Tag Archives: faith

Blogroll, Discipleship, Evangelism, faith, forgiveness, God, Growing, life, love, Personal, purpose, Uncategorized

Get Honest And Get Free!

At first thought, I would love to tell you I am a perfect person. A person that always thinks good thoughts and always does the right thing. A person who has no enemies, commits no sins and gets it right, no matter the situation or circumstance. At first thought, I think this is what I would love to be able to tell you, but then after I think about it for a few minutes, I realize that would not be me at all.

While it is very true that I am not my mistakes, sins and failures, the reality is, they are a part of me, the part of me that is human. They are the part of my human experience, which is teaching me that I am a spiritual being getting to have a human experience. And while I am not proud of these things, the Spirit has taught me that God has used and is using all of these things to help shape me into who and what He created me to be. It is all part of His process!

The world we live in is a beautiful, mystical and amazing place, but it also a hard, ugly and mean place at the same time. It is in this place that there is a continual battle that wages, a battle we get caught up in and often distracted by.

Oh, we like to pretend that it doesn’t exist and we tend to ignore the obvious, but that does not change the reality that all of us are sinners that miss the mark, and we really do need to own that. A big part of accepting what God has done for us through Jesus is admitting the truth that we are sinners who miss the mark and don’t measure up.

“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you. please.” -Galatians 5:17

Part of our saying that we BELIEVE is acknowledging our sinfulness, accepting it’s consequences and admitting that in our on limited human strength and power, we can do nothing to save ourselves and live the life we were created for. We don’t need to dwell on this part of our life and living, but we do need to be honest and real about it, because that is a vital part of our being able to allow Spirit to do His work in and through us.

Yes, we have messed up and we will mess up, but God loves us and has a plan to use it all for His glory and our blessing as we trust in Him. So own your stuff, admit and learn from your sins, mistakes and failures. Learn to yield to the SPIRIT and you will overcome the desires of the flesh that attempt to pull you off track and out of the will of God’s blessing.

It’s not easy, but it is possible and it’s the relationship you were created for…

Advertisement
Uncategorized

Blessed From Desperation To Inspiration…

Michael Joe, a follower of Christ Jesus by the will of God and through the leading of His Spirit.  To the Saints who are living in the Upstate of South Carolina and who place, express and live out their faith in Christ Jesus.  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh how blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every possible spiritual blessing, blessings which we know are waiting for us in the heavenly places in Christ, just as we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that you and I might be holy and blameless before Him.

In His unlimited love, He chose to adopt us as His sons and daughters though Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of His will and to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely gave to each of us in and through His beloved Son.

In Jesus we have redemption, restoration and relationship through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins and failures, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us, not because we have earned it or deserved it, but simply because He loves us.  

In all Heavenly wisdom and Supernatural insight, He made known to us the incredible mystery of His perfect will, according to the kind intention which finds it’s purpose in and through Jesus, with a view to an administration and application suitable to the fullness of the times, that is to the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Also in Jesus we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, for the purpose and to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

In Him, we also after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of our salvation – having also believed, we were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given to us as a pledge and promise of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory as we move from desperation to inspiration.

-Scripture Adaptation From Ephesians 1:1-14

Uncategorized

Sit Quietly!

When I was a little boy in primary school, my teachers after growing tired of hearing me talk would say:  “I bet you can sit there for one minute and be quiet!”  I knew I was giving them what they wanted, but I still had to prove that I could do it!  The truth:  Sitting quietly is a good thing, if we will learn to use the time wisely!

Learning to sit quietly in the presence of our Creator is one of the most difficult things that we can try to do in this noise filled and ultra busy world that we live in.  But just because it is difficult, does not mean that we should not try.  In fact, because it is difficult, should be all the more motivation to try.

When we sit quietly, it is a demonstration of trust.  It is our way of saying:  “I don’t have to do anything to try to fix things, because I trust that my Creator knows best.”  “I will sit in His presence and listen for His voice and then at His direction, I will do whatever He says.”

You may be thinking that you have so much to do and that you do not have time to sit in His presence.  In the New Testament, Martha had that same challenge and Jesus told her that Mary had chosen the better part.  Simply lay your “to do” list to the side and take a few moments to enjoy the presence of the One who created you and sustains you, so that you might keep living.

Do not worry about anything, but learn to trust Him in everything.  This is sacred time that strengthens and prepares you to face and deal with whatever may come your way.  Sitting still and quiet in His presence is action of a far greater power than anything that the flesh can manifest.  It is the action of faith which allows trust to grow strong, so that when you stand you can stand against whatever the world may try to bring against you.

Take some time today to sit in the presence of your Creator and you will discover how to live the life you were created for, you will discover how to live blessed!