Tag: GreatPreciousPromises

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Growing Stronger

Those words jumped off the page to me – “grow strong in faith”. Faith: complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Faith according to the writer of Hebrews is “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” Hebrews 11:1 AMP

The title deed. Over the past several months I have helped a number of people through the process of transferring title. Once that is done, the property is legally and officially theirs. Faith is our title deed – it is our assurance that God has transferred His promises to us.

“And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory.” Romans 8:17 AMP

A large portion of my early life was spent struggling, worrying, facing the insecurity of my failures and unworthiness. But then I began hearing messages on faith, not in my abilities but in God’s. My spiritual life began to grow stronger, like a plant in the garden that had received an infusion of fertilizer.

“But I am like a green olive tree growing in God’s Temple. I will trust God’s faithful love forever and ever. 9 God, I praise you forever for what you have done. I will speak your name before your followers because it is so good!” Psalm 52:8-9 ERV

How many millions of Christians are like I was wanting to believe God but struggling to trust?

“ So encourage each other and help each other grow stronger in faith, just as you are already doing.” I Thessalonians 5:11 ERV

That’s my goal each day; to help others grow stronger in their faith. The Apostle Paul said in Romans that faith comes by hearing and by hearing the WORD of God. That’s why it’s so important for me to fill these morning devotions with God’s word. My opinion and experiences won’t build faith, they can be examples, but faith comes by trusting in God’s word and His faithfulness.

“Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, 4 through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With these gifts you can share in being like God. And so you will escape the ruin that comes to people in the world because of the evil things they want.” II Peter 1:3-4 ERV

It is my desire to see each of you grow in faith, as you grow in the knowledge of what your relationship with Christ has given you. You have received a marvelous inheritance, the title deed to God’s promises for living the life God has provided.

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Be An Influencer

Yesterday afternoon Dave and I were watching one of our favorite YouTube channels; they are full time RVers and they were at the Tampa RV show. As they were going from one new model to the next, they introduced a man who was with them as an “RV Influencer”. That is such a strange term however, the concept of an influencer is as old as man.

The first real influencer appeared in the Garden of Eden and was so convincing that Eve, was not only tempted, but influenced to eat the fruit that God had forbidden.

As I sit here this morning, I have been mulling over what it would take for us to be influencers. Influencers for good and not evil. Is that possible for someone like me and you? Or is that only for the rich and famous?

“We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. 4 God made great and marvelous promises, so his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.” II Peter 1:3-4 CEV

Jesus knew it was possible and gave us a directive to follow.

“Go and make followers of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to do all the things I have told you. And I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Matthew 28:19-20 NLV

Since the world hasn’t ended, Christ’s command is still valid.

In yesterday’s verses we saw the thing Jesus wanted his disciples to convey to the world was a “new commandment”, that they love one another. This is what He wanted them to teach the world.

Jesus is our living example of an influencer of love:

  • Let the little children come to Me. When you show kindness to one of these, you’ve done it to me.
  • He touched the leper
  • He ate and drank with the common people
  • He healed the sick and raised the dead
  • He made an impetuous man like Peter one of his disciples
  • He fed the hungry with 5 loaves and 2 fish

Paul, who had been a harasser of Christians, became one of their greatest teachers.

“My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn’t think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame. 28 What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important.” I Corinthians 1:26-28 CEV

We should make it our goal to be an influencer of love and forgiveness. Be gracious in how we treat others. If we touch just one person’s life today with the love of God and they touch one person’s life tomorrow, we will be making an impact that will change the world!

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To Our Children’s Children

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of our sons-in-law. Stephen is married to Kaci, our youngest daughter.

This morning I was praying for him, her and their family and the Lord reminded me of what a miracle it is that he is member of our family. Let me tell you what I mean. This is the power of God’s word in action.

In 1983, I experienced a second miscarriage. Shortly before that we had met a fiery, dynamic evangelist and his soft spoken, musically talented wife, Jay and Wendy Louvier. After my miscarriage, Jay said “You know God’s word promises that there will be no miscarriage or barren to those who love the Lord”.

This was news to us. He and Wendy prayed with Dave and I that if we ever did conceive again our baby would be protected from the moment of conception and would deliver full term, healthy and strong.

“ And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.” Exodus 23:25-26

“13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.” Deuteronomy 7:13-14

It wasn’t until three years later that I discovered that I was pregnant once again. We held on to the promise of God’s word and Kaci was born. Twenty-seven years later, we were blessed to have Jay officiate at Kaci and Stephen’s wedding. A God protected beginning – a blessed home!

That was ten years ago, and the blessings continue. Kaci and Stephen’s meeting and courtship is their story to tell. From our prayer in 1983 we not only have a daughter but a son-in-law and three energetic, loving grandchildren. Yes, the blessings of the Lord are to us and our children’s children.

The exciting thing is God is no respecter of persons. His promise came to pass in our home and I know that same promise is still valid today. I have been blessed to share these verses with a number of women who either have had miscarriages or were unable to conceive. Their testimonies of motherhood are wonderful.

“But the loving-kindness of the Lord is forever and forever on those who fear Him. And what is right with God is given forever to their children’s children, 18 to those who keep His agreement and remember to obey His Law.” Psalm 103:17-18 NLV

The promises of God’s word don’t time out. They are to us and to our children’s children.

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Sack Lunch vs Banquet

Several years ago Dave and I had an interesting experience at a local Mexican restaurant.

Just after we arrived a family came in and sat at the next table. As they sat their waiting for the waitress to bring their drinks I noticed the one little girl had brought in a sack from Wendy’s. As her parents ordered and enjoyed their chips and salsa, the little girl reached into the sack and took out her Frosty, fries and burger. I thought, how cute!

But now the life lesson.

“Jesus said to him, ‘A man gave a big dinner. He invited many people. 17 When it was time to eat, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. The food is ready.’ 18 But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse…’

21 “So the servant returned and told his master what happened. The master was angry. He said, ‘Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

22 “Later, the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.’ 23 The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full!” Luke 14:16-23 ERV

The Father wants to lavish on us the things He has prepared for us.

So many times we come to the Father’s table with our own provision – Abraham and Sarah had God’s promise for a son but they made their own provision and Ishmael was born. Not a good thing…

We have allowed the tradition of religion to tell us that we can’t or shouldn’t expect God to bless us or to provide – excuses – we aren’t worthy or “God helps those who help themselves” and the focus gets placed on us and not on Him. We begin thinking like the prodigal son who said “the servants in my father’s house are eating well, I’ll just go be a servant”. But our Father doesn’t want servants, He wants sons!

He wants us to experience the joy of our salvation – the great and precious promises that He has provided for us through the death of His son!

“Praise the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me, praise His holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And forget none of His acts of kindness. 3 He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. 4 He saves my life from the grave. He crowns me with loving-kindness and pity. 5 He fills my years with good things and I am made young again like the eagle… 8 The Lord is full of loving-pity and kindness. He is slow to anger and has much loving-kindness.” Psalm 103:1-8 NLV

Maybe this life lesson was just for me. Maybe you’ve never come to the Father’s table with provisions of your own making but if you have, let me encourage you to drop your sack lunch in the receptacle at the door and come eat freely at the table the Father has prepared for you.

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Moving Forward

Yesterday afternoon I checked in with a friend to find out how their travels had been. You see, they came by yesterday morning before they left on their trip and we asked how far they had planned to go on the first day, they said “we’ll stop in Albuquerque”.

Well, they made it. She said that there destination is still 650 miles away and they would be breaking that portion into two days. Sounded like a wise decision, no point in wearing yourself out the first few days.

Move forward, step by step or mile by mile.

Why do we get discouraged, frustrated or exhausted as we make forward progress in life? Often times, we set unreasonable goals and burn out before we reach them.

Dave and I used to travel a lot. We would drive from Montana to Arizona, it was an 1100 mile trip and we’d drive it in two days. Almost 700 miles the first and a little over 400 the second. Why not? Afterall, if we didn’t push that hard we were “burning daylight”.

Now that we are older and wiser, we take our time and we arrive in a better frame of mind, having rested along the way.

“Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, 4 through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With these gifts you can share in being like God. And so you will escape the ruin that comes to people in the world because of the evil things they want.

5 Because you have these blessings, do all you can to add to your life these things: to your faith add goodness; to your goodness add knowledge; 6 to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add patience; to your patience add devotion to God; 7 to your devotion add kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to this kindness add love. 8 If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” II Peter 1:3-8 ERV

We have been given a spiritual road map which leads to our victory in Christ. Our first stop is where we come to understand that God has given us everything we need, great and precious gifts, for living successfully in this world.

Because these blessings put us on the right path, our next stop lands us in a place where our faith grows. As we travel a little farther, we increase in goodness and then knowledge. We now have knowledge that God has given us all we need, we stop to gain self-control and patience. We head out from patience, knowing we can trust God with our circumstances, arriving at a place of deep devotion to God.

Our devotion to the Father takes us to a place of kindness towards those around us and that kindness brings us to our destination of love.

As we move forward on the road map that God has designed for us, we will arrive successfully at our destination of being Christ-like in our words and actions.

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Gold Top Ice Cream

Yesterday we went to our youngest daughter’s to celebrate her 37th birthday. Pappy (Dave) and I took take-n-bake pizza and Blue Bell ice cream.

After we had finished our pizza and were ready for ice cream our almost 6-year-old granddaughter told me, “we have gold top ice cream”. I wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about until I opened the freezer drawer and saw it, the ice cream with the gold top.

Below it was another tub of ice cream, the kind you buy when you are wanting to economize, that really doesn’t taste as good. I took their gold top carton and the one we had just brought from the freezer, telling her that today we all got to have the gold top ice cream. We all got to have the best!

Before I went to bed, I was remembering how excited she was – how her eyes sparkled when her mom opened the containers and put big scoops in each bowl. It was if the Lord was saying to my heart, “Kristi, I always want you to enjoy gold top moments”.

This morning in my reading I came across three gold top moments that I would like to share with you.

“ I love those who love me, and those who look for me with much desire will find me. 18 Riches and honor are mine, lasting riches and being right with God. 19 My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold. What I give is better than fine silver. 20 I walk in the way that is right with God, in the center of the ways that are fair. 21 I give riches to those who love me, and fill their store-houses.” Proverbs 8:17-21 NLV

Wisdom is the one speaking. Those of us who seek God’s wisdom are promised His blessings.

“ He said, ‘Listen, all Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or troubled because of these many men. For the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Go down to fight them tomorrow…17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Just stand still in your places and see the saving power of the Lord work for you, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid or troubled. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you’.” II Chronicles 20:15-17 NLV

Jehoshaphat and his people were facing overwhelming odds in battle. They humbled themselves, prayed and sought God’s direction and the Lord fought the battle defeating their enemies.

A gold top moment!

“He answered, ‘A Man called Jesus made mud and put it on my eyes. Then He said to me, ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.’ I went and washed and I can see.’” John 9:11 NLV

A blind man had an encounter with Jesus. His obedience to Jesus’ word gave him his sight.

God’s word is filled with hundreds of examples like these. He wants us to be the recipients of His promises.

“A man cannot please God unless he has faith. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is. That one must also know that God gives what is promised to the one who keeps on looking for Him.” Hebrews 11:6 NLV

Come to God, believe Him and receive His promises. Enjoy the Father’s “gold top” moments!

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Saying Yes and Amen!

This morning I have just a few more verses to share with you on prayer. These are verses that have held me stable in my prayer life for years. First let’s take a look at what it means when we say “Amen” at the end of our prayer.

“The Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one that Silas, Timothy, and I told you about was not yes and no. In Christ it has always been yes. 20 The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God. 21 And God is the one who makes you and us strong in Christ. God is also the one who chose us for his work.” II Corinthians 1:19-21 ERV

Because we are in Christ, we have God’s yes to all His promises. When we say AMEN, we are agreeing with Christ and saying “let it be so”. We are affirming what the Father has said and what the Son has done. We are affirming that we have been given God’s great and precious promises.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” II Peter 1:3-4 NLT

These great and precious promises are ours because of Jesus. We have no claim to them on our own but only through Christ. But since we are in Christ, these promises are part of our inheritance from the Father. He has lavished these gifts, the promises in His word on us, by His grace.

We don’t earn them. We can’t work for them or obtain them on our own. We receive them as expressions of the Father’s love.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT

Our salvation is the greatest answer to prayer. If there was ever anything that we are unworthy to ask for it would be the grace of God that makes us new. Yet, when we ask to be cleansed and forgiven the Father lovingly removes all our sin and restores us to right relationship.

That’s why we have such confidence when we pray. We can thank Him for all He has done – adopting us as His own and that gives us peace, freedom from worry when we come now asking for what we need.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 NLT

Don’t let prayer be a religious habit. Pray for the heart. Give the Father a hearty amen, let it be so!

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Knowledge Is the Key

Yesterday we began to unpack the wealth of knowledge in II Peter 1, but we only scratched the surface. In the King James Version of the Bible, Peter uses the word knowledge five times in the first eight verses of this book.

His letter to us is short and to the point. This fisherman, who followed Christ, is doing exactly what Jesus commissioned him to do. He has become a fisher of men.

We left off at the end of verse three yesterday and so we’ll pick up with verse four.

“God made great and marvelous promises, so his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.” II Peter 1:4 CEV

Read that again. I don’t want you to miss it.

Many believe that the Bible is just a list of rules; things we can do and things we can’t. If that’s the only concept we have, we are severely lacking in our knowledge of God. His word is filled with great and precious promises, each one given to empower us to be victorious in this life. Each promise is part of our inheritance as God’s children, transforming us by His divine nature, (His DNA).

“Through His shining-greatness and perfect life, He has given us promises. These promises are of great worth and no amount of money can buy them. Through these promises you can have God’s own life in you now that you have gotten away from the sinful things of the world which came from wrong desires of the flesh.” II Peter 1:4 NLV

Honestly, these verses were life-changing for me. Realizing that every promise in the Bible is mine revolutionized my thinking about God’s love and acceptance of me. My Father wasn’t wanting me to fail, on the contrary, He has given me His promises for my success. This was new knowledge.

“ Do your best to improve your faith by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. 9 But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.” II Peter 1:5-9 CEV

The word “understanding” can also be translated knowledge. Knowledge is understanding God’s amazing plan for our future, a plan for our success.

“I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering. 12 You will turn back to me and ask for help, and I will answer your prayers. 13  You will worship me with all your heart, and I will be with you” Jeremiah 29:11-13 CEV

My hope is that these morning blogs build a desire in you to know more of God’s word; to experience more of His promises and to discover all the Father has for each and everyone of you.

“You are holding firmly to the truth you were given. But I am still going to remind you of these things.” II Peter 1:12 CEV

I will continue to remind you of the Father’s promises because knowledge of Him empowers each of us to be who He created us to be!

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Everything? Yes, Everything!

Sometimes these morning blogs are a little disconcerting. I promised the Lord I would share with you the things He puts on my heart and that means I have to be honest with you about my victories and my failures.

We have only been down from the mountain for eight days and already I have allowed myself to become harried and hurried. Each day this summer, I would watch the sunrise, in all its splendor, and set, in unrivaled beauty. Each sunrise and sunset were a vivid reminder that the Father was in control and I could be at peace. This photograph is one of my favorite’s at end of day.

There has been so much going on since we’ve been home that I have forgotten to let my heart capture that glimpse of God’s glory at the beginning and ending of each day.

This morning my Bible reading took me to II Peter, chapter 1. That is a favorite chapter of mine – because everything, yes everything, that God has blessed us with is spelled out there in just a few verses.

“From Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To everyone who shares with us in the privilege of believing that our God and Savior Jesus Christ will do what is just and fair. 2 I pray that God will be kind to you and will let you live in perfect peace! May you keep learning more and more about God and our Lord Jesus.

3 We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. 4 God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.

5 Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.” II Peter 1:1-8 CEV

Please take note – these verses are for everyone so that we can live in peace. We have everything we need because we have God’s great and marvelous promises.

Everything, yes everything.

And since we have everything, we should keep growing in goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to the Father, concern for others and growing in love.

That’s what taking those moments each morning and each evening reminded me to do! They reminded me to let the Father and His promises be my everything – there is nothing I need outside of Him.

Yes, these are all things that we know but sometimes we let them slip from our fore thoughts. So this morning, I took this admonition from the Apostle Peter and it’s one I will pass on to you.

“ You are holding firmly to the truth that you were given. But I am still going to remind you of these things. 13 In fact, I think I should keep on reminding you until I leave this body. ” II Peter 1:12-13 CEV

I’m reminding us, and will continue to remind us, to hold firmly to the knowledge that in Christ we have everything we need.

Everything? Yes, everything!

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