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Posts Tagged ‘God is good’

Make A Joyful Noise!

Posted in From My Heart, tagged , , , , on August 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Praise and thanksgiving are important principles of a Christians life. Throughout the old and new testaments we are told to give thanks and to praise God. When I first read Psalm 100, I fell in love with the simplicity of it. It is a short and simple chapter on how, who and why, we should have joy and give thanks.

MAKE a joyful noise unto the Lord!

Who? All ye lands

SERVE the Lord with gladness!

COME before His presence with singing!

KNOW that the Lord is God!

Why? HE made us! We did NOT make ourselves! We are HIS people and the sheep of HIS pasture!

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving AND into His courts with praise!

BE thankful unto Him AND

BLESS His name!

Why should we do these things?

BECAUSE the Lord IS good! His mercy IS everlasting! AND His truth endureth to ALL generations!

I am the first to admit that there are a lot of commands in this text. How can we DO all of these things that are asked of us? Our motivation is because we trust that the Lord is good. If you pay attention, His goodness can be found all around us. God’s mercy will never end! When we fall into sin, we just need to repent and God forgives and restores our relationship with Him. NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!! The most important motivation for following the commands in this text is the truth of CHRIST. Jesus died for our sins 2,000 years ago and generation after generation, we are still learning about Him. The truth of Jesus’s sacrifice for us will NEVER die out. It is God’s will that NONE should perish and be sent to hell (2 Peter 3:9). God’s word will continue to be preached until the end of the age. He will continue to bless those that accept Jesus into their hearts and lives. He will continue to love us all. I know His love for me and I will praise Him, thank Him and worship Him forever. Won’t you?

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Why Have A Relationship With God

Posted in From My Heart, tagged , , , on August 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I remember growing up watching those movies and T.V. shows where there is a definite theme of good vs. evil. I would pretend I was Wonder Woman or one of Charlie’s Angels chasing the bad guys. I cheered on Daniel LaRusso in the original Karate Kid and rooted for the girl being bullied by the mean girls. Unfortunately, this theme of good vs. evil isn’t just a topic picked to make movies more interesting. It is an issue that we live with on a daily basis in real life. We choose on a daily basis good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell, purity vs. sin, or God vs. Satan. It’s a choice that we all have to make. Will we serve God or will we serve the world (Satan)? Will we have a relationship with God or will we have a relationship with the world (Satan)? There is no escaping this decision, because when we die we will either go to heaven or we will go to hell. 

I was raised in church and even when I was young I never really considered a life separate from God. I was baptized when I was nine and although I didn’t always live according to God’s will, I always knew that I wanted (I needed) a relationship with God. When I compare the characteristics of God to the characteristics of Satan, the decision is easy. 

The characteristics of God:

God is love (1 John 4:8)

God is peace (Ephesians 2:14)

God is joy (Nehemiah 8:10)

God is compassionate (Psalm 116:5)

God is forgiving (Daniel 9:9)

God is a God of justice (Isaiah 30:18)

God is our refuge (Psalm 46:1)

The characteristics of Satan:

Satan is the evil one (1 John 2:13)

Satan is the deceiver (2 Corinthians 11:14, Genesis 3:13)

Satan is a schemer (Ephesians 6:11)

Satan is a murderer (John 8:44)

Satan is a liar (John 8:44)

Satan is wicked, violent and proud (Ezekiel 28:14-18)

Satan tempts us to sin (1 Corinthians 7:5)

In this life, we have to choose God or Satan. We have to choose to have a relationship with the God of the universe who loves us or the deceiver of the world who causes chaos and violence. John 3:16 tells us that God loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so that we can have eternal life in heaven with Him. 1 Peter 5:8-9 tells us that our enemy (Satan) prowls around looking for someone to devour. 

Even though I was raised in the Church, I came to a point where I had to make the decision for myself, who I would serve. It was never a question for me who I would serve. I knew enough of God’s goodness to choose to serve Him always. God has blessed me in so many ways over the last 21 years as a single mom. Is life always perfect? Absolutely not. There have been dark days when I thought that God had left me. He had not. When I focus on Him and not on my situation I feel His presence and His peace. God loves me. Satan wants to destroy me. Why serve someone who wants to destroy me? I believe in what the Bible tells me. I have felt the love of God in my life. I have seen God answer my prayers and I have the faith to believe in what I can’t see. I also see the hatred, the anger and the violence caused by the Devil. I see the fighting in the streets, the division of God’s people, and the killing of innocent lives. This is all at the hands of Satan. Why would I serve or be in a relationship with someone like that? Why would you? I choose to serve God. I choose to be in a relationship with God. 

Who are you currently serving (God or the world (Satan))? Why?

Reflect on the characteristics of God and Satan. 

Does knowing the characteristics of both change your mind in either direction? Why?

Now that you have a different perspective on serving God or Satan, what are your thoughts?

If you have been in a relationship with the world, I want you to reflect on how that has been for you. 

Are you struggling with sin? 

Are you trying to fill a void that nothing on this earth can fill?

Are you willing to give God a chance?

If you do not have a relationship with God or do not believe in God, I challenge you to give Him a chance. Pray and start a conversation with Him. Open the Bible and let His word breathe His LIFE into you. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

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5 Lessons I Learned In 2020

Posted in From My Heart, tagged , , , , on December 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

I think most people around the world are reeling from the chaos that has been 2020. Here in the United States, we are emotionally overwhelmed from the pandemic, the racial/police tensions, and the election. We are a nation divided. I think we always have been, but we experience times of peace, as well as, times of discord. Are we a nation ready to implode? I don’t know. Will we recover? I hope so. I am afraid though that if we continue to stray further and further away from God, recovery may not be possible.

But all of that is beside the point. This blog post is about the lessons I have learned from 2020. This has been a tough year for me, but also a blessed year. I moved back from Georgia in March after saying that I would NEVER return. I had a shoulder injury that bothered me much of the year. We welcomed a precious granddaughter in March. My parents were supposed to visit in July for their bi-annual visit, but the pandemic happened and now it will be 3 years between visits. I have been blessed to be able to watch my grands this school year. So, it hasn’t been a horrible year. It has had it’s challenges, but what year doesn’t?

Now for the lessons I have learned in 2020:

  1. Change is inevitable – Change is part of life. Transition happens ALL the time. I have had to adapt to change this year. I moved back from Georgia after 10 months. It was a tough decision. I had determined that I was not moving back to Indiana, but it was a better place for me. When I returned, I moved in with my ex-husband Howard and his wife Tami. I struggled with this. Tami and I are best friends, but it wasn’t necessarily what I wanted. I have learned to embrace the changes in life, instead of fighting them. Change happens. Fighting only wears you down to the point of missing all the good stuff that is mixed in with the bad.
  2. God still performs miracles – I had an MRI on my shoulder in February that showed a partial tear in my rotator cuff. It caused me a significant amount of pain and I didn’t have full range of motion for several months. I prayed for healing in my shoulder. In July, another MRI showed no tear at all. Since then I have regained full range of motion with just a little discomfort and the pain is 95% gone. If I over stretch, I feel some pain, but it is so much better. I can use my arm again and I am so grateful for that! Miracles DO still happen.
  3. God knows best – When I moved to Georgia in May of 2019, I had planned on a happy life soaking in the sun and warmth year round. That was MY plan. That was NOT God’s plan. Because I did my own thing and was out of God’s will, life became pretty difficult there. I struggled in a way that I can’t even describe. God allows us free will. God allows us to make our own decisions. I wanted so badly to escape Indiana that I read into the open doors as a sign that I was in God’s will. I needed to know for myself that the grass was NOT greener on the other side of the country. God allowed that and now I am back in Indiana where I belong. God allows suffering to bring us closer to Him. It is often in our suffering that we seek Him the most.
  4. Be grateful for the simple things – I am a simple person. I don’t own a lot of material possessions. I don’t need a lot of things. I am grateful for what I do have. I am grateful for what I have access to through family and community. Who knew that we would ALL be thankful for a simple package of toilet paper or cleaning supplies. Some stores still have empty shelves where what we thought were necessary items once lived. We have ALL needed to prioritize what is absolutely necessary. I have become grateful for the basics. I am not taking anything for granted, because in a heart beat, it can all be gone.
  5. I need my family – From my dark place late 2019 and earlier this year, I thought that my family did not want me and that I would be better off somewhere alone in another community. I realized that my family can not be replaced. We bicker. We don’t “hear” each other when we should. We don’t always understand each other, but we are family. I need my family. In the midst of social distancing I have realized that my family is where I feel safe from the chaos of the world. My family is where I feel loved. My family knows me and accepts me, quirks and all. My life would not be the same if I was not with my family.

In this last week of 2020, I reflect on what I have learned. I encourage you to take a few minutes to do the same. 2020 has not been all bad. What are you grateful for? What good has come out of this year? What lessons have you learned?

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