I am sure many of you have had this phone call and conversation. Your phone rings and the caller id is unknown so you answer it and the voice on the other end says "Hello do you know who this is?" Immediately that voice recognition software in your brain starts trying to figure out if you know that voice, but you finally say "no who is it." The voice then laughs and says " you should know who it is because you know me." Okay now your brain goes into overdrive trying to think about every person you know and if this voice on the other end, that is by this time irritating you, is anyone you know. Finally you say "I don't know who it is so you are going to have to tell me" and they laugh and tell you who it is and sure enough you know them but you didn't recognize their voice. There are many reasons that you might not have recognized the voice. 1. You might not have recognized them because it had been a long time since you had seen or talked to them. 2. You might not have recognized them because you really weren't that close so you didn't talk much. 3. Maybe you didn't recognize them because even though you know them you just didn't know there voice because really when you talk you really don't pay attention to them. I had just this sort of call the other day and I could not think who they were and really didn't recognize the voice at all. They finally told me who they were and I had not talked to them since a mutual friend had died. We really had not talked much at all before so I was surprised she called first of all and there was no way I ever would of thought of her when asked do you know who this is.
I say all this because sometimes when God "calls" or talks to us we don't recognize or know him. We don't hear him because we don't know his voice. So why don't we know his voice could it be like the reasons above, when we don't recognize the caller,1. We don't know his voice because it has been a long time since we talked to him or maybe 2. We didn't know his voice because even though we know God we really aren't that close to him, we lack a truly personal relationship with him. Or 3. Maybe we do pray and talk to God but when it is our turn to listen we don't so it is hard to know God's voice if you never listen to him. You see God speaks to us and he answers us but we have to be able to recognize his voice and listen.
So in order to recognize Gods voice we need to know God. I don't mean just be acquainted with God but really know him. This woman that called me I was acquainted with her but she was a friend of my friend so even though I knew her I just was acquainted with her and didn't know her voice.
We need also to not do all the talking when we talk to God but talk and then be still and listen to what he wants us to hear. In a relationship if one person does all the talking and never listens to the other person then that can lead to unhappiness nd misunderstandings. You miss out on so much when you never listen and really interact with the other person and it is the same with God. Yes he wants to listen to us and wants us to talk to him all the time but and this is a big but, a one way conversation doesn't accomplish much. You miss out on God's answer to what ever you are praying about if you don't give him a chance to talk.
So make sure that you are familiar with God's voice so when he speaks you will know it is him. Get familiar by talking and listening to God. Make sure to get close and know God so that you will know Gods voice.
"Hello, Do you know who this is?"
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Follow the Prompts
I am no different then any of you about not liking the calls where you get a recording and then you are told to follow the prompts, press 1 for billing, press 2 for technical and so on. They are so frustrating most the time. This is not the prompts I am talking about. The prompts I have in mind are the ones from the Holy Spirit. These prompts are the little nudge or the little voice that tells you to do something like praying for someone, or helping someone or like me to follow through on something God wants me to do. I have learned through my walk in faith to listen and follow the Holy Spirit prompts.
One of the first times it really dawned on me just how important it was to listen and follow God's prompting was many years ago when a missionary friend of mine was very sick and close to dying. I didn't know it at the time that she was sick, but in the night God woke me up and prompted me to pray for her. I got up and spent the night in prayer and the next day found out how close she was to dying and that she was so weak and tired she couldn't pray anymore so she asked God to wake someone up to pray for her. God answered her prayer and why he chose to wake me up I don't know but just think if I had ignored his prompting and just went back to sleep what could have happened. She recovered and is still in the mission field today. I don't tell you this to pat myself on the back, but to share with you the importance of following the prompting of the Spirit.
More recently the prompting was for me about me. In June 2009 I had a heart attack at church where I quit breathing, so they tell me because I was out and have no memory of what went on, and I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. They did the tests and I was told that my heart had damage, but they thought this was part of my autoimmune diseases attacking my heart and killing it. I already knew that it was only because of God that I was still alive, but this time it was different, I also knew I was dying. I continued to get weaker and worse. The chest pains were more frequent and it was harder and harder to breath, but I knew that God had a plan and I was at peace with what ever God had in store for me. Jesus is my everything and I knew everything was okay. Take everything away including my life and I am still ok because of Jesus. I never once questioned why this was happening but just asked God to continue to use me and if I could just touch one person that was worth all I was going through. All through this time I was at peace and full of joy. God was holding me and there is no greater place to be than in God's arms.
In July God started prompting me to get my funeral arrangements taken care of. I have learned that if God prompts then you need to follow that prompting and so I wrote down what I wanted for my funeral and I figured that was the end of it, I had done what God asked. It didn't end there though. I was then prompted and given the words to write a poem to be read at my funeral, so I wrote the poem, and then I again was prompted to give all of this to my Pastor Brad Mann. Now taking all this to Brad and then talking to Jimmy Nickelsen asking him if he would sing the songs I wanted at the funeral seemed like the final step and God was telling me to do it so I did. I knew my time was getting short but I had so much peace and joy because I knew God was in control and his plan for me was a perfect one. I obeyed and followed the prompting and prayed thanking God for trusting me enough to use me this way. I prayed to touch someones life through my illness and God answered that prayer for me more than once.
Aug 26, 2009, at the end of the Group Leaders training at church, I had another heart attack and was dying right there in the door of the church. All I remember at first is the pain and then I had such peace and I just in my thoughts started Praising and Thanking God. Mike later told me his prayer was she is in your hands Lord. Pastor Dan Chaverin was praying and I remember coming around and then the ambulance came and I once again was off to the hospital. The doctor said they were going to do a cardiac cath on me and I really didn't want to do that but I was prompted to say okay because they needed the proof. For me to have the cath was dangerous because of my MG which made it more of a risk. They did the cath and the doctor kept saying to the nurse I can't find the damage that was there and finally I said to him I know why God took care of it. The only thing that is wrong with my heart now is the auto immune is attacking the nerves and so I have to take medicine to keep it in rhythm. God had healed my heart and the proof was in the cath results. The damage that was there before and had been seen was gone and I was taken off my nitro and have been pain free since.
I went home from the hospital and already was feeling stronger. As the time went on my lungs got better too. When I went to the doctor for a follow up from the hospital I found that I could for the first time in 12 years take a deep breath. Another healing and I praised God for that. I found because of the lungs being better that I could lay flat again which I hadn't done since I had gotten sick. I felt stronger everyday and feeling so much better.
Sept 28, 2009 Mike and I went to Shawnee Mission Park to go on one of our walk and rolls. Mike was at the back of the van getting my wheel chair out and once again the Holy Spirit prompted me and said one word which was walk and I walked down to the back of the van and said to Mike I'm going to walk and took off. I walked only about 100 yards that day but for someone in a wheelchair for all those years that was a big step. I walked by myself down the path and back up the hill to the street that the van was parked on. When I reached the top of the hill I raised my hands, like Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky, and shouted yes, yes, yes thank you Lord. I then walked back to the van. This is a picture of that first walk.
I had never in all those years of being sick and in the wheelchair asked God to heal me or let me walk again so I was surprised when I was prompted to walk. If I had not listened to that prompting though and then followed that one word WALK I would of missed out on a healing and blessing. It would have been easy for me to ignore that prompting or think that it couldn't be done because I can't walk I am in a wheelchair, but I followed the prompt and God blessed me for my obedience. My muscles in my legs were there at that moment I took my first step which is all God after 12 years of my neuromuscular disease and my wheelchair. The next walk a couple of days later was for 1/4 of a mile, then the next a mile and soon I was able to go hiking off the paved trail for over a mile.
Each day brings new firsts and I continue to Walk with God both spiritually and physically.
The last thought here is this, I am not perfect and have not always followed the Holy Spirits prompting. It is all part of growing in my walk with Christ. The one thing I do know in order to recognize the prompts you have to have a personal relationship with God so that you know and recognize his voice or prompting when it comes.
Last it is easy to ignore the prompts of the Holy Spirit out of fear, or not listening, or not following through but remember God is using you or has something important for you to do so don't ignore those prompts. It would have been easy when God prompted me to wake up and pray to just lay back down and go back to sleep, or to not get my arrangements together and give them to the Pastor because that was an uncomfortable thing to do and think about, or to deny I could do what I was being asked to do when I was told to walk, that would have been the easy thing to do. God never said our walk with him would be smooth sailing and easy all the time he just said we didn't have to go through it alone he is there guiding, leading and carrying us along the way. So remember to listen for and follow the prompts of the Holy Spirit.
One of the first times it really dawned on me just how important it was to listen and follow God's prompting was many years ago when a missionary friend of mine was very sick and close to dying. I didn't know it at the time that she was sick, but in the night God woke me up and prompted me to pray for her. I got up and spent the night in prayer and the next day found out how close she was to dying and that she was so weak and tired she couldn't pray anymore so she asked God to wake someone up to pray for her. God answered her prayer and why he chose to wake me up I don't know but just think if I had ignored his prompting and just went back to sleep what could have happened. She recovered and is still in the mission field today. I don't tell you this to pat myself on the back, but to share with you the importance of following the prompting of the Spirit.
More recently the prompting was for me about me. In June 2009 I had a heart attack at church where I quit breathing, so they tell me because I was out and have no memory of what went on, and I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. They did the tests and I was told that my heart had damage, but they thought this was part of my autoimmune diseases attacking my heart and killing it. I already knew that it was only because of God that I was still alive, but this time it was different, I also knew I was dying. I continued to get weaker and worse. The chest pains were more frequent and it was harder and harder to breath, but I knew that God had a plan and I was at peace with what ever God had in store for me. Jesus is my everything and I knew everything was okay. Take everything away including my life and I am still ok because of Jesus. I never once questioned why this was happening but just asked God to continue to use me and if I could just touch one person that was worth all I was going through. All through this time I was at peace and full of joy. God was holding me and there is no greater place to be than in God's arms.
In July God started prompting me to get my funeral arrangements taken care of. I have learned that if God prompts then you need to follow that prompting and so I wrote down what I wanted for my funeral and I figured that was the end of it, I had done what God asked. It didn't end there though. I was then prompted and given the words to write a poem to be read at my funeral, so I wrote the poem, and then I again was prompted to give all of this to my Pastor Brad Mann. Now taking all this to Brad and then talking to Jimmy Nickelsen asking him if he would sing the songs I wanted at the funeral seemed like the final step and God was telling me to do it so I did. I knew my time was getting short but I had so much peace and joy because I knew God was in control and his plan for me was a perfect one. I obeyed and followed the prompting and prayed thanking God for trusting me enough to use me this way. I prayed to touch someones life through my illness and God answered that prayer for me more than once.
Aug 26, 2009, at the end of the Group Leaders training at church, I had another heart attack and was dying right there in the door of the church. All I remember at first is the pain and then I had such peace and I just in my thoughts started Praising and Thanking God. Mike later told me his prayer was she is in your hands Lord. Pastor Dan Chaverin was praying and I remember coming around and then the ambulance came and I once again was off to the hospital. The doctor said they were going to do a cardiac cath on me and I really didn't want to do that but I was prompted to say okay because they needed the proof. For me to have the cath was dangerous because of my MG which made it more of a risk. They did the cath and the doctor kept saying to the nurse I can't find the damage that was there and finally I said to him I know why God took care of it. The only thing that is wrong with my heart now is the auto immune is attacking the nerves and so I have to take medicine to keep it in rhythm. God had healed my heart and the proof was in the cath results. The damage that was there before and had been seen was gone and I was taken off my nitro and have been pain free since.
I went home from the hospital and already was feeling stronger. As the time went on my lungs got better too. When I went to the doctor for a follow up from the hospital I found that I could for the first time in 12 years take a deep breath. Another healing and I praised God for that. I found because of the lungs being better that I could lay flat again which I hadn't done since I had gotten sick. I felt stronger everyday and feeling so much better.
Sept 28, 2009 Mike and I went to Shawnee Mission Park to go on one of our walk and rolls. Mike was at the back of the van getting my wheel chair out and once again the Holy Spirit prompted me and said one word which was walk and I walked down to the back of the van and said to Mike I'm going to walk and took off. I walked only about 100 yards that day but for someone in a wheelchair for all those years that was a big step. I walked by myself down the path and back up the hill to the street that the van was parked on. When I reached the top of the hill I raised my hands, like Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky, and shouted yes, yes, yes thank you Lord. I then walked back to the van. This is a picture of that first walk.
I had never in all those years of being sick and in the wheelchair asked God to heal me or let me walk again so I was surprised when I was prompted to walk. If I had not listened to that prompting though and then followed that one word WALK I would of missed out on a healing and blessing. It would have been easy for me to ignore that prompting or think that it couldn't be done because I can't walk I am in a wheelchair, but I followed the prompt and God blessed me for my obedience. My muscles in my legs were there at that moment I took my first step which is all God after 12 years of my neuromuscular disease and my wheelchair. The next walk a couple of days later was for 1/4 of a mile, then the next a mile and soon I was able to go hiking off the paved trail for over a mile.
Each day brings new firsts and I continue to Walk with God both spiritually and physically.
The last thought here is this, I am not perfect and have not always followed the Holy Spirits prompting. It is all part of growing in my walk with Christ. The one thing I do know in order to recognize the prompts you have to have a personal relationship with God so that you know and recognize his voice or prompting when it comes.
Last it is easy to ignore the prompts of the Holy Spirit out of fear, or not listening, or not following through but remember God is using you or has something important for you to do so don't ignore those prompts. It would have been easy when God prompted me to wake up and pray to just lay back down and go back to sleep, or to not get my arrangements together and give them to the Pastor because that was an uncomfortable thing to do and think about, or to deny I could do what I was being asked to do when I was told to walk, that would have been the easy thing to do. God never said our walk with him would be smooth sailing and easy all the time he just said we didn't have to go through it alone he is there guiding, leading and carrying us along the way. So remember to listen for and follow the prompts of the Holy Spirit.
Friday, September 18, 2009
What's Next
I have not written in my blog for awhile. I had been sick with problems with my heart but God has seen fit to heal my heart thank you Lord. I decided to share a devotion I gave 3 years ago about how I trust and set my mind on God even in trying times.
Romans 5: 1-8
1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through whom we have gained access by faith in to this grace in which we now stand And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance: 4 Perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(NIV)
These verses tell us that we can rejoice when things are wrong and that we have power to do so because of God’s love and that love is shown from Christ dying for us even when we didn’t deserve it. So when troubles come along this is how I look at things.
WHAT’S NEXT!
This statement can be meant in more than one way. It can mean, so what else can happen to me, OR, it can mean, alright I am done with this so what next needs to be done. It’s all in the way you choose to look at it. It’s all about choices we make. We can choose to have a good day or a bad day even in the midst of trying times. We can either look at things that happen as a challenge or a tribulation. It’s all in how you choose to go through it.
The easy way is to look at what you are going through as a tribulation and throw a big pity party, sitting around feeling sorry for yourself and complaining all the time. Or, you can put your faith to work and look at it as a challenge that you are going to meet head on with God’s help. You have to put you’re faith in action. Faith takes what is a big problem, and through our faith with God’s help, they are turned into smaller challenges, as long as we trust in God and let him lead us.
Which are you, an ostrich or and eagle? You can choose to be either an ostrich or an eagle. Do you stick your head in the sand, waiting and moaning and groaning about everything God is letting happen to you, or do you, like the Eagle overcome the difficulties with strength and cunning with God’s help?
I don’t mean that it isn’t difficult at times, but nothing is too difficult if we go through it with God. Phil. 4:13 says, "I can do all things (not some things) through Christ who strengthens me."(KJV) The key to any problem is not worry, anger, pity, or questioning, even though these are normal feelings. The Key is GOD and our trust in him.
It’s easy to say I trust God, but then when the sickness or troubles come along we crumble, we stumble, we complain, we think God’s forgotten about us or is mad at us, and we just know we aren’t strong enough. We think How could God let this happen to ME or Why ME! Or, when those troubles and illness come we say God is going to see me through, but, then we never talk to God or even if we talk to him we don’t listen to him because we are too busy worrying.
Is it a mountain or a hill?
Something Impossible to overcome or something we can overcome with God’s help.
Tribulation or challenge?
We have to set our minds on God and the mountains will be hills, the tribulations will be challenges and we will overcome and the peace and joy of the Lord will be ours.
In Nehemiah 8:10b it says, "The Joy of the Lord is our strength."(KJV)
Is it easy to think this way? Not always, but it can be done. When I became sick I remembered how important prayer is and believing that God has a perfect plan and to draw on my faith. This helped me to never question, Why me? But I said, Why not me. I just say thank you Lord for trusting me enough to use me in this way and help me to be able to be a witness to others for you.
We can know that God loves us and like it says in the song I like so much “Sheltered in the Arms of God” “So let the storms rage high the dark clouds rise, they don’t worry me for I’m sheltered safe within the arms of God. He walks with me and naught on earth can harm me, for I’m sheltered in the arms of God.”
God shelters us from whatever we have to face. Being sheltered by God’s arms goes beyond God just putting his arms around us. It’s more than just a hug from God. It is protection, strength, and love. The best thing is it’s for each and every one of us. We are sheltered and God is our strength. We can make it through anything if we choose to face it with God’s help.
So I say
Hill not Mountain!!
Challenge not Tribulation!!
Winner not Loser!!
So in closing What’s Next? I say it should be us as Christians overcoming, with God’s help, in everything. So we can say this is finished what now do you have for me to do Lord! We need to be on fire for God in all aspects of our lives including the hard times. Remember there is nothing to big or too small for God to see us through. Let the world see that we are believing and living for God in all parts of our life’s, hard times or not. Let’s live by the faith we all have. Remember in Ps. 121:1 it says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, my help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth.”(KJV)
Written by Deb Forbes
Copyright 2008
Romans 5: 1-8
1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through whom we have gained access by faith in to this grace in which we now stand And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance: 4 Perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(NIV)
These verses tell us that we can rejoice when things are wrong and that we have power to do so because of God’s love and that love is shown from Christ dying for us even when we didn’t deserve it. So when troubles come along this is how I look at things.
WHAT’S NEXT!
This statement can be meant in more than one way. It can mean, so what else can happen to me, OR, it can mean, alright I am done with this so what next needs to be done. It’s all in the way you choose to look at it. It’s all about choices we make. We can choose to have a good day or a bad day even in the midst of trying times. We can either look at things that happen as a challenge or a tribulation. It’s all in how you choose to go through it.
The easy way is to look at what you are going through as a tribulation and throw a big pity party, sitting around feeling sorry for yourself and complaining all the time. Or, you can put your faith to work and look at it as a challenge that you are going to meet head on with God’s help. You have to put you’re faith in action. Faith takes what is a big problem, and through our faith with God’s help, they are turned into smaller challenges, as long as we trust in God and let him lead us.
Which are you, an ostrich or and eagle? You can choose to be either an ostrich or an eagle. Do you stick your head in the sand, waiting and moaning and groaning about everything God is letting happen to you, or do you, like the Eagle overcome the difficulties with strength and cunning with God’s help?
I don’t mean that it isn’t difficult at times, but nothing is too difficult if we go through it with God. Phil. 4:13 says, "I can do all things (not some things) through Christ who strengthens me."(KJV) The key to any problem is not worry, anger, pity, or questioning, even though these are normal feelings. The Key is GOD and our trust in him.
It’s easy to say I trust God, but then when the sickness or troubles come along we crumble, we stumble, we complain, we think God’s forgotten about us or is mad at us, and we just know we aren’t strong enough. We think How could God let this happen to ME or Why ME! Or, when those troubles and illness come we say God is going to see me through, but, then we never talk to God or even if we talk to him we don’t listen to him because we are too busy worrying.
Is it a mountain or a hill?
Something Impossible to overcome or something we can overcome with God’s help.
Tribulation or challenge?
We have to set our minds on God and the mountains will be hills, the tribulations will be challenges and we will overcome and the peace and joy of the Lord will be ours.
In Nehemiah 8:10b it says, "The Joy of the Lord is our strength."(KJV)
Is it easy to think this way? Not always, but it can be done. When I became sick I remembered how important prayer is and believing that God has a perfect plan and to draw on my faith. This helped me to never question, Why me? But I said, Why not me. I just say thank you Lord for trusting me enough to use me in this way and help me to be able to be a witness to others for you.
We can know that God loves us and like it says in the song I like so much “Sheltered in the Arms of God” “So let the storms rage high the dark clouds rise, they don’t worry me for I’m sheltered safe within the arms of God. He walks with me and naught on earth can harm me, for I’m sheltered in the arms of God.”
God shelters us from whatever we have to face. Being sheltered by God’s arms goes beyond God just putting his arms around us. It’s more than just a hug from God. It is protection, strength, and love. The best thing is it’s for each and every one of us. We are sheltered and God is our strength. We can make it through anything if we choose to face it with God’s help.
So I say
Hill not Mountain!!
Challenge not Tribulation!!
Winner not Loser!!
So in closing What’s Next? I say it should be us as Christians overcoming, with God’s help, in everything. So we can say this is finished what now do you have for me to do Lord! We need to be on fire for God in all aspects of our lives including the hard times. Remember there is nothing to big or too small for God to see us through. Let the world see that we are believing and living for God in all parts of our life’s, hard times or not. Let’s live by the faith we all have. Remember in Ps. 121:1 it says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, my help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth.”(KJV)
Written by Deb Forbes
Copyright 2008
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Woman with out a past!
What does this mean do I have amnesia? No. Am I in the witness protection program? No. Did a space ship drop me off? I don’t think so. Then how can I be a woman without a past? Simple I have been forgiven and I am a child of God. So you say how does that make you not have a past? Because when you ask Jesus into your heart and ask forgiveness for your sins then God erases them and remembers them no more.
Ps 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”(KJV)This doesn’t mean that we don’t remember our past mistakes, but it does mean that we can move on from them, once we have been forgiven. So many times we let our past mistakes haunt us and even though God has forgiven us we don’t forgive ourselves. We get hung up on the guilt to the point that we don’t leave room for the joy and peace that is ours from God. Guilt can lead to unhappiness and depression and can eventually destroy us. That doesn’t mean we can’t feel bad about what we did in the past, but it means we have to remember that we were not the same person we are in Christ and that we have been washed clean and now are new creations. 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”(KJV) We can’t change the past but we can leave our past mistakes in the past and move forward. When we are forgiven by God then we need to forgive ourselves.
It is not just that we have to forgive ourselves of our past but we have to tell others when they bring it up that we have been forgiven and so our past has been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to let them make us feel guilty or let them try to destroy us by bringing up our past. Instead we should explain about how Christ died for our sins and when we accepted him as our Savior he forgave our sins and we don’t have to feel guilty for them anymore. Rom. 4:7 “Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”(KJV) Don’t let the devil use people to make you feel guilty and take away your blessing of being forgiven and your sins covered.
A last thought is that just because we have been forgiven of our sins and they are remembered no more, doesn’t mean that we can go out and sin again because we know we can ask to be forgiven and the slate will be wiped clean again. When we have Christ in our hearts we are to be like him and in him was no sin. I John 3:6 “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”(NIV) When we have Christ in our heart we don’t want to sin anymore. We will because we are human and make mistakes but that is different from blatantly sinning when you know you are going to sin.
So the main thing to remember is: 1. that we all sin Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (KJV) 2.Then the next thing is to know that God made a way for us to be forgiven our sins through his Son Jesus Christ John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosesoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”(KJV) Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”(KJV)
Heb. 10:10 “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”(NIV) 3. All we have to do is confess our sins and ask Jesus into our hearts and we are forgiven it is a done deal.
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(KJV) 4. Finally we have to strive to be Christ like in our lives. I John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”(KJV) Then we are covered by the blood of Christ and our sins are forgiven to be remembered no more Heb. 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”(KJV)
So I am a woman without a past who has been forgiven and I can now put away my guilt and not let anyone, including myself, make me feel guilty over what has been forgiven and forgotten by God. I have been cleansed by the blood of Christ and I am changed from that person in my past to a new person in Christ. Thank you Jesus!
Ps 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”(KJV)This doesn’t mean that we don’t remember our past mistakes, but it does mean that we can move on from them, once we have been forgiven. So many times we let our past mistakes haunt us and even though God has forgiven us we don’t forgive ourselves. We get hung up on the guilt to the point that we don’t leave room for the joy and peace that is ours from God. Guilt can lead to unhappiness and depression and can eventually destroy us. That doesn’t mean we can’t feel bad about what we did in the past, but it means we have to remember that we were not the same person we are in Christ and that we have been washed clean and now are new creations. 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”(KJV) We can’t change the past but we can leave our past mistakes in the past and move forward. When we are forgiven by God then we need to forgive ourselves.
It is not just that we have to forgive ourselves of our past but we have to tell others when they bring it up that we have been forgiven and so our past has been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to let them make us feel guilty or let them try to destroy us by bringing up our past. Instead we should explain about how Christ died for our sins and when we accepted him as our Savior he forgave our sins and we don’t have to feel guilty for them anymore. Rom. 4:7 “Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”(KJV) Don’t let the devil use people to make you feel guilty and take away your blessing of being forgiven and your sins covered.
A last thought is that just because we have been forgiven of our sins and they are remembered no more, doesn’t mean that we can go out and sin again because we know we can ask to be forgiven and the slate will be wiped clean again. When we have Christ in our hearts we are to be like him and in him was no sin. I John 3:6 “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”(NIV) When we have Christ in our heart we don’t want to sin anymore. We will because we are human and make mistakes but that is different from blatantly sinning when you know you are going to sin.
So the main thing to remember is: 1. that we all sin Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (KJV) 2.Then the next thing is to know that God made a way for us to be forgiven our sins through his Son Jesus Christ John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosesoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”(KJV) Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”(KJV)
Heb. 10:10 “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”(NIV) 3. All we have to do is confess our sins and ask Jesus into our hearts and we are forgiven it is a done deal.
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(KJV) 4. Finally we have to strive to be Christ like in our lives. I John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”(KJV) Then we are covered by the blood of Christ and our sins are forgiven to be remembered no more Heb. 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”(KJV)
So I am a woman without a past who has been forgiven and I can now put away my guilt and not let anyone, including myself, make me feel guilty over what has been forgiven and forgotten by God. I have been cleansed by the blood of Christ and I am changed from that person in my past to a new person in Christ. Thank you Jesus!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
To Love And Help Others
A HELPING HAND
What would you do what would you say?
If you were the one going hungry today.
There are children all over the world who have little to eat.
Their poor little bodies are ravaged by hunger and disease.
What would you do what would you say?
If you were homeless with no where to stay.
People and families all over have no where to turn.
For a place to stay, for a home they do yearn.
What would you do what would you say?
Would you do what you could to help or just turn away?
Children, families, and people all over the world need hope.
They need to be helped and loved so they can cope.
Will you lend them a helping hand,
Giving them love and doing all that you can
Or will you just turn away, thinking what really can I do
I have nothing to offer and no way to give help to you.
God’s people should reach out to love and help them
God’s people should never turn away or condemn
Will you follow Jesus’ heart and heed the call
Will you give of yourself, giving help and love to them all?
Will you let the love of Jesus be seen in and through you?
Will you help and do all that God asks you to do
Please show them love and do all you can
Give to each one a helping hand
What can you do just ask God to show you
Let God show you how you can help and what you can do.
So what will you do? Will you please answer the call?
Will you please help and show love and compassion to one and all!
By Deb Forbes July 2009
I wrote this because all of us can find some way to help others. We should love and want to help all that is part of Serving Jesus
Love is an important part of being a Christ follower. It's not just love for God and Christ but love for others and by loving others showing them Jesus and God's love through the way we love and care for them. I John 3:16-18 "16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."(NIV) Like the poem I wrote says we all should love and help and not condemn. We all can find some way to help others and show them God's love. We should all strive to be more Christ like in our love for others. It is also not just saying we love our brothers but by showing it through what we do. Words alone won't work we have to do. I John 4:21 21 "And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."(NIV) God says if we love him we must not should but must love our brother.
We all can serve God and help others. No matter your situation you can do something. Ask God and he will show you ways to serve and help and then follow through and do what he shows you to do. I hope we all find ways to serve and help others.
What would you do what would you say?
If you were the one going hungry today.
There are children all over the world who have little to eat.
Their poor little bodies are ravaged by hunger and disease.
What would you do what would you say?
If you were homeless with no where to stay.
People and families all over have no where to turn.
For a place to stay, for a home they do yearn.
What would you do what would you say?
Would you do what you could to help or just turn away?
Children, families, and people all over the world need hope.
They need to be helped and loved so they can cope.
Will you lend them a helping hand,
Giving them love and doing all that you can
Or will you just turn away, thinking what really can I do
I have nothing to offer and no way to give help to you.
God’s people should reach out to love and help them
God’s people should never turn away or condemn
Will you follow Jesus’ heart and heed the call
Will you give of yourself, giving help and love to them all?
Will you let the love of Jesus be seen in and through you?
Will you help and do all that God asks you to do
Please show them love and do all you can
Give to each one a helping hand
What can you do just ask God to show you
Let God show you how you can help and what you can do.
So what will you do? Will you please answer the call?
Will you please help and show love and compassion to one and all!
By Deb Forbes July 2009
I wrote this because all of us can find some way to help others. We should love and want to help all that is part of Serving Jesus
Love is an important part of being a Christ follower. It's not just love for God and Christ but love for others and by loving others showing them Jesus and God's love through the way we love and care for them. I John 3:16-18 "16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."(NIV) Like the poem I wrote says we all should love and help and not condemn. We all can find some way to help others and show them God's love. We should all strive to be more Christ like in our love for others. It is also not just saying we love our brothers but by showing it through what we do. Words alone won't work we have to do. I John 4:21 21 "And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."(NIV) God says if we love him we must not should but must love our brother.
We all can serve God and help others. No matter your situation you can do something. Ask God and he will show you ways to serve and help and then follow through and do what he shows you to do. I hope we all find ways to serve and help others.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Importance of Memorizing
When my granddaughter Mattie was probably 7 or 8 she had been given memory verses to learn at a kids krusade and she new them right off. A week or so later she was asked by my Aunt to tell them to me. She sat there and I said "we all should memorize God's word and hide it in our hearts. Can you remember your verses?" She looked at me and said "I did hide them but now I can't remember where I put them." We all just lost it and laughed and she was off the hook. I tell you this because we all should put Bible verses to memory(and not forget where we put them) so that we can recall them when we need to. PS 119:11 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."(KJV)
There has been two instances lately that I was so glad that I had put some verses to memory because I couldn't read my Bible. The first was when I was having the chemical stress test done and the verses I remembered were a comfort to me while that test was going on. I recalled the verses and prayed and praised God during the whole test. I was so thankful that I knew the verses to recall. The other time is when my diseases act up and I can't read my Bible.
With my Myasthenia Gravis sometimes I have trouble with my eyes focusing and can't read easily. This is a nuisance to me because I read all the time but most important is I try to start each day off reading my Bible and spending time with God. When my eyes don't want to work then I resort to going over verses and passages I have put to memory in place of reading the Bible. This way I am still in God's word and he still speaks to me through his word.
Another reason that I think it is important to memorize God's word is that when we are in a place where we need comfort, guidance, help in resisting temptation, or reassurance, God will bring those verses to our minds. This can be anywhere at work, school, driving down the road, or yes even during medical tests. 2 Tim 3:16 (16)"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17)That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."(KJV)
I am going to try to learn at least one new verse a week so that when I need to recall them I will know them.
My verse for this week is: Is 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
There has been two instances lately that I was so glad that I had put some verses to memory because I couldn't read my Bible. The first was when I was having the chemical stress test done and the verses I remembered were a comfort to me while that test was going on. I recalled the verses and prayed and praised God during the whole test. I was so thankful that I knew the verses to recall. The other time is when my diseases act up and I can't read my Bible.
With my Myasthenia Gravis sometimes I have trouble with my eyes focusing and can't read easily. This is a nuisance to me because I read all the time but most important is I try to start each day off reading my Bible and spending time with God. When my eyes don't want to work then I resort to going over verses and passages I have put to memory in place of reading the Bible. This way I am still in God's word and he still speaks to me through his word.
Another reason that I think it is important to memorize God's word is that when we are in a place where we need comfort, guidance, help in resisting temptation, or reassurance, God will bring those verses to our minds. This can be anywhere at work, school, driving down the road, or yes even during medical tests. 2 Tim 3:16 (16)"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17)That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."(KJV)
I am going to try to learn at least one new verse a week so that when I need to recall them I will know them.
My verse for this week is: Is 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
We have a friend
A FRIEND
I’m there to hold your hand
When you desperately need a friend
I’m there with open arms
To keep you from all life’s harms
My arms are opened wide
So in them you can abide
I watch over you both day and night
Making sure that you are alright.
In times of sorrow and grief
I am there for you to call on so you see
You are never alone for I am always with you
I know where you are and all that you do
I am your friend and on me you can call
I am there to catch you when you fall
My love I give to you
I am always there to give help to you too
I know you and you know me
So I know what it is you need.
I call you mine now and for all eternity
You are so important and special to me
I am your Savior and I am your Lord
A friend to you I am for now and forever more
By Deb Forbes
July 21, 2009
I was talking to someone the other day and they said they really didn't have any friends. They just didn't have anyone they could count on and that they could trust. I was thinking that is kind of sad but I understood what they meant. People can come and go and sometimes you don't feel like you have anyone you can turn to or count on when you really need a friend. I told them that they could always have one friend they could count on that would always be there and they could always trust. The best friend you really can have is Jesus. Heb 13:5b "for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."(KJV) Jesus never leaves us and will always be right there for us. He understands what we need and what we are going through. It says in Rom. 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from him Rom.8:38-39
38 "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(KJV)
What better friend could you ask for than one that understands, stands by you, and never leaves you. Jesus wants to be your friend and all you have to do is ask him in to forgive you and to live in you and you will always have a friend. Jesus loves each and everyone of us and we can talk to him any time any where and about any thing. What better friend could there be. Last he gave his life for us and that is someone who loves us and cares about us. He is interested in every part of our life so next time you think you don't have a friend or know someone that thinks this remind them of your friend JESUS.
I’m there to hold your hand
When you desperately need a friend
I’m there with open arms
To keep you from all life’s harms
My arms are opened wide
So in them you can abide
I watch over you both day and night
Making sure that you are alright.
In times of sorrow and grief
I am there for you to call on so you see
You are never alone for I am always with you
I know where you are and all that you do
I am your friend and on me you can call
I am there to catch you when you fall
My love I give to you
I am always there to give help to you too
I know you and you know me
So I know what it is you need.
I call you mine now and for all eternity
You are so important and special to me
I am your Savior and I am your Lord
A friend to you I am for now and forever more
By Deb Forbes
July 21, 2009
I was talking to someone the other day and they said they really didn't have any friends. They just didn't have anyone they could count on and that they could trust. I was thinking that is kind of sad but I understood what they meant. People can come and go and sometimes you don't feel like you have anyone you can turn to or count on when you really need a friend. I told them that they could always have one friend they could count on that would always be there and they could always trust. The best friend you really can have is Jesus. Heb 13:5b "for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."(KJV) Jesus never leaves us and will always be right there for us. He understands what we need and what we are going through. It says in Rom. 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from him Rom.8:38-39
38 "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(KJV)
What better friend could you ask for than one that understands, stands by you, and never leaves you. Jesus wants to be your friend and all you have to do is ask him in to forgive you and to live in you and you will always have a friend. Jesus loves each and everyone of us and we can talk to him any time any where and about any thing. What better friend could there be. Last he gave his life for us and that is someone who loves us and cares about us. He is interested in every part of our life so next time you think you don't have a friend or know someone that thinks this remind them of your friend JESUS.
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