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Weak and Strong

blog picture strong weak But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and [b]show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may [c]pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

10 So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [[d]in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful [e]in divine strength).2 Corinthians12:9-10.

 

We are constantly bombarded with human messages on TV, music , movies etc. that we can fight our own fights and be strong in ourselves. But united to Christ we are told something altogether different.

In the reading above Paul discloses that he had been harassed by a “thorn in the flesh”.  I have had a rose thorn get stuck in my finger when picking roses and it can really hurt. I wanted that thing out of my finger! The Lord used that experience to teach Paul a critical lesson about our relationship with the Lord; “for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and [b]show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.” [Read more…]

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It’s a Matter of Give and Take

blog picture woman hurt feelings

 

 

13)Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13(NLT)

 

Offence: to cause (a person or group) to feel hurt, angry, or upset by something said or done.

 

I was thinking about “giving offence and taking offence” this last week. This is probably the easiest tool that Satan has for dividing the Body of Christ. It can effectively eliminate harmony and peace between people who have been told they must “Love one another” – if we let it.

We can all give offence. Let’s face it, an unguarded word or look can speak volumes to a sensitive person. Sometimes we can offend without even knowing we are doing it. Sometimes even a Christian can deliberately do or say something to hurt another Christian. Sadly, I have seen many “offended” people leave a church because their feelings were hurt by another Christian. We can more easily forgive a non-believer than a brother or sister in the Lord. [Read more…]

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The Word of God Is Like a Seed

blog picture seedlings13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?14 The farmer sows the word. Mark 4 :13

This is probably one of the most critical pieces of information that Jesus has given us about how the kingdom of God operates. He as said that the Word is like a seed. Let’s think about it for a minute. Let’s picture a tomato seed. Now we plant that seed into good soil and a plant grows and produces, let’s say, 10 tomatoes. Not only will we have the tomatoes but we will also have hundreds of seeds. If we take the hundreds of seeds and plant them, when we have our next harvest, not only will we have hundreds of tomatoes, but thousands of seeds. Wow! What ever we sow will produce more like itself. The whole tomato plant is in that seed. [Read more…]

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How Long,Lord?

keep on asking For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.

What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?

 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts ]that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him! Luke 11:10-13

How many times have we been asked to pray about something for someone? Or maybe we or a loved one are going through a time of trial. We know that the Lord wants us to make our needs known to Him. But how many times should we pray? How long should we pray?

Clearly the Lord does not count it against us for frequent asking as we can see in the reading above.  In fact he tells us to keep on asking.

When a young relative called us to tell us he had cancer, my husband and I began to pray for him. Even when the news was bad, we did not stop asking the Lord to heal him. Why keep on? Because we don’t know what the Lord’s plans are. Remember Lazarus, Dorcas and the widow’s son. Remember all the people that Jesus healed from the time of His ministry to today.  [Read more…]

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Pray the Positive

Matthew 21:22 you can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

 

poor family for blogI was thinking about the many children and young women and men sold into essential slavery of various types in different parts of the world even in this day and age. I thought that I should bind Satan and loose God’s power. But the Lord spoke to my heart and showed me to pray the positive for many of these children.

I began to pray for the families of these enslaved children. Many of these children are sold because of the extreme poverty of their parents. I started to pray that the Lord would bless the families with enough food, clothing and money for housing. I prayed that the Lord would save them and their families. I prayed that the Lord will send Christians to minister to them.

If we live in a community where there is poverty, let us do what we can to help those in need.
Please join me in praying for these precious children. Jesus is Lord!

Matthew 21:22 you can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”