New in Christ!

(One of the pictures of my garden, I am so thankful Spring is here)


Ephesians 4:17-24 (New Living Translation)

Living as Children of Light

17. With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
20. But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22. throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

I was blessed to attend the Beth Moore simulcast on Saturday! All I can say is "amazing", 300,000 women in 389 locations. We had 120 where we was at! No one was "accidentally" there, it was Gods plan. Women are reaching out in unity and standing up to be counted in the faith. The scripture she used in Ephesians was to show how we are before Christ is the Lord of our life, and what happens afterward. We are new in Him, we do make the choice to put off the old man. In verse 24, we are the ones that has to do this! It didn't say God does it, or someone else for us, it says " (you) put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy". It is up to us, our responsibility to have a made up mind to do this very thing. I pray as you begin another week, that you would be mindful of this truth. When something comes up (and it will), remember to respond with this new nature we have. Ask yourself, now, is this how I used to act with my old nature? or is this my new nature being like Christ. Love and blessings to you my sweet friends!

Influence!

1 Peter 3:4 (New International Version)

4. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.


Here is how Websters define "Influence",
the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command, corrupt interference with authority for personal gain.
Have you ever thought about this wonderful and terrifying gift, this power of influence, that God has given to women? From the very beginning we read of how Eve "influenced" Adam into eating of the fruit. Do you think the serpent believed Eve could talk Adam into anything? Remember how Rebekah influenced her son Jacob to deceive his father Isaac? There are many instanced in the Bible and of course in our own lives, where people have been influenced. It is so easy to do that it is scary! Here is the definition of manipulation: " to manage or utilize skillfully, to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage." As you can see there is a fine line between the two. Maybe the reason for scriptures telling us to be gentle and quiet, is because of the power we have to influence our family and friends. I pray for me and you that we will be so very careful, we must think before we speak or even how our behavior is when we are talking to someone. We must never hurt or harm anyone. Lets be prayerfully careful everyday to speak Gods blessings on everyone we come in contact with!

A Passion for Writing!

“The Lord gives the word of power; the women who bear and publish the

news are a great host.” Psalm 68:11 (Amplified Bible)

I love this scripture! I had not read it in this translation before, so when I found it, I was so blessed and inspired! All of mankind is the most important thing to our Heavenly Father, but the more I read about women in the Bible, I am finding how we are so very special to Him. We have traditions and rules that keep us from the perfect plan God has for us. For so many years, we have been told we should stay in the background. Now women are standing up and declaring the promises of God are for us to. We have responsibilities not only to raise our children in a Godly home, but to teach younger women how to love their husbands, and be a mentor to them. God has a plan for each one of us! Many times I have heard pastors say that to many people never fulfill Gods plans for their lives. To me this is very sad and I don’t want to be one of them. I want every promise and provision that God has for me, and what is so precious is, it is a doable thing. We just need to put Him first in our lives, seek His Word, and follow His leading. We can then be a blessing to our family, to our church, and to everyone we come in contact with. We do have the power, and a great number of us are doing just exactly what this scripture declares, spreading the Good News, the best news ever published, that Jesus is Lord of our lives! He is the reason peoples hearts are changed and we get to be a part of it. Blessings to you this day!

Guarding our Hearts!

Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)

“ Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.”

“It doesn’t happen overnight, it has taken time to get to this point, a slow series of compromises eventually taking you to a place you never thought you would go, doing something you said you would never do, and when you are there, somehow it all makes total sense to you. Pride tells us we would never do that, and maybe we wouldn’t in just a spur of the moment, but what happens in certain circumstances that you are faced with day after day? At what point do you know something is not right? How can a person get trapped in this kind of situation that will lead to destruction? What does it mean to guard your heart and mind? I have known of well meaning pastors counseling with women in the congregation that end up in affairs. I don’t believe they start out with this in mind, but something happens in the process. Do you think the Holy Spirit nudges that pastor “be careful, this is dangerous.” I believe He does, maybe like a yellow flashing sign in our spirit that tells us “caution”. I am also convinced that pastors, men in general should not counsel with women. We need wise women in our churches that reach out to other women. Who knows better how to help them than Godly women. My spirit is so passionate about guarding our hearts and minds. We must look to Jesus as our counselor, remember He is the greatest of all. We must seek Him in prayer and ask for guidance, if we need help or know someone that needs help, then seek out these Godly women, they are in our church and they are in our families. Be so very careful who you reach out to, the enemy of our soul is always out to steal, kill and destroy. Lets pray for each other and stand strong in Jesus. We will overcome!

Sunday and Women!

Acts 16:13-18 (New Living Translation)

13. On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. 14. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15. She was baptized along with other members of her household, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.

When I was a little girl, Sunday school was a day we looked forward to. Now as a "big" girl, I still love this day. An opportunity to gather with our brothers and sisters and lift up our Lord! Praising Him for all the blessings! Even when things are happening and we don't understand, we still come to Him. As I read this scripture about Lydia, (I liked her right away, she was a business woman that sold purple cloth), probably wealthy and influential in her community. This was Paul's first evangelistic meeting, and who was it with? Women! He preached to them and she accepted and believed what he told her about Christ! But that is not all, she and her family were then baptized. This opened up the ministry to this region. It is interesting to note how women were used in the early church, and the same applies today. Whether it is teaching Sunday school, bible studies or ministering in many other ways, women are special to God! If you will notice, the women were already gathered in this spot, Lydia it says "worshipped God" but it wasn't until she opened her heart that she could accept Him as her Savior. There are so many other things I would like to know about this woman, but we are just not told everything about her. But the main thing is she met Jesus, and then her family met Him too. Shouldn't we all be "influential" when it comes to the Kingdom of God? I believe so! As you gather this Sunday, I pray your heart will be opened to receive whatever God has for you. We are all on a journey, and the Bible is our road map. Chart your course and make heaven your home, but while you are still here, tell others what God has saved you from and for. Have a Blessed Lords Day!