“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4 NIV
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
Photo by Stanislav Kondratiev on Unsplash
You brought me out of sin and shame.
You saw me there and called my name.
You rescued me from hurt and pain.
You found me and you broke my chains.
Replacing them with peace and joy,
My Savior’s love I’d now enjoy.
I had wasted many years,
but you were there to calm my fears.
Now, all my life I’ll praise your Name
For you, O Lord, My life reclaimed.
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” Galatians 1:3-4 NIV
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,” Colossians 1:13 NIV
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
Photo by Michael Hardy on Unsplash
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:33b-34 NIV
CONTEXT: Jeremiah prophesied concerning the New Covenant instituted through the blood of Christ. For all who are in Christ, God will forgive their sins and remember them no more!
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
“My heart is overflowing with a beautiful thought! I will write a lovely poem to the King, for I am as full of words as the speediest writer pouring out his story.” Psalm 45:1 TLB
God's grace is greater than all my doubts. Only He can drive them out. I pray for what I cannot see And trust the One who set me free. I fall before the throne of grace Boldly asking for a place That quiets all my hurts and fears That this world brings with all its tears. What promise shall we not believe? He gave His life upon a tree That you and I would always know The greatest love He could bestow. So doubt I tell you, "You must go!" I turn to Him, because He knows The secrets bound inside my soul. There's nothing that He does not know. My Savior calls me by my name. He takes my hand and heals my shame. He says to me, "I understand. I know the pain this life demands." "Come to me and make your plea Nothing is too hard for me. Come to me and you will know The peace and love that heals your soul."
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
1st Photo by John Jennings on Unsplash
2nd Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
[Friends, Because I have been out of state for the last month, helping my dad with medical issues, I have had to repost several times. Today, as I searched for the right post, I was reminded how we often put pressure on ourselves to “pray right” as if answers depended on how good we pray. But, God reminds me that He knows our heart and what we need, regardless of how we might stumble along. I pray that you will be encouraged and know that God is working whether you see it or not.]
Two and a half years ago, I had no idea I was going to write a blog. I had no idea my daughter would lead worship in my church. I had no idea God was getting ready to change my life and hers.
But God’s plan was working all along, even though I was completely unaware of what He was doing! He already knew these things would happen.
That’s what faith is: being sure of things unseen. (I’m sure He is working, I just can’t see it now. )
I have frequently prayed and asked God to do many things, but I haven’t always seen the answers I hoped for when I hoped for. In frustration, I asked Jesus to teach me to pray.
I learned I was right to ask Jesus to teach me how to pray. He has already taught me something new! Jesus said,
“This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Matthew 6:9-10 NIV
What does that have to do with effectual prayer? Everything! Because, I don’t need to go to God with a list of things for Him to do. What do the words mean “hallowed be your name”? Hallowed means: honored as holy, blessed, greatly revered, respected, honored and worshiped.
Let’s think about that for a minute. When we go to the Father in prayer, let us worship Him. Let us adore Him and recognize the character of our God. Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise.
Then Jesus said,
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
God has shown me that the key to effectual prayer is not about me. It’s not about my ability to pray. It’s about Him! I’ve been too focused on myself instead of on Him!
Let Jesus teach us to pray. Let us worship the Father. Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise. Then, let us pray for His will to be done in our life, in our church, in our city, and all over the world. He has a plan that is better than all we can ask or imagine!
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20 NIV
The words of the hymn are true, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” But, let us have a new and deeper revelation of His greatness and love. Let us revere and love Him as we should. We can find words to praise Him throughout the Psalms! Here are just a few key verses:
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens…. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him… that you care for him?” Psalm 8:1-4 NIV
“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise….” Psalm 18:1-3a NIV
“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God.” Psalm 25:1-2a NIV
“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep…. How priceless is your unfailing love!” Psalm 36:5-7 NIV
With Love,
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
Integrity means doing what is right even when it hurts. It means being honest and dependable, all the time. It means people can always trust you to do the right thing. It’s the best reputation you could possibly have.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” C.S. Lewis
The Bible teaches us to have integrity in everything we do.
“Because of my integrity you uphold me
and set me in your presence forever.” Psalm 41:12 NIV
“The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” Proverbs 11:3 NIV
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
In May of 2005 American professional tennis player Andy Roddick was playing Fernando Verdasco, of Spain in the Masters tennis tournament in Rome, Italy. Roddick was the number one seed in the tournament and a heavy favorite to win the match.
Roddick dominated as expected and had triple match point when something extremely unusual happened. Roddick couldn’t return Verdasco’s hard second serve but the linesman called the serve out and awarded Roddick the point and the match.
With the crowd cheering Verdasco ran to the net to shake Roddick’s hand and congratulate him on his victory. However, Roddick knew something that the linesman, the umpire, the cheering crowd, and Verdasco himself didn’t know. The serve had not been out, but had hit on the line, making it in.
Roddick could have kept this information to himself and accepted the victory. Instead he informed the umpire that the ball had been in and offered to show him the mark on the clay where the ball had hit. The umpire reversed the call and awarded the point to Verdasco.
Having been given a second chance Verdasco made the most of it. He came back to win the game, the set, and the match giving him a highly improbable victory, especially considering not long before he had been standing at the net ready to concede.
Sportswriter Frank DeFord estimates Roddick’s honesty cost him “tens of thousands of dollars;” perhaps much more if he had gone on to win the tournament. Integrity was clearly more important to Roddick than either winning or money.
Do we do the right thing, even when it isn’t to our advantage?
It is imperative that we model integrity for our children. Mark Musser said, “Children who see parents model care, love, respect, generosity, self-control, integrity, and faith in Christ are much more likely to exhibit those traits in their own lives.”
It is amazing how much children copy their parents. This is nowhere more evident than in the school setting. I’m pretty sure a teacher must have thought up the saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”!
I suspect that if we really knew how true this was, we would be far more careful how we conducted our lives.
The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 NIV
Teach us Lord to have integrity in all that we do. Create in us the character of Christ. Renew our minds according to your Word. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
With Love,
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
“Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19 NIV
With Love,
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
When you are dealing with grief, suffering, or pain, Jesus can relate to you in a very personal way. He has experienced it himself. He understands your hurt. Let Him comfort you.
Who is this great Comforter? God calls Him, “my righteous servant“. (Isaiah 53:11)
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” Isaiah 53:3
********************
Did you know that the Lord can set you free in an instant, just like that? That’s what happened to me. After years of believing a lie, I am finally free. What was Satan’s strategy to defeat me?
It was getting me to think that the “one thing” I couldn’t have was what I needed to be happy.
You would think I could have figured that out, but I didn’t, not until the Lord revealed it to me Himself.
After a time of prayer, I don’t know why, but I decided to look up Charles Stanley on YouTube. I had heard of him, but had never listened to one of his sermons, and someone had mentioned him at my Bible Study the day before.
I picked a sermon called, “Satan’s Strategy to Defeat Us.” Totally unaware of what was about to happen, I listened to the sermon. Have you ever experienced this? In a sermon, the minister says one specific thing and you know God is speaking directly to you. You almost want to slyly glance around and see if everyone is looking at you!
That’s what happened to me that day. Dr. Stanley said that if you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired, that’s when you are vulnerable for a Satanic attack. My ears perked up. Then, Dr. Stanley explained that Satan’s strategy was to make you want the one thing you can’t have. I knew God had led me to this sermon. It was no accident.
Remember what happened to Adam and Eve? Satan got them to believe that they needed the one thing they couldn’t have. There was only one thing they couldn’t have: fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. I have a feeling that fruit looked a lot tastier than it actually was. (Is it possible that we magnify that “one thing” and make it bigger and better than it really is?)
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13)
Satan is still deceiving people with that same lie. He will make you think that to be happy, you need the one thing you can’t have. That is a lie. There is no “one thing” you need to be happy, except the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the same day, I just happened to be on Isaiah 54 in my daily reading plan.
“For your Maker is your husband—
the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.” Isaiah 54:5 NIV
“Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 NIV
The “one thing” you think you need to be happy could be any number of things: a baby, a spouse, a home, fill in the blank. But that is Satan’s strategy to defeat you. Don’t believe it. You are not condemned to a life of sadness, ever!
And, if you hear someone say, “The Lord is all I need”, those words might mean more than you ever imagined. There might be a story that brought her to that realization and now she can say with confidence,
“You may never know that Jesus is all you need, until Jesus is all you have.”
Corrie ten boom
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
This is the story of a man who lusted for what he should not have seen. It is a story of sin that spiraled out of control.
King David was a man after God’s own heart, a good man who trusted God in all situations. He was surrendered to God’s will. He was a musician and wrote songs praising the Lord. Yet he lusted after a woman he should not look upon – Bathsheba, a beautiful woman married to one of his elite military commanders, Uriah the Hittite. David saw her bathing, and he sent for her, committed adultery with her, and she became pregnant.
David tried to cover his tracks by summoning her husband Uriah, who was away at war. He assumed Uriah would sleep with Bathsheba, and it would look like he was the father of the child.
However, Uriah refused to go home while the soldiers under his command were at war, and he slept outside the palace instead. David was so desperate to cover up his sin that he had Uriah sent to the front lines, where the battle was fiercest, so that he would be killed. And so he was. The sin of “lust of the eyes” spiraled down and down, and ended in murder.
“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:16
Yet God called David “a man after my own heart.” How could he do this? How could this man of God fall to such depths of sin?
“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.” Acts 13:22b
There is no limit to the depths of sin a person is capable of once once he or she starts to walk away from God. Committing just one sin often makes people callous to bigger sins, until they find themselves doing things they never imagined they would do.” Dr. David Jeremiah
Dr. David Jeremiah
So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David. He said,
“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”
Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!“ (2 Samuel 12:1-7a)
The consequences of David’s sin were severe. The child born to him by Bathsheba became sick and died; and calamity never left David’s household.
Broken-hearted over what he had done, David cried out to the Lord, repented of his sins, and was forgiven. In his sorrow, David wrote Psalm 51.
“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” (vs. 7)
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” (vs. 10-11)
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” (vs. 17)
Once forgiven, and the weight of his sin lifted, David wrote this Psalm:
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:8-12
David experienced the overwhelming power of God’s forgiveness and mercy – forgiveness for sins which were evil in the sight of the Lord. That forgiveness is an indescribable experience that leaves one changed forever. It brings with it a deep understanding of God’s mercy and love. It brings relief from shame, relief from guilt that is too heavy to carry. And it is available to us today.
The Apostle Paul said, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift”. 2 Corinthians 9:15
May we forever praise Him and bring glory to His Name.
Read the whole story from 2 Samuel here.
With Love,
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
realchristianwomen.blog
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link: Who Is Jesus?
“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8 NIV
On July 6, I published a post titled “Where is Your Treasure?” It is based on Jesus’ words,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6: 19-21 NIV
Emma posed this question, “Any advice for someone who needs to be able to support themselves financially and yet, also needs to be careful about how much time is spent on working towards (worldly) success?”
That’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it? Let’s examine God’s Word to find the answer.
The Pharisees asked Jesus’s disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11) Jesus answered,
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13 NIV
Jesus is quoting Hosea 6:6 which explains the meaning of the verse a little more.
“I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6 NLT
I think Jesus is teaching that we can’t live by a set of rules to be checked off. To please God, we must know God, and allow God to change us into the likeness of Christ. Later, the Apostle Paul writes,
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV
We please God when we seek to be like Him through prayer, Bible study , and obedience.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men . . . It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:17 NIV
That tells me that I should do my job with all my heart, as if I was working for the Lord. If we are honest, conscientious, hard-working, and kind to those we work with, it is a testimony to others. Jesus said,
“. . . let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 NIV
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is . . . giving, then give generously” Romans 12:6-8 NIV
I believe the answer to Emma’s question is different for every person. Based on my study, here are some thoughts for you to consider as you study God’s Word.
Father, Help me to be more like Jesus. Give me a hunger for your Holy Word and teach me to pray. Create a pure heart in me that I might be pleasing in your sight. I want to know you and walk in love with those around me. Give me a heart like David, a man after your own heart. Then I will know how to walk in your ways and bring honor and glory to your precious name. Amen
Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you, today. Your thoughts and comments are welcomed and appreciated.
With Love, Cindy
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
Photo by Church of the King on Unsplash
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