God's Peace

Hello Dear Readers,

  I hope this letter finds that you are doing well, and your heart is being led by the Lord Jesus Christ. There are so many beautiful ways Jesus desires to come and strengthen our relationship with Him. He can do this if we will decide to obediently follow Him with a humble heart. When we do, we can be confident that our lives will be filled with His peace, even in the face of great difficulty.

  I saw a bumper sticker last weekend.  It said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then we will have peace.”  This really reminded me of the kings in the Bible that we have been reading about. 

  All the kings who ruled over Israel and Judah during the times of 2Kings did not put God first; they put themselves and their own ideas of worship first. They had more love for their powerful positions, than for their God. These kings experienced defeat in many aspects of their lives because they failed to be faithful to put God first. If they had humbled themselves before God and took the time to seek His will and guidance they would have had a flourishing kingdom and God’s peace, like King David did. They would have had that peace in knowing they were following God’s will. When war came, they could have had complete confidence that He would deliver them from their enemies.

  God is the same today, He never changes. He desires for us to learn from Him and to love Him. When we do this faithfully, we will come to a place in our walk with Him where we know that letting God be first in our lives is the only place to have Him. Then we can have the confidence that He will lead us down the most fulfilling road for each of us. We don’t have war and battles over kingdoms and regions like these kings did. But we do have spiritual battles everyday that are being waged against us from an enemy whose only goal is to destroy our faith and our close walk with God. When we walk each day on auto pilot, making rash decisions because it’s what we have always done, and because it feels good, we are not walking with God in His protection and peace. What we are doing is walking in our own will and strength. This leaves us open to the enemy’s schemes. God created us with free will, and so we have a choice to make. We can decide to lead or follow God, to seek His will for what He has for us each day.

  God’s peace is demonstrated through complete obedience to Him. When we follow God completely, we have peace knowing that His will is being worked out in our lives. We can trust this because God’s will is perfect as He is perfect.

“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even His enemies live at peace with Him.” Proverbs 16:7

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” Colossians 3:15

God desires that we all walk in peace, the peace that only He can provide. Won’t you seek God’s peace every day?

We will be reading 2Kings 16-25 for two weeks.

Blessings!

In Him,

Patricia

Receiving God's Grace

Hello Faithful Readers,

  What a gracious God we have who loves us dearly. God longs for us to recognize His grace poured out in our lives. God’s grace is a gift; not something we can earn or deserve. There is nothing we can do to deserve God’s grace and favor. 

  Naaman was a Commander in the Aramean Army, an enemy of Israel. He came to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy by the God of Israel. After he did what Elisha commanded him to do he was healed. He didn't deserve to be healed. His greatness in the Aramean Army had nothing to do with God choosing to heal him. He could not possibly earn this healing. He was from the enemy army!! However, God's grace was given to this man in healing. Not because of his personal position in life as a conqueror, but because when he humbled himself to obey the man of God, God's glory and power became known. It was the God of Israel that healed this military commander. The God of the people that he had conquered. His own gods could not do this. But this God of a defeated people did! He recognized this and turned away from the gods of his own people and swore to serve the God of Israel. What a dramatic change! This part of the story shows how God’s grace is for all, not just for His chosen people.

  God’s grace is a gift given to all mankind, whether they deserve it or not. God gives because he loves all people. The question is, will every person receive His gift of grace? The greatest gift God gave us was His Son Jesus Christ. Have you humbly received this great gift? If you have, do you continue to receive it on a daily basis? If you do, you will be blessed because you are walking daily in His presence.

  Each morning when I wake up I remember that Jesus is with me and He is the first person I talk to. Will you accept God’s daily grace and welcome Jesus into your daily life? There is much to learn and receive from God if we will accept Him into our lives - daily, hour by hour, and minute by minute. He is the greatest God there is. There is none like Him. And He deeply loves us, no matter who we are or where we are from. He is the God who made all of us and wants to walk intimately with us. He wants to be the God who dramatically changes your life, just like He did Naaman's. Do you let Him change yours? Or do you hold on to your own way of life? Naaman was great in the world's eyes. But he let God change Him dramatically when He encountered the Only God. He knew the others were false gods and left them all behind. What do you leave behind in order to whole heartedly follow after God?

“I became a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the work of His power.” Ephesians 3:7

“I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” 1Corinthians 1:4

“Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

Let’s rejoice in God’s beautiful gift of grace because without it, we would be nothing. Let’s give Him the praise that He is worthy of. Let’s thank Him for the grace He has given to each of us every day. If we live in this grace, we will definitely grow in our relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.

We will be reading 2Kings 1-15 for one more week.

Blessings,

Tricia

Honoring our Sovereign God with a Humble heart

Greetings Scripture Readers,

 I hope the start of this week finds you filled with peace and praise before God. Do you find yourself loving Him more and more?  How about submitting to His will more often?  It is a beautiful place to be when we are walking with God, following after Him.

One of the things I see as I read this week's Scripture is that our God is a Sovereign God.  He is in charge.  HE alone is God. And He is not pleased with proud and disrespectful hearts! When two Captains come to arrest Elijah, God destroys them and their men.  God is protecting His man from those who think that they can take down God's prophet.  However, God is very pleased with those whose hearts are contrite and humble before Him.  That is how the thirI ld Captain that was sent to arrest Elijah is.  He pleads for Elijah to come willingly with him, to spare the lives of his men.  He does not demand.  He does not think that he can capture this man of God in his own strength or with might.  He humbles himself before Elijah and pleads for mercy.  God is pleased with this man and shows him mercy.  II Kings 1:1-15

How are we?  Do we walk each day humbly before God? Or do we talk and act like we are in charge and we make the decisions?  Do we try to make things happen the way we want them to; maybe hurting others in the process?  Or do we ask the Lord what HE wants us to do in every situation?  Do we submit our will over to God and let Him really be God, or do we try to do it all ourselves?  Do we really think of Him as being in charge (Sovereign), or are we?  Are we merciful to others or demanding?  Do we show God's love and compassion or pride and arrogance?  Who do we really believe is in charge anyway?

God works in the lives of those who honor and glorify Him before men.  Do others see you as someone who honors and glorifies God as truly being God?  Or do they see you as being in charge of your own life??  Who are you like: the first two Captains or the third; proud or humble?  I know who I want to be like!

Do you desire to seek His guidance to show you any sin in your life, so you can repent of that sin?  I do, as often as I think about it.  I believe it is a gift from God when He reminds us to do an inventory of our day to day lives to be sure that we are walking side by side with Him.  God knows we will sin, that is why he sent Jesus to pay for all sin.  Be humble before God and receive His forgiveness and stay close to Him everyday.  God greatly loves you and desires to bless you in His purposes for your life.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding.” Psalm111:10
“Has not My hand made all things, and so they came into being? Declares the Lord. This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my Word.” Isaiah 66:2

How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears.” II Samuel 7:22

“The Sovereign Lord has sworn by Himself—the Lord God Almighty declares: I abhor the pride of Jacob (Israel) and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.” Amos 6:8

We will be reading IIKings 1-17 for now two more weeks.

Be blessed this week!

Love Tricia

Giving up Everything for the Love of Jesus

Dear Faithful Readers,

  What a great love we share, as we walk closer each day to the Lord Jesus, as we trust Him more and more because we see who He really is, our Creator, and Redeemer. Are you sharing in this great love, or is the world distracting you from Jesus? He is patiently waiting to have your complete devotion and attention. In His great love and patience for each of us, He gives us what we need at the right time so we can grow.  Nothing compares to Jesus, so let Him help you reflect that belief in your life, by giving Him all of yourself, not just a little here, and a little there.

 Elijah called Elisha to follow him by throwing his mantle (cloak) on his shoulders. Elisha seeing he was a man of God obediently dropped everything and immediately followed Elijah and became his successor. But first he asked Elijah if he could go and say goodbye to his family and his old life. Elisha spent the time making sacrifices and feasting with his family and giving up all the things in his life. 1Kings19-21

  This story reminds me of what we as Christians go through when we accept Jesus’ call to follow Him. Once we have accepted Him, we are called to learn about Jesus and all that He has done for us. This training is the work of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. Then like Elisha, we must give up what our hearts hold so dear and give it to God. Giving them up makes room for Jesus to have complete control in our lives. The amount of time it takes to do this depends on our own free will, and the decisions we make. It depends on if He is able to lead us, or if we are still leading ourselves. This is a training time for our walking with Him in obedience. Each test we pass and lesson we learn moves us on in our spiritual growth so we are able to serve God more effectively. If we still hold on to stuff that God wants us to let go of, we will be hindered in our growth spiritually.

  God may never ask you to literally give up the things or people that are dear to you, but are you willing to stop trying to control these things, and let God be in control? This is the biggest question we all as Christians have to ask ourselves, “Am I willing to give all the control to God?” Believe me, if we truly are willing, God will fill our lives with everything that we need to live full lives for Him. But it takes faith to trust God enough to let Him be in control.

  This process is a spiritual decision we make in our heart and mind. It’s like seeing a situation in your mind and deciding how you would handle it before it happens. What you decide in your heart will tell God what He is capable of using you for in His service. Then you will be able to serve God in a big way, or maybe not so big way, depending on your decision. I don’t know about you, but I am interested in serving God in a BIG way. He knows this because of the decisions I have made in my heart. What is in your heart? Are you willing to give up everything for the love of God? Well if you are, this still takes time to truly be ready to die to self and live for God. He is patient with each of us, and he knows when we are ready to move to the next level of spiritual growth. Are you ready to let Him take the lead, to lead your life now and for all eternity? I AM!!

“May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.1Thessalonians 5:23

“You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the Words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-69

“I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

Once you know in your heart that Jesus is, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, your heart will desire nothing else but to please Him in all that you do because your love for Him will be far greater than anything in this world.

We will start reading 2Kings 1-17 for three weeks.

Blessing this week,

Love Tricia