We are Called to Persevere in our Faith

Hello Dear Readers,

  How is everyone doing? I hope that no matter what you are going through, good or bad, you are resting in the loving arms of your Heavenly Father, each day. This is the very best place you can be.

  As God’s children, we are called to persevere in what ever situation we are in, which brings glory to God and causes us to mature in our faith. If we walk with Jesus daily, we learn to trust Him. Then there is nothing this world can throw at us that will keep us down. When the relationship between Jesus and a Christian becomes very strong, that Christian has no fear and will graciously persevere through various trials God allows them to go through. They persevere because they love God more than their life, they are obedient to God’s Word, and they stay close beside Jesus daily. This is how God’s children persevere.

  If God’s children love Him more than their own lives, they will be equipped to persevere in the harshest of conditions. This love between them and God will be the firm and strong foundation they cling to in all situations.

  God delights in the obedience of His children. When we learn obedience to God, we learn that He has everything under control, so we can persevere with confidence as we wait for His will to be done.

  God desires all of His children who know Him to seek Him every day, to love Him, and to receive His love and encouragement in return. When we live daily in His presence, we can persevere through anything that comes our way.

  Even with all the heart breaking circumstances Job was placed into, and then to have three friends come and make it even worse, Job still persevered. His faith and trust in God was greater than any condemning words that man could say to him. Through everything that happened to him, his faith could not be shaken. His heart was completely devoted to God because he knew God was good in His ultimate authority and righteousness. As we read, God was greatly pleased with Job for speaking the truth, persevering in extreme trials and persecution. Job was blessed by God- double what he had before. 

  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:1-5

  “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11

  Won’t you join me as I walk with Jesus each day? As I daily rest in His loving arms, knowing that His guidance is always available to me for the asking. When I do, I am prepared to endure and persevere through any trial that comes at me, because He will always be there right beside me to help me walk through it.

We will be reading Job 32-42 for one more week.

Have a Blessed Week!

Love

Patricia

Let Go of Your Life and Trust Jesus

Hello Faithful Readers,

  How are you doing this week? I hope your heart is being blessed today and everyday as Jesus shows you His great love for you, in intricate ways. Keep your heart open to receive His little gifts of love for you today and every day to come.

  There is no trial that we may face in this life that we cannot make it through when we stand with Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. When we stand on the Rock, and rest in His presence all day every day, we walk in peace and security no matter the circumstance or situation.

  If we truly desire to walk with Jesus every day, we must first learn to trust Him, by growing in our confidence in Him even in our most difficult situations. There is more we can learn from God during our trials than at any other time. In our weakness, He is strong. If we as God’s children allow our hearts to completely trust Him, then in any situation, especially the most difficult, we will turn to God and give Him all our fears and worries, so we can rest in Him. As God’s children we know that He desires the very best for us. While we wait to get through the difficult times, we can be learning God’s lessons for us that will teach us to be who He created us to be. When God’s children see that even in their difficulties, they are experiencing spiritual growth in various ways, their trust and confidence in Jesus as their God, will become perfected. This is God’s deep desire for all His children, to love Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, more than anyone else.

  As we read scripture we see that those who trusted God looked to Him for deliverance, or protection, or any number of things they needed help from God for. You have Abraham, Gideon, David, Esther, Daniel, among many others. When they asked God for help, they believed that He would help them as they were in need. That God would provide according to His will and purposes. Much of the time they had to wait, and wait they did. Sometimes they waited a day; sometimes they waited months or even years. But in their suffering, they learned to rest in God’s loving arms in humble submission to His will for them. This sounds easy, but in reality this is a very difficult virtue to acquire. It means one hundred percent trust in God and His perfect will for us as His beloved children. Even though the whole time Job didn’t understand God’s purposes behind his suffering, he still trusted God and held onto God’s truth in His heart.

  All my Christian life I felt that I trusted God and I had confidence in His ability to provide for me. But in actuality I didn’t really trust Him and my confidence was not fully on Him. My confidence was still on me and my abilities to take care of myself and those in my life. Not until Jesus started healing my heart in many deep ways, did I start truly trusting Him and seeking Him for my needs and daily guidance. This is the act of faith that we do every time we speak to God and know He hears us. If we ask according to His will, He will do it. After all, Jesus is on our side and delights to bring us blessing and gifts, for us to use to bring Him glory.

  As children of God we are called to trust fully in Jesus and let Him be the Lord of our life. He will do this when we trust Him fully with our lives, our finances, our families, our future, and the intricate details of our daily lives. By faith we must grow in our confidence in His ability to provide for us and we will be able to trust him in any situation this life throws at us.

  “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8

  “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.” 1John 3:21-22

  “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62: 1-2

  Trust Jesus with all the cares that are in your heart. He desires to heal your heart and restore you to who He made you to be. This means we must let Jesus be in control.

  We will now be reading Job 32-42 for two weeks.

Blessings,

Patricia

Honesty about God's Truth

Hello Dear Ones,

  I am praying that you are doing well this week, and you are seeking Jesus in all you do. Jesus delights to be a part of every aspect of each of our lives; to be the light that shines in the darkness, to show us God’s truth.

  There is only one absolute truth about who God is. That truth is given through out  God’s Holy Word, and is identified with the help of the Holy Spirit that lives in the believer’s heart. When God’s children humbly receive His written Word in their hearts, they receive God’s truth. The one who receives God’s truth through His Word and decides to live by that truth in pure honesty before God shares it with others so that they too desire to know God’s truth. This type of behavior brings glory and honor to God. But... those who receive God’s truth through God's Word and allow outside influences to confuse His truth, get misguided information that does not honor and glorify God.

  As God’s children, we are going to go through trials in our lives, and Job is no exception. Job needed wise council and gracious comfort in his time of trial and anguish. Job’s friends, who thought they were helping Job, actually hurt him even more, by their lack of wisdom about God. They didn’t seem to care if they were hurting their friend. Their pride overpowered their ability to see what was wrong with what they said. Job remained strong in his understanding of God’s truth. He faltered a little, but he knew and trusted God’s truth and lived by it even when everything else was going wrong. Job feared God, and trusted Him even in this most difficult situation.

   I have been like Job’s three friends, unfortunately, but it served as a learning experience, more than anything else. I regret having done this, but I know God allowed it so that He could help me grow in this area. The most important thing I did was to repent of my mistake, learn what I did wrong, and not make that mistake again. I know God is faithful to help me do better if I find myself in this situation again. Thankfully, I fear God, and trust Him to provide strength in my weaknesses. Since this is the attitude of my heart, I am willing to learn and grow in the knowledge of who He is, and the areas He desires for me to grow in.

  As God’s children, when we desire to know Him according to His written Word, with the help of His Holy Spirit, we receive wisdom to live our lives to honor God each day. The honesty of our hearts tells God that we believe He is who He says He is. Our faith allows us to know that He desires for us to walk each day with humble hearts honest before Him.

  “Show me Your ways O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.” Psalm 25:5

  “Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth.” John 17:17

   “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” Proverbs 29:23

  Be encouraged to walk in honesty before God everyday. Then that truth about God can be shared with others in ways that glorify God and are not corrupted by false ideas which hinder and harm others.This is a very deep topic, but I hope the story of Job makes it simple and clear how very important it is to know God accurately and speak of Him with honest truthfulness.

  We will continue reading Job 15-31 for one more week.

Blessings,

Patricia

Obedience to God

Hello Dear Readers,

  I hope everyone is doing well this week, and you have joy in the Lord, who is your strength. Joy that comes when you know you are doing God’s will, in obedience to Him. This kind of joy allows you to overcome any trouble you face because you are looking to God for your needs; guidance, strength, joy, peace and protection. What joy to have these gifts from God, daily!

   When others are coming against us, or we experience very tumultuous situations, we, as God’s children must remain strong in our faith and obedience to God; because we know Him, and we listen and follow His voice which leads us daily.

   Job was a righteous man who walked in complete obedience to God. Even when God allowed everything to be stripped away from him, even his health, Job did not curse God. No, Job knew God enough to know that He was good, even when he didn’t understand why God would allow such a horrible situation to happen to him. Job’s three friends who came to offer support to Job thought they had the answers for why this was happening to Job, but they came up short in their understanding of God, with only partial truths. Their lack of understanding of God and His grace caused Job more anguish instead of helping him. Job remained strong in his faith and obedience to God. Even in anguish and pain Job trusted in God more than anything or anyone else.

  Once I learned how to seek God daily and throughout my day (which I constantly practice even today) I learned that God is my authority and it doesn’t matter to me what others think. I am only concerned with what God thinks of what I do daily. My desire is to be obedient and bring honor to God in the good times and the very bad times. I know that God allows me to go through bad times to help me grow stronger in Him. I trust Him completely, and I know that His ways are perfect. This is the kind of obedience God desires for all His children to posses because this is when God can use us for His greater purposes. If we are constantly questioning Him about everything He calls us to do, we won’t get very far in our service to God, or our strength in God. I choose obedience to God every day. I pray that this is the desire of your heart too.

  Our strength that only God provides comes as we walk in obedience to Him every day. We might even have other Christians disagree with us when we are doing what God calls us to do. What is better, to follow the wisdom of man, or the wisdom of God? I choose the wisdom of God, because God is perfect and in our obedience, God will provide for our needs in the most difficult of times, if we will put our hope and faith in Him alone. Then when we come out of the difficult time and look back on it, we can see all the blessings and lessons we have learned from God.

  “To God’s elect, strangers in the world,… who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ…” 1Peter 1:1-2

  “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm28:7

  “Brothers, as an example in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11

  My hope and prayer is that we all would stand obedient to God; remaining strong in our faith because we know Him, and we listen and follow His voice which leads us. Daily.

  We will start reading Job 15-31, for two weeks.

Have a blessed week in the Lord,

Patricia

Steadfast Faith in God

Hello Dearest Readers,

  I hope your week is going well and you are seeing that walking with Jesus, everyday, is a great blessing, and very rewarding. It is rewarding because as we stay close to Jesus, our steadfast faith in God increases, and our spirits follow Him how ever He leads.

    When everything falls apart and God allows our faith to be tested because of His great desire for His children to grow, we must stay strong in our faith and reliance on Him. He deeply desires that we, His children, make it through stronger and closer to Him!

 Will we trust in our own wisdom, that we will make the right decisions during the test? Or will we immediately and whole heartedly turn to God in faith, through Jesus Christ, waiting for Him to lead the way through the situation? God tests us, so we can grow stronger and learn from any mistakes that are made. When we learn from these mistakes, we  grow  in that steadfast faith and total reliance on Him. The best part is that we make it through the testing time that much closer to Jesus!

  Job was a man who was blameless before God. He feared God and rejected all evil. He had a large family and great wealth in vast amounts of livestock, and many servants. Everything he did was to bring glory to God. God was very pleased with Job. One day God decided he would allow Satan to test Job. So Satan went out and afflicted Job severely; destroying his children, huge flocks and most of his servants. Then God allowed him to be afflicted with boils from head to toe. Job was in great misery, but what did he do? He didn’t curse God; no, he held onto his integrity even in his great sorrow. He even proclaimed to his wife, who was encouraging him to give up on life, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Job 2:10  Job remained steadfast in his faith in God, and that God was in control.

  There have been times in my walk with God, that He has tested me as well. If I am walking in obedience, or in disobedience, these tests will come. These tests can even be unsettling at the time. As they pass and I look back with Jesus, I see what took place; as the old saying goes, “hind sight is 20/20.” Also, when I look back I see that Jesus turned a bad situation into something good for my benefit. It reminds me that Jesus is always with me, and has my best interest and spiritual growth in mind -  always! There is no greater feeling than knowing that Jesus, the creator of the whole universe loves me, cares about my growth, and leads me through it all with His love!

  If you find yourself going through a very difficult situation, or maybe even a little situation, understand that God has His eyes on you, always. Our first responsibility is to turn our hearts to God and give Him the situation at hand so He can lead us through it, teaching us what we need to learn. This steadfast faith that God desires of all His children is developed as we walk in obedience to God in the good times and the bad. When we trust God to lead us safely through the difficult situation, we will become stronger in our faith in Him and our relationship with Him will grow.

  “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps.” Job 23:10

  “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proven genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1Peter 1:6-7

 But others are like “Those on the rock ...who receive the Word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.” Luke 8:13

  Join me as we stand firm in our faith, in our times of testing, and let’s always praise God for those times that He allows for us to grow stronger in Him.

  We will continue reading Job chapters 1-14 for one more week.

Blessings,

Patricia

God Will Deliver and Protect Us

Hello, Faithful Readers   

  My hope is that you are being blessed with joyful hearts, even in your toughest days, as you walk closely with Jesus everyday.

  If you are living in a difficult situation, or suffering in some way, have faith in God through Jesus. Trust that as you grow in Him, He will be faithful to deliver you from your troubles in His perfect timing. Until we are delivered, we must be obedient and remain walking close to Him; even in our trials and fears.  We must remember that God is always with us. He has promised to never leave us, ever.  As we trust God in this way, our strength as a Christian will grow and His protection becomes very powerful in our lives.

Most Christians give up when things go wrong. They try to fix it themselves. They don't wait on the Lord or follow His counsel; if they even sought that counsel in the first place.  Esther and Mordecai DIDN'T do any of those things. That is the point of the story. They didn't just give up or run around trying to fix it themselves. They took it straight to the Lord for His counsel. God gave Mordecai the plan in his heart, a heart that sought God. While they were waiting for God to save their lives he, Esther, and the whole nation of Israel bathed it in deep earnest prayer and fasting. Esther and Mordecai had a real walk with God.  This wasn't just some emergency prayer. They were faithful and then when the emergency came they were able easily to go to God with their huge petition to be rescued. They continued walking by faith, planning to do the impossible, because they walked with God daily. They didn't give up or run around trying to fix it themselves. They took it straight to God, earnestly sought His counsel, cried out for His rescue, and stepped out in faith. They didn't know what God would do or how He would do it, but they knew that He was the only One to turn to.

  God heard them. He knew their plight. He had prepared everything for this very day. And His glory was revealed; He rescued them. And at the last second! We want to see our rescues come immediately. But God has other things in mind. He wants to see our faith and obedience...until the very end.  He pushes us and tests us to see what kind of faith we really have. Is it in our own wisdom or the wisdom of friends with a dab of God in it? Or is our faith the kind that seeks His will, His way, His timing, and submits to His plan?

  The obedience of Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai and their dependence on God in the face of annihilation was pleasing to Him. God had complete control over everything: from who became Queen of Persia, to the fact that Esther was born at just the right time to become Queen, to Mordecai's obedience in seeking God’s will in a difficult situation. God noticed their obedience and dependence on Him to save them, so God chose to use them as instruments to reverse the edict against His people, and to destroy one of their greatest enemies, Haman. God’s justice is perfect and will always prevail even in the darkest of circumstances. His children must always remember to seek His will over anyone else’s ideas. If Esther and Mordecai had forgotten about God’s love for them and all the mighty ways that He had delivered His people in the past, they would have been consumed with fear and would have never asked God for help in their time of distress. Their faith was stronger than their fear.

  Is God calling you to step out of your ordinary Christian life and trust Him and His will for you? If He is, or when He does, I pray you will be willing to take Jesus’ hand and let Him lead you and teach you how to live for Him, and truly serve Him in this world.

  “My prayer is not that You take then out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. John 17:15-19

“Because he loves Me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” Psalm 91:14-15

“To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood.” 1Peter 1-2

   Seek God in all you do, and He will hear from Heaven. He will speak to you His perfect will for you; and deliver you.

  We are now starting the book of Job. We will read chapters 1-14 for two weeks.

Blessings,

Patricia

Complete Devotion to God Brings Many Blessings

Hello Children of the Most High God,

  As I write this letter, I am greatly comforted as I walk today in the comfort and protection of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My great love and devotion to Him as my God and my Redeemer is so pleasing to His heart. I hope to encourage any of you who are going through a difficult time right now and don’t know where to turn or what to do next. Maybe it feels like everything is coming against you. Jesus longs to set you up high above these problems as you give Him all your cares and rest in His abounding love for you. He is waiting to be Lord of your life as you devote your day to His ways and His purposes.

  God is greatly blessed when we learn about Him through His Holy Spirit. As we learn about who God is, we come to understand God’s great and infinite power and control over all things. This great and powerful God created us because He longs to shower His immense love and affection on us, if we will let Him. When we grow in our devotion and love for God, and complete trust in His perfect will, we are opening up our lives to God and His great blessings He has planned for us. This is when we start to see His power working in our lives. When something goes wrong, we are automatically driven to look to God through Jesus Christ for help in our need. Then in God’s great pleasure of our devotion to Him, we receive what we ask for because we ask according to His will and guidance.

  I don’t remember when I first started seeking the Lord in difficult situations, but I do remember that it just became automatic, like when you go to a parent for help.

  Haman the Agagite, who was a long time enemy of the Israelites, was highly honored by king Xerxes, to the highest position of all the nobles in his kingdom. Since Haman hated the Jews, he devised a plan to convince king Xerxes to approve a law that would authorize the annihilation of all the Jews in the kingdom, which included all of Israel. This would have been the end of all of God’s chosen people. But God had a counter plan that Haman was unaware of. Mordecai encouraged Esther to go before the king even though it meant that going before the king uninvited could cost her life. Knowing that nothing is impossible for God, she requested that all the Jews fast and pray to God for three days, then she would go before the king. After the three days, she went before the king, and through God’s grace, the king allowed her to come before him to speak her request. After a series of events happened, in God’s providence, Queen Esther was able to convince the king that Haman was trying to kill her, his wife, and her people. Greatly angered Xerxes had Haman killed. Then a new law was written that allowed the Jews to defend themselves and plunder the property of their attackers. The Jews were redeemed from certain annihilation because a Jews girl who became Queen had a stronger devotion to God, than to man. God honored Esther’s devotion to Him, and courage by making her Queen at just the right time, to walk in God’s grace and serve Him for such a grand purpose.

  In my new life with Jesus, I have learned that there is nothing in this world that is more important or valuable than my relationship with Jesus and His love for me. I am not afraid to be without any of life’s conveniences, because those things are not what satisfy my deep longing for security and peace in my life. Only Jesus provides me with the security and peace that I need daily. The other things are provided by God’s grace. I have learned to put all people and things second to God, and this greatly pleases God. My complete trust in God's perfect will, and my devotion to Him is such that if I lost everything in this world, I would still have God, and that is all I truly need. Everything else, and everyone else are gifts from God for my pleasure and joy. He is my life, my sustainer, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Creator. My heart is completely devoted to the God of the Universe through His Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing I lack.

  Each of our hearts long for this kind of love, but with all love, it must be cultivated through strong devotion and relationship. This is where we learn to completely trust Jesus and His guidance in our lives. God greatly desires all His children to seek this from Him and Him alone. If we will pray to God for guidance in the direction and plans He has for each of us, God will be faithful to providentially lead us in the way we should go. He does this by leading us through words from a brother or sister in Christ, or to get a certain book or music, or devotional. He uses these to speak to our hearts in just the way that He made out hearts to be spoken to. If we are willing to listen, He will speak to our hearts and we will hear Him. Over time, God will provide more in our life; like people who will have the same interests to serve God in the same way. As we continue to grow we see God’s hand of grace and love in our lives. This produces a profound love for God that nothing and no one can take away. This great devotion that is developed will make it possible for each of us to serve God in a way that we would have never dreamed or dared doing in our own strength. Do you desire to step out of your comfortable Christian life and live your life in obedience to God and His call on your life? If so, then the first thing you can do is learn God’s ways and live in obedience to them. God will honor your trust in Him and provide you ways to serve His special purposes for you, in His timing.

  God is calling each of His children to step out of their comfortable and predicable Christian lives and desire to follow Him where ever He leads. For me, this was a desire of mine very early in my Christian walk; it just took time and the right circumstances to make it into reality through God’s perfect timing. Now I live each day closely following Jesus and seeking His wisdom on how to handle every situation that arises. Some situations are quite amazing, and they cause me to be thrilled to be walking this life, a daughter of the King of Kings and co-heir with Christ.

  “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

  “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quite waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23

  “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

  I hope you are enjoying the book of Esther, we will continue reading this book for one more week.

Blessings,

Patricia