Faith Anchors Us

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Walking by Faith and not by sight is a great way to begin your day.

As we go about our day, most of us see homeless people, people begging for food, people being rude and mean to others, people stressed out and anxiety ridden, and people engulfed by hate and violence, but we cannot let that destroy our spirit. Satan is attempting to flatline us. These are the things of the world that represent the dark times. However, fear not, the Lord is our comforter especially in times of trouble. Paul wrote, in 2 Corinthians 4:16, 18, that outwardly we may be wasting away, yet inward, we are being renewed day by day; we fix our eyes not on want is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary and what is not seen is eternal.

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Our Lord clarified that we live in the world, but are not of the world.
It is our responsibility, as followers of Christ, to present a Christ-like persona, regardless of what the world is presenting as reality. We must live by faith and be the glow in the room. The glow is the Holy Spirit flowing out of us. Our challenge is to help when we can, greet people as we walk by, pray for everyone, and use the Fruit as the Spirit to walk in the Word and live by faith. Our walk defines how we live, how we act, and how we conduct ourselves. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians 5:1, “therefore be imitators of God.” When we live by faith, we live in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Living by faith is fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-3). Faith Anchors Us To God.

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The Dark Times

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In a time where it seems that the Civil War spirit has spread throughout the nation, it’s important to remember who we are – God’s children.

We live in this world but are not of this world, and some of the commandments do not line up with worldly logic. I understand that, my response, to paraphrase Jesus, is, ‘not my will, but your will be done’.

God’s command is to ’love our enemies, to love those who hate us and despise us.’ We are to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who mistreat us.

Why?

We are God’s children and He wants to save all souls. ”The idea of blessing is to invoke God‘s favor on another’s behalf or at least appeal to God for that person.” Jesus is calling for an unnatural response. He wants us to respond in love and not physical or verbal retaliation.

This is important for everyone including me. I am at times taken over by the prevailing spirit of hate and anger, succumbing to the spirit of Civil War hate. But my response feels unnatural and weakens my resolve.

As we mature as Christians, our continuance is no longer of this world. We can no longer linger in the hate, hurt, or malice. God has called us into another world. One that stands in the face of this energy and proclaims Him the victor, our Lord, and Savior.

We cannot be separated from God. We are his children. And we have an intimate relationship with Him. It is unnatural to abandon Him during these dark times.

It is precisely during these times that people look for light and look for God. We are the light, the Holy Spirit lives in us and shines through our being. They look to see how we respond, with love or hate. The war is not ours, it is a principality war and we are charged to carry out the Lord’s commands. We are God’s foot soldiers. Our light must continue to shine brightly in this all-encompassing darkness.

Light always shines through the darkness, if we ’STAND’ in these evil times. We need to do good and be merciful to our enemies because of what God did for us, when we were unsaved sinners.

Re-Blog – https://wp.me/p98Coa-Dv
Scripture Bible.com; Biblegateway.com, TNIV
Images – Bible.com, YouVersion; Google Images

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com.

God’s Word, Our Life

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PRAYER

Thank you, Lord, for giving me your law to follow throughout my life. I have hidden your Word in my heart to follow and avoid sin. Thank you for giving me the Holy Spirit to teach me your decrees. Please continue to give me focus so I can meditate on your precepts. Give me understanding so I can obey your laws. Open my eyes so I can see the wonderful things in your Word, and act on your commandments as the guiding principles of my life. Turn my heart to your statutes and help me keep my focus off my selfish ways. Help me to be more like Christ. Help me walk in your freedom and live in your truth. Let your compassion come to me and show me my salvation.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

God’s Promise Are Trustworthy

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God promises to keep us and not to forsake (abandon) us. He is our strength, and promises to meet our needs, guide us, and protect us. He adopted us into His family. Never give up hope, even in the most difficult times. He will take our sin away. He will make a way out of no way. We can trust Him because He is Truth. God keeps His Promises, He did not make them lightly or on a whim. They are divine Providence, and  preparation for present and future eventualities we will meet on the way to our destiny, everlasting life.

God is faithful and is always with us. He is just to reward those who persevere in living by and sharing the Good News.

Re-Blog – https://wp.me/p98Coa-BT
Scripture – Biblegateway.com
Images – Google Images
Resources/References – Biblehub.com

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me.

Power, Authority, The Holy Spirit, and Prayer

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God gave us the power and authority to pray for ourselves and others.

Jude 1:20 reads, build each other up in prayer. It is our responsibility as Christians to cover our friends and family in prayer every day. It is also our responsibility to stand with them in times of need. God created a family to support one another. The family can be blood relatives or extended members of your circle of friends.

God does not discriminate, nor should we. If He discriminated, the Gentiles would not have been adopted into the family, and we would not be given the opportunity to be part of the Christian Faith through adoption. 

How do we become strong? We build ourselves up internally with the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and makes us strong. Our strength then translates into how we perceive and react to the world. Our doctrine of faith is the foundation to build our faith, increase our knowledge, and improve our relationships with others in and out of the faith. Our internal knowledge unleashes how we build up one another.

The scripture continues and teaches us how to pray. It informs us to pray through the Holy Spirit. Praying gives the Holy Spirit the ability to guide our prayers to accomplish the fullness of their intent. The Holy Spirit directs our petitions. The only effective way to pray is in the Spirit. Some believe we must pray in tongues; others believe that it ended when they crucified Christ, ending the Old Testament dispensation. Regardless, for those who pray in tongues, praying in the Holy Spirit bypasses Satan’s listening ears. For those who do not, pray for the intervention of the Holy Spirit in praying to God, the Father. There is an expression that indicates our intent, ‘Prayers go up, and blessings come down.’

Our role of Christians is to abide by God’s Word. Jude 1:20 calls us to build each other up in faith, not to tear them down, demean them, or ostracize them in any way. We are to pray for them in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Re-Blog – https://wp.me/p98Coa-Br
Scripture – Biblegateway.com
Images – Bible.com, YouVersion; Google Images
Resources/References – Bible.com: Barnes Notes, Ellicott’s Commentary, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown’s Bible Commentary; BibleStudyTools.com: John Gills Exposition of the  Bible

Refraction of Light

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Refraction of Light

I am in my kitchen and saw light refractions in the family room this morning. My thoughts immediately focused on the wonderment of God. Just think if you are given the challenge to build a community, universe, house, or garden you begin with your vision, jot down what you want to include in the project, draw a rough draft, review it and then begin to draw the specs.

Most people will overlook some aspect of designing, maybe minute, maybe something major. Hopefully, the oversight or error will not be calamitous, like the Millennium Towers, a multi-million residential complex in San Francisco, California.

We are just humans, and then there is God, the maker of the universe. He created the universe in six days. Everything that ever existed was created on a timetable and exact in its measurements. Nothing was left to folly.

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Thus, looking at the refractions on the ceiling and walls caused me to pause and thank God for His creation. Light refraction is science in real time and part of His work. We hear scientists say that science is science and God is God, and science, not God explains the universe and the development thereof. The fact is, science is not independent of God; science exists because of God.

It was a difficult path I took to move from science and Darwinism to knowing that God is the creator of the universe and all that exists in it, those things we know about and those things yet to be discovered. It was equally difficult to accept that God is all-knowing, omniscient. He is all-powerful, omnipotent. He is everywhere, omnipresent; God knows all that was, is, and will occur in our existence. But, once you are saved and your eyes are opened, you know, that you know, that you know. What do you know? You know the truth. There is nothing, and no one mightier than God, our Lord, and Savior.

Truth John 8-32

This is the day of the mysteries of God. The day of His revelations. God knows our challenges and the consequences of our designs before they happen. He sees our flaws and the wonderment that they entail. He sees our paths and promises never to forsake us or leave us to our own accord. He provides our GPS through the Holy Spirit. He gives us sight to view the refractions of light and darkness in our lives, and a lens to explore the possibilities of our discoveries and development of our own making. He gave us the authority to be ‘designers’ to plan the world around us. I’m certain he hoped that through free-will we would choose to protect the planet, universe, our lives and the lives of humanity, but He knows He gave Satan the earth, hence the home of destruction and chaos, with moments of calm. To this extent, it seems we have failed to advance the Kingdom, but as with everything, He accounted for our failure to universally recognize Him as Lord and Savior and ended His work defined in the Book of Revelation.

All of my thoughts came pouring out because I looked up and saw refraction of light dancing on my ceiling. God is beyond amazing; there are no words to define His ability to orchestrate our being. There is a song; God is an Awesome God. The title is an appropriate description and one within our context of incomprehensible.

Isaiah 55-8 My Ways Are Not Your Ways shiny

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT

Refraction of light is of God’s making. God’s light passes through an interface of one medium and another. His light transcends the medium of carnality (Satan’s earth) and resides in us through His Word.

ReBlog – https://wp.me/p98Coa-AF
Images – LAB Photos; Google Images
Scriptures – Biblegateway.com

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.