Humbly Receive God's Grace

Hello All Who are Loved by God,

“…if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2Chronicles 7:14

  There is great security and comfort knowing that God loves us so much and deeply desires to forgive our sins through His Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing more valuable in this whole world than this one gift. But our hearts must be humble and willing to receive His grace in order to receive this forgiveness. Through the Holy Spirit’s help we are given the knowledge of what God calls sin. Then we must choose to humble our hearts before Him, and turn from our sinful ways.

  Having a humble heart, means we deeply desire to live our lives for Jesus. We understand and apply the things we have learned from Holy Spirit and God’s Word. When we understand what God calls sin, we can apply that knowledge to our everyday lives. There are still going to be times when we sin, hopefully this becomes less and less as we mature in Him. But when we do, we must realize what we have done and repent immediately. We do that by humbling our hearts under God’s authority and asking for forgiveness. If our hearts are truly humble, God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

  It is very important to be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit, because when we are, we will receive His guidance when we are sinning against God. I receive these important signals by listening to close friends whom I trust, God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit Himself. The more sensitive we are to His guidance, and the more humble we are to receive that guidance; we are better able to stay walking in God’s grace and growing in our daily walk with Him. Then, all that He has planned for our lives will come about in His perfect timing.  When I realize that I am sinning in some way, I immediately turn to God, ask for forgiveness and repent. When I do, I am relieved that God hears my prayers and responds in His loving way. There are so many times God has cleansed me from my sin. The only thing we need to do is call on the name of Jesus. He will come to those who fear Him, and He will heal our hearts and restore us to walking closely with Him every day. This is God’s desire for all of us.

  So let’s learn about God and His boundaries for us every day. These boundaries are for our protection so we can grow. Seek His face in all we do to do His will, and He will give us the desires of our hearts. Let’s walk with Him every day so we can get to know Him in a more intimate way. When we honor God with our time by doing things that teach us about Him, God is pleased and He will surely bless us.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7

“Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19

“For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and I would heal them.” Acts 28:27

  Let’s all desire the greater life God has for us, by following Him closely with our hearts focused on Him in all we do. God will honor our love and devotion to Him in beautiful ways that reflect His glorious nature. Come join me today in a close walk with Jesus.

  We will start reading IIChronicles 10 – 24 for two weeks.

Blessings,

Tricia

God's Great Love is for All

Hello Blessed Children of God,

  I hope this letter finds you well this week, and that you are walking in God’s will and receiving His great blessings. God’s great love for all of us is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. The love and provision of God is even greater for those who put Him first in their lives and seek His face in every part of their life. When God is in complete control of a person’s life, that person will receive God’s blessings that are far beyond what we could imagine.

  God calls us to put Him first in each of our lives. This is a personal choice that we have to make if we belong to Him. If we do decide to stop living for ourselves and start living for God, He will give us all we need to accomplish His will. God gives us the desire to make Him first through many influences that He provides in our lives. We receive these Godly influences when we choose to surround ourselves with Christian’s who live each day for God, Christian music that glorifies God in their words, reading His Word, and following His Voice. If we don’t have any Godly influences like this in our life, we won’t receive God’s providential guidance on what direction we should go in our life. This can leave a Christian feeling discouraged; lacking spiritual growth needed to follow God.

  Once we have started growing through God’s leadership, our job is to continue to seek His face in all we do. We can then be confident we are walking in God will that He has for us. Then once we have grown spiritually and endured many trials that cause even more growth, we can be sure He will move Heaven and earth to accomplish His plans for us.

  This is how much God loves us. As the saying goes, “He loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay that way.” He desires for us to allow Him to do a good work in our lives. When we do this faithfully as He leads, He blesses us in unimaginable ways.

  Just as God blessed King Solomon with great wisdom and knowledge, God desires to bless each of us with special gifts that we can use to glorify Him in all we do. So let’s seek His face and put Him first. God is faithful to bless us as He sees fit. Walk in faith each day as you serve God in obedience to His leading.

“…I pray that you, rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

“The man who loves his life will loose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.” John 12:25-26

  Seek God’s face in all things and He will give you the desires of your heart. This is His promise to those who love Him.

  We will read 2Chronicles 1-9 for one more week.

Love Tricia

God is Sovereign Over Everything

Hello Dear Ones,

  By the Sovereign grace of God we are all filled with life and the ability to do everything that we do everyday. God is sovereign over all people, all the earth, and the universe. It all belongs to Him and is controlled by Him. Nothing happens without Him knowing about it. There is no one like God.

  After making all the preparations for building the first Temple, “David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, ‘Praise be to You, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all; you are the ruler of all things. In Your Hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise Your glorious Name.’” 1Chronicles 29:10-13

  When we realize who God is, and His sovereignty over each of our lives, we will love and adore Him. We will come to understand all the ways that He has helped each of us in our lives, with the help of His Holy Spirit. Are there instances in your life that you suddenly realize that it was God who was there with you in a particular situation, good or bad? That is the Holy Spirit teaching you and ministering to your heart about God’s sovereignty in your personal life.

  The awesome fact about God is He is everywhere and in control of all things. He commands nature and rulers. He blesses the humble and brings justice to those who are proud. He is aware of every single person and every detail of each of their lives. He knows them better than they know themselves. I am humbled and in awe of God.

  He causes everything to happen at the perfect time in order for His purposes to be accomplished. There is nothing He can’t do for those who are willing to let Him be Lord over their life. But those who refuse to surrender to His Lordship over their lives will not receive His very best. I would like to encourage you to examine your relationship with God and ask Him to show you anything in your life that you are still holding onto. He will show you what you need to let go of if you are listening. Then let go of what ever He shows you and wait for His perfect timing to shower blessings and provision in your life. Remember our timing is not God’s timing. So we may have to wait for God’s perfect will to be accomplished in our lives. But if it is from God, it is worth the wait!

  “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His Holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessings from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who see Your face, O God of Jacob.” Psalm 24:1-6

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.” Hebrews 1:3

It is a awesome thing to understand the immensity of God. That there is no way to fully understand Him, because if we could, He wouldn’t be God.

We will now start reading II Chronicles 1 - 9 for two week.

Blessings,

Tricia

Give God your All - Surrender Completely

Hello Dear Ones,
  My heart is at peace as it rests in the arms of my Savior Jesus Christ all day long. There is nothing that compares to knowing that your life is completely in the hands of the God of the Universe, because you have surrendered your whole life to Him. 
  The Christian has two choices to make after receiving Jesus as their Savior. They can choose to run their own lives and make their own decisions and hope for the best. Or, the Christian can choose to surrender their whole life, body, soul and spirit to the will and purposes that God has for their life.
  The latter is the only choice that will guarantee that the Christian will live a life filled with divine purpose. They will be shown and lead to live the perfect life and destiny God has prepared for them.     If you’re wondering how you will know what your divine purpose is for your life, you need to grow close to God through reading His Word,  prayer – not just talking to God, but listening for His Voice that will be able to give you guidance every day. It is very important to also ask God for guidance in leading you to strong Christian brothers and sisters that will help you in your walk as you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. 
  For me it has been a nine year journey with Jesus that has been slow but growing for the first five years. Then it started picking up speed as God brought me into contact with someone who was able to help me learn and grow in the Lord as no one else that I know could. But we have also helped each other along our journey together. Jesus has just kept teaching me more and more things as I am ready. He has brought me to where I am now, which is a wonderful place to be. I would have to say that the past year has been the biggest year for me in regards to surrendering my life to Jesus. It hasn’t been hard to do His will; the hard part has been knowing what He wanted of me. Once I knew what that was, I was instantly ready to make a change to please my Jesus. There is nothing more important and fulfilling to me than being completely surrendered to Jesus and seeking His will for my whole life. This is what puts a smile on God’s face and great pleasure in His heart for His children. I have also found that when you have surrendered your all to Jesus, He is better able to be heard in your heart on a constant day to day basis. What a glorious thing that is. 
  I am now working more intently on seeking Jesus for everything I need and what to do for every situation. This is the way Jesus lived here on earth as He stayed in constant communication with His Father; and He is our example. So let’s desire the greater walk with Jesus today and for the rest of our lives. Then our eternity with Him will be filled with rewards that were earned because we served Him according to His will; not ours.
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me…If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” John 12:26
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:4-7
“…any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
Let’s finish reading 1Chronicles 10-29 for one more week.
Blessings,
Tricia

The Heart of Worshipping God

Hello beloved of God,

  The beauty, power, and majesty of God are beyond anything else. The wonder of God is a culmination of everything good and righteous. I hope your week is starting out with many reasons to give God your praise and worship. Worship Him for the life you have and the anticipation of what He has planned for your future! Our understanding of God throughout Scripture and our personal relationship with Him shows us that He is our Father in Heaven, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer, and everything else that our hearts were created to desire.  The God of the universe is worthy of all my worship. Worship is a heart felt response that God hears from His children. It extends from my heart to His through His Holy Spirit. This is what we do when we truly love God. Will you give God your worship? He deserves it.

 Worship is a spiritual act of gratitude to God for who He is. Worship strengthens our connection with God and our spiritual walk with Him. Worship is not something done when you have other worries on your mind, or distractions. Worship is practiced when we are in the presence of God and we are reflecting on His Majesty. This is when we give our worship for all that He is to us, and all He is doing in this world.

   God’s first command is “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 This is very important because if there are any other gods in our heart other than God, we are not putting God first. When other gods or idols are filling our hearts, we are not able to worship God the way we should. We are worshipping the thing we have first in our hearts, whatever that is. Who do you worship? The only secure choice is to worship God through Jesus Christ. Then we can know that we are walking each day with Him, secure in His arms of protection. Now that I know what it is like to walk with God each day, compared to what it was like to walk alone and insecure, I choose to walk with God because He loves me more than anyone else can. That alone is a reason to worship Him with all my heart, and all my strength.

  There are many ways we can worship God. We can spend time with Him by just thinking of Him and what He is doing in our life. We can talk with Him and listen to His response. We worship God by singing songs of praise and helping others to do the same. One of the greatest things we can do is to read His Word so we can know Him from His inspired Word. A very enjoyable way of worshipping God is focusing on Him all day long, not just an hour every Sunday morning. Every day we bring God worship by focusing on Jesus and His life that was lived for us.

   Let’s give God our praise and worship out of our appreciation for His nature and His worth, all day, everyday. Will you join me today and forever, as we worship God?

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Psalm 100:2

“…a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Matthew 2:2

“…I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name.” Psalm 18:49

Let’s give God the glory for all He has done for us by giving Him our worship.

We will now be reading 1 Chronicles 10 – 29 for three weeks.

Blessings,

Tricia

Live a life of Faithful Obedience to God

Dearest Readers,

  There is great joy that comes when we walk in faithful obedience to God and His commands. God’s first and greatest commandment to us is to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 When we take this command seriously and follow it with the help of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, we are following all of God’s commands. When we love God this much, He becomes number one in our lives over anything or anyone else. Living our lives with God as number one will bring glory and honor to God in ways we can only imagine. When we honor God with our lives, God will bring honor to us through our relationships, our health, and our daily goings on. But, this is a benefit we can experience only if we stay close to God through Jesus Christ.

  King Josiah was a faithful and obedient king of Judah, who learned very early about God’s commands and instituted them during his reign. He did even more than his great-grandfather King Hezekiah in getting rid of the false idols and false gods that had plagued Israel and Judah. He destroyed all the high places where the Israelites burned incense. He also eliminated all the priests that were not from the line of the Levites. King Josiah completely demolished into dust anything that dishonored God in His kingdom. This then made it possible for the people of Judah to be lead to worship the one true God. For awhile there were no more deceptive objects of worship around to steal the hearts of the people away from God. King Josiah lived a life faithful to God in all he did. He loved God and followed Him no matter what. He trusted God as the Ultimate Authority and that authority was to be followed.

  Recently I have learned that God has been waiting patiently for me all my life. Finally, my heart and soul began to understand that He is the only one I can truly depend on and trust with my heart and soul. Only God through Jesus Christ can truly love me the way I was created to be loved. Once I understood this, I was better able to love Jesus and allow Him to come in a powerful way every moment of the day. He is everything I have ever needed and wanted. Now that I am experiencing Jesus’ true love for me, my love for others has been greatly blessed. When I have Jesus this close, I can know He is leading me through the good and bad days. I can depend on Him to show me the better way to handle all the ups and downs of life. This is walking in faithful obedience to God the way He desires us to; closely communicating with Jesus all day long.

  Isn’t this the way Jesus walked when He was on this earth? Just look at many of the examples during His ministry. He was in constant communication with His Father in Heaven. The obedience Jesus showed to God is our perfect example of how we should live each day in obedience to Him.

   There is always going to be circumstances in this life that can pull us away from God a little. As soon as we realize this, seek God’s presence to continue walking with Him again. This way of living brings glory and honor to God. If we don’t realize that there is a problem, and we ignore God and continue in the wrong direction, we are sinning against Him. If we don’t stop and turn back to Him we are left on my own, unprotected with limited guidance from God. This is when we stop hearing from Him, and we will tend to continue walking in the wrong direction. Other things lead us away from Him, just like the idols and false gods during King Josiah’s day, lead them away from God. The blessings received when we walk this way, are limited. Hopefully Christians will notice that a distance has come between them and God, repent, cry out to God, and seek to walk closely with Him again.

  When this happens to me, I remember who is in charge. It is a fearful thing to know that I have stepped away from God. God never leaves me, but I can forget Him. Because I have respect for God and love Him with all my heart, I do what He asks because I trust Him completely. Whether it is a book to read or not, something to do for someone else, or how to handle difficult people, I seek God’s guidance first. I am doing God’s will and I am delighted to do it. If you are walking closely with God, that relationship with Him should be all you truly desire. The rest will flow from that life of obedience to God.

“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.” IIJohn1:6

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” Psalm13:5

“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.’” John 14:23

There is only one sure thing is this world, that is the love of God. Do you know that love?

We will now be reading 1Chronicles 1-9 for one week.

Blessing,

Tricia

Receive God's Strength

Hello Dear Loved Ones in Christ,

  I am praying that you are filled with God’s peace today and everyday. The bad thing about peace is it can be fleeting. The only way to keep our peace each day is to understand that we are not strong, but weak. We are not in control, but God is. So if we want God’s peace in our lives, we must depend on God’s strength and not ours to take care of the huge obstacles and even the little ones that are in each of our lives. Then our lives will be free to serve and worship God.

  The nation of Israel has now been captured and exiled to Assyria. Twenty-six years later, the chief officer of the Assyrian army came to Judah to declare war. He declared that their god was not able to deliver them from the great nation of Assyria because Israel’s god hadn’t delivered them. When King Hezekiah heard about the threats, he didn’t go out and fight the Assyrian army; he went directly into the Temple of the Lord to seek His guidance and direction in this terrible situation. He sent his officials for the prophet Isaiah. “Isaiah said to them, Tell your master, this is what the Lord says; Do not be afraid of what you have heard – those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.” II Kings 19:6-7

  The Lord did all that He promised and Judah was spared - for a time. When we understand how weak we are, we can then seek God to provide His strength in the situation. He provides for His children in all that we need. We are unable to receive this strength from God. If we think we are strong enough to fight off our enemies and make the right decisions for our future then God will not provide us with His strength.

   Are you willing to first go to God and seek His deliverance for each of your difficult situations like King Hezekiah? Are you willing to be obedient to what He wants you to do in order to accomplish His purposes for your life? Loving and trusting God gives each of us the ability to work with Him to help correct the difficulties in our lives and in the lives of others. This is done in God’s strength, not our own. Won’t you trust God today? When we are weak, this is when He is able to become strong in us IF we ask Him. That is when much is accomplished for the Kingdom of God.

  My desire is to accomplish much in His strength, not my own. This is what God is teaching me right now; to seek His will in the things I write, and the things I say. When I have done these things in my own strength, I have ended up frustrated and left feeling all alone. But when I have relied on God each day for guidance and wisdom, I have watched Him move in the lives of people in remarkable ways. Jesus is so amazing when He works in my life. His is beautiful and wise and understands intricacies of life that are so far beyond my understanding. I love trusting Him everyday.

“But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

II Corinthians 12:9-10

“…Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Hebrews 11:32-34

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

  We will continue reading II Kings 15 – 25 for one more week.

Blessings,

Tricia