What My Heavenly FAther is Like

What Father is Like What really is God's attitude toward us. I used to have a warped view of God. I did not view Him as a loving, caring Father. Instead I believed in a God who was critical, punishing, or distant. These views of God came from my family background and the religious traditions that didn’t understand the message of Grace in Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for A woman by the name of Sandra Westcott who showed me the love of Jesus and taught me how I needed to allow God to re-parent me in the true image of who He is. through his word. I have compiled the following scriptures to teach me and others like me Just What My Heaenly Father is Like.. The Word of God has a unique ability to go deep into our soul and transform our thinking. Here is what my heavenly Father is really like. Isaiah 54:10:Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Matthew 7:11:If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 11:28-30:“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mark 6:34:When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. John 14:18:I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. John 16:27:Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." Romans 8:15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:32:God who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will the Father not also, along with Christ, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:38-39For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 15:7Accept one another, then, just as Christ has accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Galatians 3:26:You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7:But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even while we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace to us, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 12:7,10:Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. Hebrews 13:5b:God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 1 Peter 5:7:Cast all your anxiety on God because He cares for you. 1 John 4:16-18:And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 5:3:This is love for God: to obey his commands. And His commands are not burdensome. My prayer for you today is that you will come to know what you heavenly father is like.

Four Letter Words

I believe There are two four letter words that stops us dead in our tracks. The first word is the word can’t. We have lived with the idea that God has asked too much of us. We say that we can’t spread the gospel through the whole world, we can’t live a holy life, we can’t forgive someone who deeply hurt us, we can’t sacrifice our time to serve someone we can’t part with our money ….we can’t we can’t we can’t! But God says yes you can. In Philippians 4:13 God says we can do All things through him and in Zechariah 4:6 not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord. We CAN do what God wants. The second four letter word that stops us dead in our tracks is is the word Quit. How easily Satan gets us to be discouraged when doors shut and plans don’t come to pass. We just want to give up when God seems to be slow to answer our prayers. Ministry work can often times be disheartening because those of us in ministry often times do not immediately see the fruit of our labor or we minister on our time rather than on the perfect timing of the Lord. We can go for weeks without seeing the harvest of our efforts if we even see them at all. These two words when used alone often times prevents us from finishing the race to which God has called us to. My dear listeners, may we put these two words side by side and see what they tell us. CAN’T QUIT! Can’t Quit! We must not quit. WE can’t quit because the price Jesus paid was too high, the cross, the nails, the thorns. We can’t quit because somewhere someplace, someone needs to know of our Lord’s compassion. We can’t quit because someone out there needs to be offered the same grace that God showed us when he reached so far down to save us. WE can not quit sharing the word of God and the love of Christ with a world that so desperately needs the message. The recent shootings at Virginia tech is a prime example of the tragedy of today’s times. We are trying to fix spiritual problems with worldly things and hearts continue to become so hardened that individuals totally lose all respect for human life. Somewhere, someone needs to hear that Jesus loves them, despite their unbelief. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. We don’t need gun control, we need heart control and it is time foir our hearts to be controlled by Jesus. There is however one one four letter word that we can use that stands alone. That word is HELP!. It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help. WE all need one another. There is power in numbers . We need your help. I can’t do this alone. God asks in Isaiah, Who will go for us? Isaiah responded: Here am I Lord, send me! My prayer is that you will join me in reviving the heart of our nation one heart at a time with the word of God and the love of Christ by saying to the Lord here am I send me!

Knowing You Are Loved

A relationship with God is like no other relationship you may have experienced. God has a unique kind of love for you. It is unconditional God loves you because He loves you. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us...” (1John 4:9,10) He does not love you based upon your performance. There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any more than He already does—and there is nothing that will cause God to love you any less. He loves you, even more than you love yourself.Until now you have probably only experience conditional love. It’s expressed in sentiments such as, “I’ll love you for as long as you love me” or, “You’ll always be my first love, unless I meet someone better for me.” Conditional love is based upon what you do. Perform well on the job, on the team, or in the relationship, and you are “loved.” In opening your life to Christ, you will find total love and acceptance. That may be hard to comprehend if you’ve never felt totally loved and accepted by anyone. But it’s true! Unfortunately, you won’t always feel that God loves you. There will be times when you find yourself doubting not only His love, but also His existence. You’ll feel like giving up. Don’t. When God gave you a new life, it didn’t come trimmed in lace and smelling of perfume. Jesus began His earthly life in a smelly, damp stable. He tasted real life, and that will be the flavor of your journey with Christ—no magic, just the promise of His presence with you. God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). There’s a Danish proverb: “The next mile is the only one a person really has to make.” The knowledge that God loves you will keep you going when the next mile seems intolerably long: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38,39) Our faith rests in what God has revealed about Himself to us. He specifically wants us to believe and rely on His love for us: “...the Lord delights in those who fear [reverence] him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalms 147:11).“...the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.” (Psalms 33:18) King David, whom God referred to “as a man after my own heart”1 trusted God’s love: “...I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God” (Psalms 59:16,17). Jesus describes the depth of His love for us, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:9-11). He loves us no matter what—even when we disobey. But we will live in His love, enjoy His love, as we obey Him. To grow in your understanding of God’s love for you, take some time over the next few weeks and read Psalms 103, John 15, and 1 John 4, and note all the ways that God’s love is described. As you study his word, my prayer for you is that you will see that your joy for life can be complete as you come to know the love our heavenly father lavishes on us

Changing The Heart

Changing the Heart In one of his many books, author Max Lucado tells the fanciful story about what he supposedly did one time while he and his family were living in Brazil. They had gone on a week-long summer vacation and returned home to find that Max had inadvertently unplugged the freezer instead of the radio. For seven days this freezer full of food had sat there in a very hot apartment with the power off.Max was soon identified as the culprit and, therefore, given the clean-up responsibility. He knew exactly what to do. He got a bucket and a rag and started washing the outside of the freezer. He was sure if he polished it up really nice that the horrible smell would go away. When he got through he opened the freezer door, but the rotten mess of spoiled food was still there. So then he decided that what that freezer needed was a few friends. What a sorry social life it had as the lone appliance in a utility room. It wasn't easy, but Max managed to round up a number of other stoves, refrigerators, and washing machines. They practically filled the apartment. What a party! They played games (pin the plug in the socket) and told microwave jokes. Max just knew that all this social interaction would cure the inside of the freezer. Yet when he opened the door again to check, the stink was even worse! The next idea Max came up with was a winner, or so he thought. He figured that this freezer just needed some status--a little prestige to raise its self-esteem. So he got a Mercedes sticker and put it on the front. On the back he stuck a "Save the Whales" bumper sticker and even installed a cell phone on the side. He sprinkled a little cologne on top and gave it a credit card, too. This was one classy freezer. Max stepped back and gazed with admiration saying, "You might just make the cover of Popular Mechanics!" The freezer just blushed. Expecting to find the inside all nice and clean as well, Max was practically knocked over by the odor when he opened the door this time. Max (you've got to admire his persistence) gave it one last try. He decided his freezer was really in need of some high-voltage pleasure, so he got it several copies of Playfridge (you know, the magazine that has full-color photos of freezers with the doors open). He rented some videos featuring sexy appliances. A few days of all this supercharged entertainment should have done the trick, Max thought. When he opened the door, he nearly got sick. By now you're thinking, "What kind of idiot would waste all this effort on the outside when the problem was on the inside?" But wait a minute, don't we do the same thing? A homemaker is struggling with depression. What does her friend suggest? Going out and buying a new dress! A husband has an affair and finds that it only leaves him with a huge burden of guilt. The solution? A new set of friends! Start hanging around with people who don't make you feel guilty. In a hundred different ways, we fix up the outside while ignoring the inside. The moral of the story about Max's silly antics is clear: "You change your life by changing your heart." [The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado. Word, 1990. Pages 122-125.]

Forgiveness

It's challenging to think about forgiving people who have hurt us, isn't it? We don't want to let go of the painful memories of abuse, put-downs, broken promises, family or work offenses. One outstanding example of forgiveness occurred when Corrie Ten Boom met a former Nazi Officer who had abused her and her sister during imprisonment, assisting in the death of other prisoners. He told her he had become a Christian and proceeded to ask Corrie to forgive him. As he reached out his hand towards her, Corrie resisted. Then, in obedience to God, as she extended her hand towards him she felt the surge of the Holy Spirit pour through her in a supernatural act of forgiveness. Chuck Colson tells the story about a Mrs. Washington who, during a graduation ceremony for inmates completing a Prison Fellowship program, swept to the stage to wrap her arms around a graduating inmate, declaring, "This young man is my adopted son." Everyone had tears in their eyes for they knew that this young man was behind bars for the murder of Mrs. Washington's daughter. How could people like Corrie and Mrs.Washington endure such great injustices and then turn around to forgive the villains? Yet all they did was purely obey the command, "Forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32) Phillip Yancey wrote, "Forgiveness is another way of admitting, 'I'm human, I make mistakes, I want to be granted that privilege and so I grant you that privilege.' " Forgiveness cancels a debt someone owes us and restores relationship. It is the only solution in a world ridden with sin and evil to help us start over with people and with God. We learn about real forgiveness at the foot of the cross where Jesus Christ shed His blood to pay for the sins of the whole world. That is God's kind of forgiveness- - free, sacrificial, no cost on our part. So, how do we practically forgive someone who has hurt us? Here are some Steps to Forgivingness. Applying these steps to our lives can help deliver us from bitterness and work towards forgiveness: 1. We need to know and experience Christ's love and forgiveness deeply in our own lives. (Col. 3:13) 2. We can make the choice to forgive. When Corrie Ten Boom extended her hand to the former Nazi officer, she did it choosing to follow Christ versus her feelings. Paul writes in Eph 4:31-32, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (NIV) 3. Phil. 4:8, 13 show us that Christ can help us overcome negative thoughts and beliefs which block forgiveness. We can ask Him to soften our hearts and change our minds towards that person, granting us the power to forgive him/her. 4 When it's still hard to forgive, we can place our trust in God Who will someday judge all the wrongs in the world. We can leave revenge and justice up to Him. Proverbs 20:22 says, "Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord, and He will deliver you." Paul writes in Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord'." God, Himself, is the power behind our ability to forgive. He can enable us to do the impossible, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose". (Phil 2:13) Perhaps the most powerful outcome of forgiveness is that it changes and enables us to become more like Christ Who said as He hung dying on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." God's love and grace is the power behind forgiveness, granting us supernatural power to forgive others, the power to overcome resentment, the power to redeem relationships and show God's love to a hurting world. My prayer for you today is that you will first come to know the love and forgiveness of our heavenly Father and then pass on that forgiveness to those who have hurt you. I pray that we can find it in our hearts to forgive this young man who took the lives of so many at Virginia Tech for his actions.

Virginia Tech Shooting

As an educator, I got tired of seeing teachers, students, parents and administrators not treat one another with dignity and respect. The culminating blow came when a student of mine came into my classroom with black and blue marks, and the authorities took her out of the home because of abuse. Unfortunately, 3 months later the child was placed back in the home because the authorities said, "the abuse was not bad enough". Seven months later, the child was dead at the hands of her mother. I got angry, but I wanted my anger to be used like Gandhi's anger was used. Gandhi became angry because of the social injustices in his country, but he did not use his anger to attack people, or to attack himself and become depressed, but rather used his anger to attack the problems in society. Now, 15 years later, I've come to understand that the problem is a problem of the heart - the innermost place where qualities worth having are formed. Today's shooting shows once again that we are focusing on the wrong solutions to address the problems in our society. We are trying to find worldly solutions to a spiritual problem. It is time to focus on the fact that guns don't kill people; people kill people. And the reason people kill people is because they disregard their own lives to the point where they have no problem taking another human being's life. No Heart Left Behind was founded to provide a vehicle through which we can attack the problem of the heart with workshops, belief therapy and counseling. Gandhi was able to change an entire nation, one heart at a time. Is there anyone out there who wants to join me in changing our nation, one heart at a time? Would love to hear from you!