your side. You will see His promises to you fulfilled. Just keep believing! Keep trusting! Keep seeking Him in prayer, fasting, and in His Word. Keep your eyes on Him and you will not be destroyed. Fight the good fight of faith!

I will continue to share with you the scriptures that He has brought me to in this season of my life. God bless you all and remember what our Lord has said to His disciples,

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]” John 16:33 – Amplified

Check The Spiritual Fruit

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:40:00 +0000

This is a cross-post from WeUsed2bu Christian Girl Advice Site . This month's topic is Dating God's Way. Although it's written to the ladies the principles apply to single men too. Here's..

Check The Spiritual Fruit..

Daughters of the Most High God, you are precious in our Heavenly Father’s eyes and He has good plans for your life, to give you a future and a hope in Him. (Jeremiah 29:11) As you draw closer to Him, you will desire His will more and more. He will begin to reveal the giftings He has imparted to you, as well as His divine and specific plan for your life. He saved you for His service, to use you to glorify our Savior. (Ephesians 2:10) Therefore, you must be very prayerful and wise in choosing your potential date or mate. The person that you choose as your mate will play a role in either hindering our Father’s plan and purpose, or edifying and encouraging you to fulfill your calling.

I think Jesus said it clearly when He said,

“Anyone who isn’t working for Me, and anyone who isn’t working with Me is actually working against Me.” (Matthew 12:30 NLT) Anyone who isn’t working with you towards fulfilling God’s will for your life is working against you. So beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Our Father has given us guidelines to follow that will help in evaluating a potential date/mate.

1st...They should be a Christian – 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” (NKJ) The image is that of two oxen plowing a field: One yoke is placed over them, and they work as a pair. They cannot go in opposite directions even if they wish to do so, because they are bound together. (Commentary from Discover God Study Bible)

We are on the path of righteousness, seeking God’s will for our lives. We need to bond ourselves to others who are on the same path. Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? (Amos 3:2)

The unbeliever does not understand the things of God nor do they desire God’s will, and usually do not agree with God’s Word. (1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4) To bond or yolk ourselves to an unbeliever will inevitably result in division of our loyalty and compromise of our faith, and will harm our own purity.

(Read and meditate on 2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

2nd...They should be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer. (James 1:22-25) The Holy Spirit warns us not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. He says that we should not even eat with such people. Instead He says that we are to remove these types of people from among us. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

This may seem harsh, but our Heavenly Father is warning us to separate from them because He knows that bad company corrupts good character. (1 Corinthians 15:33) These people are claiming to be believers, and He doesn’t want us to be deceived. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Christ or understand who He is. (1 John 3:6-10)

Although we may want to do good, if we are going to be spending quality time with other believers who make a practice of sinning, then we are in danger of their sin and compromise influencing us. The Word warns us that sin is like yeast that spreads if it is not dealt with by removing it immediately. (1 Corinthians 5:6-7) We are to throw off everything that hinders our Christian walk, avoid unedifying relationships, and instead have fellowship with those who call on Him with pure hearts. (Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 2:22)

3rd...They should manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives. – Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
There will be those along our journey that will claim to be Christians just to get closer to us. Some will be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Our Lord Jesus speaks of how to recognize these wolves that are not “the one” for us. He said, “BY THEIR FRUIT YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

He is talking about their spiritual fruit, their works, and the way they act. Anyone can claim to be a believer. But Holy Spirit at work in us produces the fruits of the Spirit (mentioned above) and good works. Faith that doesn’t result in good works is dead and useless. (James 2:14-26)

So how do you check a person’s spiritual fruit? By being friends first. This will allow you to better check them out and see what they are about. Below are some practical questions that can help you evaluate a person’s spiritual fruit and maturity before beginning a dating relationship:

Are they really committed to serving God? Are they involved in any ministry work? Have you seen them ministering to others?

Are you spiritually compatible? Are they at least where you are in your spiritual maturity? Are they rooted in their faith?

What type entertainment do they enjoy? Music, movies, tv shows, books, etc.

Do you believe the same doctrine? Do they believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to have salvation? Do they believe in the Holy Spirit?

What’s their character like? Can you trust them? How do they treat others, especially their immediate family? How are their work ethics?

How do they handle adversity? Do they trust God?

Have you seen them angry? Are they forgiving or do they hold grudges? Do they try to get revenge?

Are they responsible with money? Do they tithe? Do they pay their debts?

Do they have control over their sex drive? Do they honor and obey God’s instruction to remain sexually pure? Do they provoke or lead you into temptation?

This may seem like a lot, but remember that you are a daughter of the Most High God. Our Father wants the best for you. Know who you are in Christ Jesus, and desire to have a man who also knows who he is in Christ and who lives for Him. You are precious to God. Don’t settle for less than God’s best for you, sisters!

Spiritual Vision Impairment

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa C. aka Trophy of Grace) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:20:00 +0000

2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. Although Satan is the one that blinded them, it is their choice to choose to continue to reject the Truth of the Gospel. It is their own unbelief that continues to blind their minds. Therefore these people bear the responsibility for their own rejection of the gospel. It’s only in believing in Christ Jesus that our spiritual eyes are opened and we can find freedom from what I like to call ‘Spiritual Vision Impairment’. (2 Corinthians 3:12-18)

For the believer the spiritual veil that blinded our minds from receiving the Truth was removed when we believed in Jesus Christ. We now have freedom through the Spirit of the Lord to see and reflect the glory of God. So as we read his Word and spend time in His presence the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18)

But is it possible for believers who have already had their spiritual blinders removed to begin to experience Spiritual Vision Impairment again? The answer is sadly yes!

Spiritual Vision Impairment is not much different from natural vision impairment. Natural vision impairment results from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions and cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery. Spiritual vision impairment is similar in that it is both congenital and degenerative. From birth we were born with a sinful nature that causes spiritual blindness that also cannot be cured by conventional means, such as psychotherapy, man’s wisdom, or religion. It can only be corrected by faith in Christ Jesus. Spiritual vision impairment can also be a degenerative condition for Christians who have already been freed from spiritual blindness but haven’t supplemented their faith with godly living and are not growing spiritually.

The Holy Spirit explains in 2 Peter 1 that by His divine power, God has given us everything we need for godly living. He said that we received this empowerment when we came to know Christ. He goes on to explain that we have to supplement our faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. He promised that the more we grow like this, the more productive and useful we would be in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But for those of us who fail to develop in this way, we can become spiritually shortsighted or blind. Then we forget they we have been cleansed from our old sins and begin to revert back to our old ways. (2 Peter 1:3-9, Ephesians 4:22)

These are just some symptoms of Spiritual Vision Impairment:

* Weak in faith and convictions with a double minded attitude. (James 1:5-8)

* No desire to do God’s will. Do what they think is right in their own eyes. (Proverbs 14:12)

* Inability to discern and resist attacks from the enemy. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

* Consumed by the cares of this world. With a “woe is me” attitude. (Matthew 6:31-34)

* Dominated by thoughts of worry and anxiety about life’s tests and trials. Inability to see God working in the midst of it all. (Philippians 4:6-10, Romans 8:28)

* Hardening of the heart to the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit. Being led by the flesh producing the results of the sinful nature which are clearly: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. (Galatians 5:19-21)

* Denial, minimizing or justifying sinful behavior. Making a practice of sinning. (1 John 3:6-10)

* Legalistic, religious, judgmental, know it all, prideful, or critical attitude. (Matthew 9:9-13, 1 Corinthians 10:12, 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, Proverbs 16:18)

* Consumed by unforgiveness and bitterness. (Hebrews 12:15, Colossians 3:12-13)

If you or someone you know is experiencing any or all of these symptoms I urge to run to the throne room of our gracious God to seek help and healing. He is full of mercy. We WILL find favor with Him and He will give us His grace to help us in this time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16) He does not want us to continue in spiritual darkness. He is the one that wants to open our eyes and reveal Himself to us.

The Remedy

1) Acknowledge that Spiritual Vision Impairment is the result of sin. (John 8:32)

2) Humble yourself before God, confess, and repent. Then He will lift you back up again. (James 4:10, 1 John 1:8-9)

3) Start truly seeking God’s way of living through prayer and reading the Word.

4) YOU MUST RENEW YOUR MIND! (Romans 12:2) Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. (Ephesians 4:22-24) Start by meditating and applying 2 Peter 1:3-9 to your life, which means supplementing your faith with: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, patient endurance, godliness, and brotherly affection and love for everyone.

5) Have a support group. These are people that you can call to keep it real with. Talk, vent, and ask for prayer. Allow them to speak into your life. Be willing to be accountable and accept constructive criticism, godly counsel, and direction from those who love you and know you best. These people will be the watchmen that God has placed around you to prayerfully watch your back and hold your arms up in battle. (Galatians 6:2,Ezekiel 33:1-9)

Each of us has a choice to make. What will it be? To continue in spiritual darkness, or to humble ourselves and ask the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, to heal us and give us eyes to see again? May the Lord help each of us to make an honest evaluation of our spiritual condition.