Tag Archives: Jesus

A Mother Defined

by Saint In Training
Original Imaged by: Yogendra Joshi

Original Imaged by: Yogendra Joshi

Mother – as defined by my mother’s words and actions:

A Mother is the first to introduce you to God and encourages you to build your relationship with him continually.

She stands over you as you say your nightly prayers and corrects your words when you get them wrong (always with a gentle smile).

She teaches you to read from the children’s bible and tells you stories from it for bedtime pleasure, enduring your constant questions with forbearance and grace.

She hopes for the day you will grow and mature but dreads it too for she knows the pitfalls and trials that awaits you.

A Mother is someone who tells you you’re loved and means it. She firmly believes and will have you to believe that you are special and beautiful and oh so smart!

She hurts when you hurt. She cries with you, wipes your tears and then admonishes you to pull yourself together, to get up and go on.

She prays for you in the midnight hour after a full day of work and tending to your needs before she tends to her own.

She will stand between you and all harm even risking her life if she has to and she will do it without hesitation.

She sacrifices her time for your time, her money for your needs and her strength to strengthen you.

She laughs at your silly jokes. Pats your shoulder just because and smiles in delight when you come into her presence.

She forgives readily even when your childish behavior causes her pain. She doesn’t hold it against you.

She rebukes you when you’re wrong. Teaches you right from early on and leads by example whilst never taking the place of God.

She encourages your natural and spiritual growth. She never doubts your abilities and believes you can do anything (all things through Christ Jesus)!

She stays up late taking care of you when you’re sick. Her mind rests on you and your well-being when you grow up and leave the nest.

You are always on a Mother’s heart just as you’re always in the heart of the Father.

She reminds you of your blessings when you complain and wags her finger at you when you don’t give thanks.

As a Mother grows older she learns that it’s okay to lean on your shoulders too (but not without making sure she’s not ‘too much of a bother’).

God has been very good to me in giving me to you and He rewards me daily with your presence. You are my best friend (after God of course ;-) ) and I cannot imagine being in a world that does not have you in it. Your life is a gift to me – this tiny post is mine to you.

A true Mother loves God first and passes on that love to her children – thus they will rise up and call her blessed. I am blessed to have a true Mother and I take this day to say – Happy Mother’s Day Mom. I love you so very much.

Walk in Forgiveness – Not Guilt!

by Saved 2 the Utmost aka Mom
Original Image by: Brett Jordan

Original Image by: Brett Jordan

It is a sad fact that many Christians are struggling with guilt from past sins in their lives which has already been forgiven. The truth is that they have not yet learned to absolve themselves. The question is how do we view sin? How we see sin will either free us through the wonderful forgiving power of God or bound us by the power of guilt sent by the Accuser, Satan.

I am sure if King David was alive he could give a seminar on the bitter root of guilt, the blessings of repentance and the power of God’s forgiveness as well as the power of self-forgiveness.

We know David sinned:  he took another man’s wife; impregnated her and had her husband murdered to cover up his sins. It seems when David decided to sin he went all out! But the wonderful thing about God is that in Him hope remains.

When God sent Nathan to David to uncover his sins (2 Samuel 12) David cried out to God for forgiveness and a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within him – God did just that. He forgave his servant freely. David could have reacted in many ways, he could have carried a weight of guilt and shame; after all he killed a good man! BUT, he elected to trust in the God he knew to be bigger than anything, even his sin. He received God’s free forgiveness and forgave himself. Glory to God! David got his joy back, a clean heart, a right spirit and most of all his relationship with God was restored! David came out with a testimony! Hallelujah! Look what God can do if we only let Him.

Precious hearts when we become our own judge and jury, we condemn ourselves to a prison built of guilt, shame and unhappiness. This is not God’s will for His children. He wants us to have joy in our souls; peace in our minds and praise for Him in our hearts, testifying to the world of His love and compassion. Wasn’t it Jesus who asked the Father to forgive His murderers?

Luke 23:34 (NIV)

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Even as they taunted Him as he bled to death for them on the cross, Jesus interceded for their forgiveness! His murderers didn’t ask for forgiveness, He asked for them. What more will He forgive us our sins when we ask?

Let’s look at it this way, because God has commanded us in His word that we must forgive others their transgressions against us doesn’t it make sense that we must forgive ourselves? Forgiveness is Forgiveness. Dear hearts it’s time to pluck up the bitter roots of guilt, self-condemnation and shame, throw them out of our lives and leave them where God has cast them – that place we’ve come to know as the sea of forgetfulness.

Micah 7:19 (NIV)

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:19 that we should be rooted and grounded in love – not guilt. We must keep in remembrance that once God has filled us with his Holy Spirit he has washed, purged and cleansed us from every (not some) sin that we ever committed. It doesn’t matter how foul, vulgar, degrading, shameful or unspeakable we think they were God has no more remembrance of them. They do not exist to Him – they never happened. That’s how complete God’s mercy is! God wants us to see our past sins and misdeeds the same way – nonexistent. Let them go! Exchange that guilty conscience for the mercy you’ve been given. Walk into it right now! Believe what God says in His word, “I remember your sins no more.” All that remains for you to do is to say, “Thank you Jesus!”

Stop second-guessing God. We will never comprehend the immensity of God’s love for His children. It’s too deep, deeper than the sea. It goes far beyond human imagination or expression. All I can say is that there’s no one on earth who can love us like God. We can’t even love ourselves as much as He does. If we did forgiveness would be easy to accept and we’d live a guilt-free life.

I have two beautiful daughters whom I love more than anything in this life. Still, God’s love for them surpasses my own. Glory to God! That’s some kind of Love! Who can really explain it? When we can’t trust the love of the people who are in our lives for whatever reason, or someone has caused us to mistrust them, we can always trust in God’s love for us. It’s the greatest love of all. Haven’t you heard and seen it for yourselves? He loves us with an in-spite-of love, an everlasting love: it’s unfailing and always proves itself faithful even when we are faithless.

Dear hearts I know firsthand what bitter roots can do to you when they’re allowed to grow-up like vines in the heart. I was shrouded by the spirit of guilt for years and was unnecessarily tormented by my thoughts concerning myself. God had pardoned my sins but I kept myself in bondage. Bitter roots are poisonous if they’re not plucked up and thrown away. They will slowly kill you spiritually, sapping you of the abundant life God has promised. Learning to leave our past behind us and never picking it up again is the key to self-forgiveness.

Once we’re born again of the Spirit we become the inheritors of God’s characteristics; His Spiritual DNA is infused in us. We are molded and shaped by the Master’s hands and we slowly take on His image. In fact it takes a life time. No matter the time it takes to see His work complete God molds us thoroughly. God will perfect that which He has started and He started a good work in us!

Little becomes much in the hands of God. The impossibilities of man are the certainties of God.

Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

It was impossible for me to change the negative thought-pattern I‘d held all of my life. It took God to do that but I had to have a willing mind. Unless we’re willing to let the Lord change us and be patient with ourselves we will remain the same. Remember taking on His image takes a lifetime!

We have a God of great compassion, mercy and love. It’s been over 2000 years and He is still proving himself faithful. What more can He do to prove His love for us? What more can we ask of Him?

Lamentations 3:21-23 (NIV)

21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I pray that those of you who feel like I once did will make a conscious decision to walk into your forgiveness:  embrace it and receive it as the treasure that it is!

Dear hearts we must learn to show the same kindness, patience and forgiveness to ourselves as we do to others. After all we are the children of the most High God and we are worth every drop of blood Jesus shed for us. I don’t care what our emotions tell us. Stop listening to them and start listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say unto His children.

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12 (NIV)

“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” Isaiah 38:17 KJV

What Do You Believe?

by Saved 2 the Utmost aka Mom
Image Credits: BabaSteve and Imagens Evangelicas @ Flickr

Image Credits: BabaSteve and Imagens Evangelicas @ Flickr

From the very beginning Satan has worked to overthrow man’s faith in God’s holy word. I am convinced that he has been working overtime to fulfill his mission; he’s had much success in twisting the minds and hearts of mankind to the point where ‘right’ has become wrong and ‘wrong’ has become right. Those of us who are filled with God’s Holy Spirit know that God’s word is true and that it is the only truth we should live by and believe.

Of course Satan, being who he is, will use every tool at his disposal to fight against us, even the Word itself. That’s why it is important for us to know the Word for ourselves and to know how to use it. It is our weapon against Satan, in short:  knowledge is power.

The Devil, like most sociopaths, is very intelligent. So much so that he knows the Word better than we do and he has personal knowledge of the Word of God; he lived in heaven with the Living Word before he was kicked out!

It is because he knows the Word so well that he felt emboldened to use it against Jesus Christ who is the Living Word, the hope of Glory.

Matthew 4:1-7 (NIV)

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

If Satan had the audacity to do this doesn’t it make sense that he will make the attempt to use the Word against God’s children as well?

Yes just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness we too are being tempted, unfortunately many of us are not resisting Satan’s devices. Why? Because too many of us are not rooted and grounded in the Word of God. We rely too heavily on preachers and teachers, books and mega-conferences to feed us our spiritual bread. Thus we remain ignorant of the tools Satan has formed to use against us. We cannot rely solely on preachers and teachers to provide us with the knowledge we need. Rather, it is to the Word of God that we must turn to for knowledge: it is the only thing that stands between us and destruction (Hosea 4:6 NKJV).

In these last and evil days we must, with all diligence, guard our hearts, minds and souls so that we will not be deceived by the messengers of Satan. This is why the word of God exhorts that we should know those who labor among us! These are they who come to entice us away from the truth; they are like their father the Devil, they twist the Word of God which is all truth into a lie. These are they who creep in unaware! (2 Timothy 3:6, Titus 1:10-11)

Let us not be deceived by false doctrines dear hearts; those doctrines that are mixed with a little truth but consist mainly of lies. The disease of false doctrine was introduced to the body of Christ in the early days of the church. The apostle Paul had to address this very issue during his ministry.

Galatians 1:6-9 (NKJV)

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Jesus Christ alone is to be the head of our lives. He is the author and finisher of our faith. It was God who sealed us, claimed us and marked us as his own. He took us from Satan’s clutches and gave us his guarantee in the form of his spirit that his promises to us would be fulfilled (2 Corinthians 1: 21-22 Amplified). Thus it behooves us to guard our hearts against the tricks of the adversary and hold on to the truth of God’s word.

1 John 4:1-3(NKJV)

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

The Antichrist has been here for ages. He has brought division in the body, contorted the Word, sent false prophets into the world and gathered to himself teachers and preachers and believers who have no discernment of spirit (because they do not have the Holy Spirit).

We who would live Godly have to keep this thought in our hearts, ‘What we believe determines our destination, what we do with our belief determines our destiny.’ I encourage you my Christian family to hold fast to the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord, spread the Gospel according to the word of the Lord and continue to bless his name forever!