Chosen & Loved...

Ephesians 1 ~Spiritual Blessings
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.*7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

I have heard Beth Moore speak on these verses before and found them to be so amazing... Today I sit here and think of how personal our God is... He is not some God that sits off far & away looking down upon us. He is here, very present in our daily lives. God cares about all the details of our lives (Ps. 37:23) and that is so amazing. Amazing that the God of all creation loves me, chose me even before the creation of the world to know Him and love Him...to live a holy & blameless life for His glory. (See also Phil. 2:15) That God's plan has always been to adopt me into His family & bless me through Jesus Christ, my Lord & Savior... and this greatly pleases Him!!! God our great treasure, treasures us - wow, how humbling is that! Knowing that God's sweet love has saved me, redeemed me because of Christ...he has accepted me & sees me as pure and blameless. God has so blessed us!! He has given us kindness, love, mercy, grace, wisdom & understanding that we may know Him (more & more); and that we might live for & love Him in return.
Praise you LORD! Oh, let this sink in deep to the marrow of your bones - that God LOVES you (and not in a human faulty way but in a sacrificial and true love that does not fail). God cares deeply for you and about all the details of your life. He will not forsake you & nothing and I mean nothing can ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Glory!
(See Ps. 37:28; Ps. 94:14; Hebrews 13:5; Rom. 8:39)

The Narrow Gate

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it." (Jesus) Matthew 7:13-14 - (emphasis mine)

As I was reading this these words really stood out to me... Many will choose the easy way, it will be a choice they make... because let's face it, in this fallen world we live in it is hard to go the narrow way (to walk righteously, to live for God)... the world entices, it promises us fun, prosperity, and all that our heart desires... it can't fulfill these things (maybe temporarily but nothing lasting).

What stood out even more is that there are the few who FIND the gateway to life... I started thinking about this, what it means to find it. Sure there are those times that we stumble upon or encounter something of great value... but really to find something of great value we search for it, seek it out... there is an action, a choice associated. You actively seek out this great treasure... the treasure that has been there waiting for you all along.
Take a look at these verses: Jeremiah 29:13; Proverbs 2:4; Matthew 7:7-8
God's word tells us that if we seek we will find... that we should search out wisdom/truth (God) as if we were searching for lost money or a hidden treasure. See also Colossians 2:2-3; Matthew 13:44-45. I don't think that we should just write off these verses as if they are only meant for nonbelievers to come to Christ... For those of us in Christ, we have a great treasure (2 Cor. 4:7)... Should we become saved & that is it, we stop seeking to know & love God more? I don't really call that a relationship. Do we then keep to ourselves and hoard this great treasure we have been entrusted with instead of sharing it with others? We should value this great treasure we have and seek to know and love the LORD more and more every day... we should desire for others to hear about & know this great treasure we have found. We still have a choice to make... a daily choice to live for God, to seek to know Him more and to love others. Let your light shine in the darkness!!! God will be glorified, praise be to our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ!

The Golden Rule - Matt. 7:12

Ok now that I have been REAL with you... (see previous post) let me be a little more real in what God is teaching me. Sure most of us have heard the Golden Rule and maybe we think we are living by it...
This morning as I was meditating on this nugget of truth when it hit me... deep down I have a fundamental problem here. See I may in general do unto others as I would have them do unto me BUT... ah there in lies the problem, "in general" is not always. I may be polite, courteous, kind, thoughtful, loving but I am not always all of those things... I can at times be critical, judge, put myself (my wants, needs, desires) ahead of others and even more importantly God. See most of us recall the first part of the verse but do you remember the last part? It says that all that is taught in the law and by the prophets is summarized in this... ALL OF IT! Just think about some of the things that are in the law and the teachings of the prophets... It really all does come full circle back to this (see Matt. 22:37-40) to loving (putting) God first and loving others... which Christ has told us and shown us by his self-sacrificial love...
It sounds so simple (loving others) and yet why do we find this so hard to do? Maybe because none of us are perfect and we are all different... but more importantly maybe it is because we are more self focused than God & others focused. We have a greater love for ourselves than we do God and others (that may sound harsh but I have found it to be true)... When we view it in that light, oh what grievous sin it is!
How am I any better than the prideful ones who came before me... How am I any less sinful? As you think back to the beginning and the fall of Satan, what was his great sin? PRIDE! He had such a great self love and put himself above God... He thought he was greater, mightier and more powerful than his Creator!!! WOW! Maybe we like to think oh we don't ever do that... but let's call sin what it is sin and pride when we see it... For pride is sin and it is deadly... and are we not prideful when we seek our own way and reject God's.... when we say no to Kingdom things and yes to worldly ones... When I think I know what is best for me above what God has said and that I have a better plan and outcome for my life than what God desires for me. How prideful to think that way... that I who am but dust can even come close to the sovereignty of the Living God- the Creator of all things! Oh LORD forgive me!
God beyond a shadow of a doubt knows what is best for my life... He can see the BIG picture and not the microscope view I have upon this earth... Do not believe the lies of the enemy, God does have what is best in store for you, he does have plans to prosper you and give you hope and a future (Jer. 29:11)... God does work out all things for good (Rom. 8:28) for those of us in Christ.
Give God all of your heart, mind, soul & strength (Mark 12:30) - love Him whole heartily and give Him all the glory for He alone is worthy! He will not fail you and He will not forsake you... Our God is good all the time - He is good!

Being REAL

The LORD has been teaching me and refining me a lot of late... I started praying a little over a year and a half ago for Him to open my eyes to the sin in my life/heart and to change me... to help me to live for Him and not for myself... WOW! You better believe that if you ask God for something in accordance with His will He is going to do it! It has been a hard, humbling road I have been traveling... He has been showing me sin in my life previously overlooked, glossed over or ignored... and it hasn't been pretty. He has been challenging me and changing me... I am being refined.
So in that I would love to come and type you uplifting notes and really not open up to you about what is really going on inside... well, He just won't let me do that right now. It is not where He has me for this season or what He is doing... He wants me to be REAL, real with Him, myself and others... even if it isn't pretty or maybe what you want to hear (however maybe it is something we all need to hear). I am sure the enemy would love for me to hide my sin and pretend I am some perfect human being that I am not... The enemy would love for me to listen and believe the lies that are pushed my way... but I refuse and will not - for I know Christ has come to set me free and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... I know I have victory in Christ and that the enemy is defeated! Praise Him!!!! May God be given all the glory...
See these verses:
Gal. 5:1; Phil. 4:13; 1 Cor. 15:57; Isa. 61:1-3; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 3:23-24; John 8:36

God of gods

Check out this video a friend sent me, that was created at her church... it is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyO0HYhPd6Q