GOD IS ENOUGH!

GOD IS ENOUGH!

“Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.” Psalm 34:9

Four years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I wasn’t even upset about it.  I am basically an anxious person when it comes to something like cancer, but I felt so calm about it.  I watched my younger sister pass away from brain cancer in November and here I was 2 months later with cancer. She had held on for 9 months and was so brave with what she went through; she was my inspiration. 

Then I heard someone say that God was El Shaddai and that this Hebrew word means “All Sufficient One”.  This grabbed a place in my heart and I knew that I knew, He was all I needed; the Almighty God was enough!  I knew that He was the answer for me.  I went into surgery that day knowing whatever the outcome, it was in His hands.  I chose not to have chemo or radiation, but to totally trust in God. 

I want to say here that this may not be what you need to do if you ever have cancer, but I felt for me this was what God wanted me to do.  I am only telling you my experience and it may not be yours.  I remembered what the Apostle Paul said “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. [Philippians 1:21] God gave me such peace about this and I placed myself in His hands and after 4 years I am fine and still trusting God. 

I’ve had serious things happen to me since that time, but I always remember, “God is Enough!”  If you don’t believe me, then let me share a few of the many scriptures in the Bible about it.  Matthew 6:33 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”  This is written so simply that everyone can understand it.  If we try to live as righteously as we can, we can be assured that God will supply our every need. 

Of course, we all tend to think we need more than we have, when in truth we may have trouble sorting our needs from our wants.  Our heavenly Father goes beyond giving us just the amount we need.  In 2Cor. He tells us: “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.”   Can you imagine that?  He gives us enough to share with others and we know that if we give, we receive even more.  You have heard that you can’t out give God and it is so true.  The clue to all of this is to trust God for everything. 

It has taken some time, but I finally get what Paul says in 2 Cor. 12:9, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness, so now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”  This is what God, the Father, did for me.  In my weakness His power worked in me and healed me.  I cannot praise Him enough.  

He wants to be your ‘El Shaddai’, your ‘All in All’, your ‘All Sufficient One’ and no matter what your needs are, ‘He is Enough’.  Trust Him and your needs will be met.  There are times when it is difficult to trust in God when you need something, but when you place yourself in His care, your needs will be met. 

 

 

WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

What is the Kingdom of God?

                   “He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities ,                 because for this purpose I have been sent.”    Luke 4:43

When Jesus walked the earth his whole message was centered on the “Kingdom of God.”  This was his message as he went from place to place and many have questioned what he meant by this.  Is the Kingdom of God here with us now?  Is it a place far off in the future?  Was he talking about heaven?

According to the scriptures it is part of now and the future.  It is both a spiritual place and an eternal place.  I know this sounds confusing, but let me try to explain with verses in the New Testament.  While Jesus walked the earth, there was no new Covenant, because the New Covenant needed the sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the cross.  At that time the old blood covenant was still in place with daily sacrifices to cover the sins of God’s people.

So Jesus preached the Kingdom of God in this way: “Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  John 3:5 As Jesus taught, many prayed for their sins to be washed away and become ‘whiter than snow’.  [Psalm 51:7 (NLT)]  I Peter 1:23 explained it more fully “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”

Jesus taught this to all the people and the disciples over and over again.  When he was answering the question his followers asked him about when the time of end would come, he spoke about many things that had not yet happened at that time.  Then he said this, “So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. [Luke 21:31]  In this statement he was saying that it had not yet arrived. 

At the time of the Lord’s Supper, he told the disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” [Mark 14:25]  He had not yet entered the Kingdom of God.

He also warned all the people that they must put away sin and follow after God, living a Holy life. I like what it says in Matthew 6:33 (NLT) “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”  Those who trust in God will not lack in anything; He will supply all our needs.  That could be called, “Kingdom Living”. 

This is a good place to explain that only those who live a righteous life will enter the Kingdom of God.  In I Corinthians 6:9-10 (NLT) says it quite plainly, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.”

When Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood for the remission of our sin, the New Covenant came into being.  When we are born again and receive Jesus as our Savior, we immediately are a part of The Kingdom of God.  This is the spiritual aspect of God’s Kingdom.  Then at the time of death or the Rapture, we enter the eternal Kingdom of God which is for all those found righteous.

God’s Kingdom is where a sovereign God rules over all his creation.  It is spiritual in that all born again people are a part of it and his creation is a part of it, and it is eternal because He is eternal.  In the end, the rest of creation will be destroyed and all that will remain is the Kingdom of God.

 

 

Do Not Be Afraid!

Do Not Be Afraid!

“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalm 56:11

“Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36

The Bible tells us 286 times, “Do not be afraid”.  That is surely easy enough to say but sometimes it doesn’t seem to be enough.  There is surely enough going on in this world for people to be scared out of their wits; if they are not a Christian.  Notice, I said if they are not Christians.

Two weeks ago I wrote a teaching on my blog, “I Will Never Leave You” and the theme of it was that God would never leave you or forsake you. In other words, you have nothing to fear.  When we are fearful, we need to remember that “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  [2 Timothy 1:7]  Ask yourself this question, ‘if God hasn’t given us fear, who has?’ Fear comes from the enemy of our soul; Satan.  It is one of his strongest tools. When we are bound by fear we become vulnerable and helpless, but we can overcome that.   

I have to admit that I have some fears, a couple that I have to use all my faith to handle.  One of those fears is of flying; my heart races and my imagination takes hold, but I have done it several times by praying and reading the Bible.  I can do all things through Christ; therefore I have conquered it, but I still prefer driving.  The other thing where I come to the point of losing control, is the fear of mice.  God help me!  My mother instilled this in me and I have lived with it my whole life.  Reason tells me they are very small harmless creatures, but reason leaves me when I see one; dead or alive.

These fears are emotional ones and this is not what I’m talking about.  I am talking about the fear of the physical body; our own or that of our loved ones.  Let me explain:  some people cannot watch the news, hear anything about terrorists, or be told Isis is cutting off people’s heads.  That is a lack of faith.  Faith tells me that God will be with me in any situation; even death.  Paul tells us that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”  We know Jesus said, “Do not be afraid” many times, because he would be there to help us and strengthen us.

Believers, there may be dark days ahead of us; trust in God, no man can steal your soul.  To be honest, if I was about to have my head cut off, I would be terrified, but I would be calling on Almighty God to deliver me from evil.  That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t die, but God would take me to heaven and I would live there forever. 

If you have received Jesus as your Savior, your soul has nothing to fear.  If you are not born again, you should be terrified when you die, because your soul will be headed straight to hell.  Hell is a real place and it will never end.  Where you go when you die is your choice; not God’s. 

Jesus was not talking to unbelievers when he said, “Do not be afraid”.  He was talking to those who believed in him and accepted him as their Savior.  If you know there is a God and a Jesus, remember, the enemy of your soul also knows that.  Just knowing is not enough, you need to turn your life over to the Lord and let him lead you on the right road to salvation.

In Psalm 56:11, “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”   If you trust in God, he asks the question, “What can man do to you?”  What God is telling you is not that you will escape pain or death, but that your soul is safe with him.  “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” [Hebrews 9:27]  We will all die someday unless Jesus takes us in the rapture and that could happen, but otherwise we will all die of something.  

 

In the meanwhile, we must live for God to the best of our ability and be ready to meet Jesus face to face. No matter how evil this world becomes; no matter what destruction may come, hold on to the Lord.  Do not be afraid. “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”   [Luke 21:28] 

 

 

 

Then and Now

THEN AND NOW

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God;

 and those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

 

Can you imagine what life would be like if everything went exactly the way we wanted it to? So many times throughout our life we have wanted things that would surely cause disaster in the long run.  There have been times for all of us that we went against God’s plans and did our own thing.  What a mess that was! 

Looking back, I wondered how I even survived all of it.  However, behind the scenes, there was a loving Father in heaven who was watching over me and without my help, turned things around.  I have loved God for a very long time, but in my younger years chose to step out of His will.  Did I know better? Yes I did, but did it anyway.  I’m sure most of you have gone through the same thing in your life. 

There are those who may question this scripture in Romans 8:28 and ask, “How does my loved one who dies of cancer work for good”?  “How does it work for good that I have a sickly and crippled child?”  “My finances are so bad and I lost my job; how does that work for good?” How does it work for good that I have had so many surgeries and still need more and I hurt every day?”  I have an answer for each of these questions!  How do I have an answer, because I have lived through each of these painful times? 

My younger sister had a rare brain tumor and passed away 4 years ago.  She lived 9 months after they discovered the tumor and we spent that time sharing memories of childhood, sharing the love of Jesus and just loving each other.  It was a terrible tragedy for me and I miss her and think about her every day, but I will be forever grateful knowing she left this earth totally trusting in her Savior and knowing she is enjoying heaven today with our mother and many others.  Our family grew so close during that time and others I know received Jesus as their Savior.  It was bitter-sweet, but others grew from her strength and faith and someday I will join her in her heavenly home.  All things work together for the good. 

My eldest daughter was only a few months old when they found she had meningitis and following that she had polio. (Her story was in Guideposts, “Mysterious Ways” magazine.)  Those were sad and difficult years for my crippled and sickly daughter and for our young family. There were many who prayed for her and today she and her husband have two daughters, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  She has made 9 missions trips around the world.  She is still very active at her church where she and her husband are pastors. All things work together for the good. If you want to read her story, email me and I will send you a copy. 

Years later when I turned my life over to the Lord in a miraculous healing of body and soul, instead of things getting better, they got worse.  Our finances were in terrible shape and we were on the verge of losing everything, when I lost my job.  My husband was still working, but we had so much debt we couldn’t keep up.  We sold our home to get out from under our bills and moved into an apartment and a job opened up for me.  It was then the Lord put on our hearts to tithe.  We could barely make it as it was, but by this time our faith was building and so we thought we would try it.  The first Sunday we tithed, there was nothing left for groceries or car gas to get back and forth to work.  By Wednesday, I was pretty scared because both cars were nudging empty.  I made it home from work and grabbed the mail and there was a check inside that was owed to us from our house selling and we didn’t even know about it.  We have never stopped tithing and God has met our every need. All things work together for the good.   

I am the one who has had so many surgeries; I’m like the bionic woman.  I still need a knee replacement, but it can wait a while yet.  I’m too busy writing my blogs; teaching others about the love of God; occasionally preaching Sunday service; being the accountant for my church and spending quality time with my many family members.  Yes, I know I’ll be 81 in April, but I’m on God’s business for as long as He will use me and that is probably until my last breath.  After all, all things work together for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.  I’m traveling on God’s plan, not mine. 

There is an old saying, “When the going gets tough; the tough get going.”  I’d like to change that to, “when life gets rough; the Believer hangs in there.”

 

 

 

AM I FORGIVEN?

Am I Forgiven?

“But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matt. 6:15 (NLT)

One day I watched two children playing together with a little truck.  One of them grabbed the truck and pushed the other child.  The mom came up and said, “That wasn’t nice, now you say you’re sorry.”  Her son just gave the other child a mean look and finally, in a low voice said, “Sorry”.  He threw the truck down on the floor and stomped away. According to his actions, he wasn’t sorry at all. 

How like many of us at times.  We do or say things that are not kind and loving and then go on about our business.  I have found it very easy to say I’m sorry, but my heart doesn’t always agree with my words.  Believe me when I tell you that God, the Father sees and knows where our hearts are in all matters. 

It doesn’t take much to say you are sorry, but it takes a lot more to follow through with it.  There is a word in the Bible that carries a lot of weight and the word is: ‘Repentance’.  Repentance means “to change; to turn away from”.  To put it plainer, don’t do it again.

Someone once told me that although she was a Christian, she would never forgive a person for something they did to her.  This is a very dangerous place to be in because the Word states clearly that if you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you!  In Luke 6:37, it reads, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”  I explained this to the person and after prayer she asked God for forgiveness and forgave the other person.

Luke 17:3 gives a warning to those who sin: “So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.”  This goes both ways; if you sin repent, because without repentance, there is no forgiveness.  If you see another believer in sin, rebuke them and explain they need to repent so they will be forgiven.   

I think of the woman who was about to be stoned and Jesus came to her rescue and then he said to her, “Go and sin no more”.  [John 8:11]  Jesus forgave her, but he warned her to never again do what she had been doing.  God has not changed; He wants to forgive all of our sins, but to go back to what we were doing before is a greater sin.  It’s like turning around and slapping Jesus in the face.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” [Ephesians 1:7]  Remember what He did for you. 

“Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry.”           [Ephesians 4:26]  If there is someone in your life that you have not forgiven, please pray about it and in your heart of hearts forgive them.  God knows and will forgive you for not dealing with it sooner.  God loves you and wants the very best for you, including happiness.  Happiness cannot be had if you are holding un-forgiveness in your heart.

 

 

When the Light Went Out

When the Light Went Out

 “Before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was.” 1 Samuel 3:3

In the days when the Tabernacle was at Shiloh [the gathering place of the people], Eli was the Priest.  This was the place where the boy, Samuel, lived and where God spoke to him and called him out to be a prophet.  The tabernacle was lit by lamps which burned almost all night until they ran out of oil and this was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.  The ‘Lamp of God’ also meant the ‘Glory of God’.

Old Eli had 2 sons and they were evil men.  Israel was at war with the Philistines at that time and Eli’s sons went out to kill them.  However, they decided to take the Ark of the Covenant along with them for a ‘good luck charm’. God was not with them and Eli’s sons were killed and the ‘Ark’ was taken by the Philistines. When Eli heard the news he fell over and died.  His daughter-in-law, gave birth to a son and gave him the name, “Ichabod”, meaning “Where is the Glory?”  The Glory of God departed from the Tabernacle at Shiloh that day and never returned there again.

Today, the world is at war and the reason is, that many are falling away from God.  We have many great churches in America, but some are also teaching a false doctrine. How do I know this?  Look at Matthew 24:22-24: “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

During these times, people are looking for messages that tickle their ears, because they want to do things that are against the Word of God, so they listen to messages about hyper-grace.  Quoting Sid Roth, “This teaching of hyper-grace is from the pit of Hell!”  Even Christians will get excited and say, “Let’s go where this is being taught. I don’t ever have to worry about asking for forgiveness again.  I can do what I want and its okay.”  Others will run all over the country looking for things like, teeth being filled with gold fillings, or people barking like dogs.  They will tell you these are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. 

Are these things in the Bible?  No!  When people gather together in the name of Jesus, why would the attention be on the actions of people and not on Jesus Christ?  Are these things possible?  Of course God can do whatever he wants and I have seen God’s healing power and miracles that take place. However, when Jesus walked this earth, his focus was not on miracles, even though he did miracles.  It was because he had compassion for the people.  He did not come to earth for manifestations; he came so people could be saved for the Kingdom of God.   Luke 4:43 “But He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

Today we hear about places where there is a ‘great move of God’ and everyone wants to run there.  Those places are a hot-spot for a length of time and then they die out. Now let’s look at the last part of this scripture again: “do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”  

What has this to do with the lamp of God going out?  When the shepherds of the Church stray away from the Word of God and allow false teachings to come into their church, the Lamp of God begins to dim.  As in the time of Samuel, the lamp of God will go out and the Glory of God will leave, never to return.  Even the ‘elect’, God’s chosen ones, are beginning to turn away from the truth of God’s Word.  The world is becoming ripe for the Anti-Christ to rise up.

As Christians, we can no longer ignore what is happening in the Body of Christ.  We must make a stand and proclaim to others: “Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.”  Don’t be afraid you’ll offend someone; like our President is.  He tells us to not offend Muslims and that only 99.9% of them believe in Jihad.  Yet he also thinks that it’s okay to offend Christians; is there something wrong with this picture?  Let your congressmen and other government officials know it is not all right to offend Christians and then lift up the wonderful, peaceful Muslims. 

Christians, listen, there is One God; “Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” [Deuteronomy 4:39]  Allah is not God Almighty!  Muhammad is not Jesus Christ our Savior, or anyone’s Savior.  So, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve”.  [Joshua 24:15]  You may not think so kindly about it when the jihadist start cutting off heads and burning people alive in our own country. 

As a child, I learned this song in Bible School and it didn’t mean much then, but today, I see the truth in it.  Let this be your song, it’s called:  “Stand up For Jesus”

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, you soldiers of the cross.

Lift high the Royal banner; it must not suffer loss.

From victory unto victory, His army shall He lead,

Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, The strife will not be long;

This day the noise of battle, the next, the victor’s song;

To him that overcometh, a crown of life shall be;

He with the King of glory shall reign eternally.

 

 

 

When I’ve Lost My Way

When I’ve Lost My Way

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  Psalm 119:105

 When I was a child I wandered down a path in the Jack Pines of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I don’t know if you have ever been alone in the woods of the UP, but it’s pretty scary.  Let me tell you how it happened. 

My father was a fur buyer (back when people wore fur coats) and once a year he would go up north to buy fur from the ‘backwoods trappers’.  My mother and I went along (with my schoolwork) and stayed for about a month.  My father also liked to trap along the Indian River and sometimes he took me along.  I learned to help him skin muskrats and mink.  I had a little pearl handle knife and I scraped the fat off the inside of the fur when he stretched them on boards. (I still have my knife and one of the stretching boards.) 

We rented a cabin at a place called Jack Pine Lodge and that’s where we were when I decided to have an adventure by myself.  My father was a deer hunter and so I heard a lot about his hunting episodes. One day I took my Red Ryder BB gun and went out into the Jack Pine woods looking for deer. (Yes, I can shoot a real gun.  Ask my husband who took me with him to show me how to target shoot.  Imagine his surprise when I shot a dime off a tree.) 

Back to my adventure, I wandered around out there and didn’t know how far it was from the cabin. I realized I was lost when off in the distance I heard people calling my name.  Then I got scared because I was supposed to be right by the cabin and was disobedient, so I didn’t answer their calls.  I hid behind a tree, but I think my red hat and gloves gave me away and before long I was found.  I didn’t get punished, but I sure got a ‘talking to’ and also a lot of hugs and kisses.  I did learn my lesson and never wandered off again.  

However, growing up, I often wandered away from God’s calling.  It took many years of wandering through the desert, just as the Israelites did, before I decided to follow God’s pathway.  As God’s children, we often wander off the path away from Him, but He continues to call to us even when we are disobedient.  

When we wander away from God, we can really get into a lot of trouble.  Some of us have found ourselves on pathways of destruction, and have been saved from them by the Grace of God.  If you were saved from destruction the way you were headed, it wasn’t by chance.  Listen to the Words of Psalm 40:2, “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.”  That’s what he did for me. 

After that, God did an amazing thing, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  Psalm 16:11.  Then he followed up by not only showing me the path of life, but he did this: “He restored my soul; He led me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.”  Psalm 23:3  

To summarize all of this, God saved me, brought me out of destruction, established my steps, showed me the path of life and then led me in His paths of righteousness. Then he gave me an amazing truth; to study His Word and when we do it’s like a light comes on and shows us the way to continue on our journey of life.   

He is calling you and if you are far from Him, he wants to direct you to the right pathway.  Answer His call and you will find He is waiting with arms open wide.