Forgiveness & God's Grace...

Did you know that the times that you wake up from your sleep can be super important? Especially if you are waking up each day at a specific time. (My Pastor has told us this a lot as its one of his challenges.) We went to a Conference and we have been challenged to PRAY MORE and GET INTO THE WORD more. Time with God is important, and sometimes (not always) the times that you get up correspond to a Bible Verse that is meant for you to read, meditate on or live out. Maybe God is trying to talk to you, but you are too busy sleeping, so He wakes you up to get your attention. If you are anything like me, you wake up, check the clock (too early) and roll over & go back to sleep (maybe get up to the washroom if necessary LOL). But at these times God may be calling you as He did to Samuel. If it is the same time every morning, then obviously you need to get up and search the Word. Thankfully we have GOOGLE and the BIBLE on our phones, so technology can be used to our advantage to find the verse that is meant for us. Sometimes there will be MANY Bible verses with the address of the time you wake up. (IE 3:16 AM could be John 3:16, but there are also Mark 3:16, Revelation 3:16 and more... even 1 Kings 3:16 LOL!! So clearly its not all the verses that God is speaking to you, but maybe it is John and God is reminding you of His love, or maybe it's Mark and God is calling you like Jesus called His disciples, or even Revelation, which would be a conviction, as He says "So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you our of my mouth". Hopefully its not 1 Kings 3:16 -I'll leave you to read that one ha ha!)

So I have been challenged to write down the times that I get up and to find a corresponding verse that I believe that God is speaking to me. It has not been everyday at a certain time, so I am starting to use this blog again as a 'verse of the day' devotional. 

Somehow I have been searching for Chapter 7, verse 42... however I woke up way before 7:42 today. LOL... not exactly sure where those numbers came from (but of course God). There are a few books of the Bible that have this chapter and verse, and the one I found that speaks to my heart today is Luke 7:42.

"But neither of them could repay him. so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?" Luke 7:42 NLT

This verse speaks of God's forgiveness and His grace on us. Like the man in the 'parable' or story that Jesus told, Jesus cancelled our debts. We are like the two debtors who owed for our sin. Jesus took our sins, and cancelled them by dying on the cross for us. Death is the only thing that cancels sin. However, He rose again triumphantly, and we can have that resurrection power through Christ too, so that we may live eternally in Heaven one day. Our love should not be conditional to what the Father has done for us. But our carnal bodies love conditionally. Our spirits love unconditionally like the Father. His grace that He bestows on us is what gets us through each day. No matter how small or big our sin is, we are carnal bodies who are born into sin. It is only by His grace that we are saved. He loved us even in our sin, and continues to love us even when we sin again. We cannot repay the debt on our own, only through the precious blood of Jesus are we saved.

In this Bible account, Jesus was sitting with his disciples and others, when Mary came in and sat at his feet. She annointed his feet with precious perfume, and then proceeded to wash them, and wipe them with her own hair. She broke her precious alabaster jar, and poured out all she had in worship to the Messiah. She was then forgiven that day, and Jesus said she had many of them. In verse 47, Jesus says, "I tell you, her sins - and they are many - have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love."

During the Conference, our friend was also challenged to have more 'Mary' moments than 'Martha' moments, and this is so true. (This Mary is a different Mary than the one mentioned above. This Mary is Martha's sister. The one aforementioned is Mary Magdalene). There is another Bible account (Luke 10:38-42) where Jesus and his disciples came to visit at the home of Mary and Martha. Martha busied herself preparing food, etc for the visit but Mary just sat at the feet of Jesus listening to all He was doing & saying. Martha got upset that her sister left all the work to her and was just sitting at Jesus' feet. Jesus told Martha that she need not be upset over so many things, but that Mary had chosen what was better. Jesus' love could not be taken from her, but the material things of this world can be gone in a minute. A 'Mary' moment could then be defined as 'sitting at the feet of Jesus'. 

As a teacher and one who is passionate about children, I always picture sitting at the feet of Jesus like the kids sit with us when we read stories or sing songs. I enjoy sitting on the floor with them, and even having them sit in my lap to read. Being one who's love language is 'Physical Touch', I always picture sitting in Jesus' lap. Since a small child, I have been very affectionate, and am drawn to worship songs that mention physical touch of some kind. These moments of togetherness with Jesus and God are what draws you close to Him. Maybe your love language is different (maybe you have no idea what 'love languages' are - google it. Dr. Gary Chapman 'The Five Love Languages') - it could be 'Quality Time' (which is another of mine), 'Receiving Gifts', 'Acts of Service' or 'Words of Affirmation'. Whatever your love language is, is also how you receive love best from God. He of course shows us love in all the ways possible (even more than we can dream or imagine). It's in these intimate times with God that we can continue to grow closer to Him and grow in our faith. Times with our fellow believers at church is a time of growing too, but we grow the faith we have from our intimate times together. We have rivers of living water inside of us, and they can be overflowed to the world.

God's grace is an unbelievable thing to our carnal minds. His grace and mercy are amazing. Grace - God giving us what we don't deserve

Mercy - God not giving us what we do deserve

We have to then show grace and mercy to others around us. When we walk in forgiveness, we walk in His grace, mercy and love. Shine the Love to everyone. 

Enjoy this song by Gateway Worship and let God's grace flow through you!

Grace That Won't Let Go

Be blessed to be a blessing,

Mitzi

When I speak Your Name...

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12

WOW! The name of JESUS... it actually means 'he saves', and we cannot be saved by anyone else. Matthew 1:21 "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."

[This (Acts 4:12) was one of the first verses that I memorized as a young Christian, and it has become one of my favourite Bible Verses. I have had a frame with the verse in it since I was a little girl. It is now down in my rec room with two others that Mark has had, and are his favourites as well.]

Well, when we speak His name (in reverance & prayer) a lot can happen for us in the physical and in the spiritual. EVERYthing has to bow to the name of Jesus. (Philippians 2:9-11 - "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.") There is no other name among men that has that power. Unfortunately, that's why the name of Jesus is also used not in reverance or prayer. People know that name has power, and when they curse, we do not hear them say "Oh Buddha", or "Oh Joseph Smith". Those religious leaders have all passed on, and unless those folks lived for the name of Jesus, then they are eternally dead, they have NO power today. Jesus however is eternally alive, and has ALL power, and He gives us the same gift. It is indeed a gift that we need to choose to open.

In the Bible, Jesus or God is referred to the "I AM" or "YAHWEH"! The first time this is mentioned is with Moses in Exodus 3, in the Burning Bush encounter. Verse 14 states, "God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "" Yahweh is translated, 'I am who I am'. God is it, basically. According to Mark Littleton, in his book, 'The Bible Bathroom Book' he says, "[God] used the words to claim, 'I am the one who exists above and beyond all others. I am the one who exists on his own: I am not dependent on any other.'" Jesus himself, uses the words "I am..." quite a few times in the New Testament. (Click on the verse to take you to Biblegateway.com to read the verse). Jesus says to you today, 'I am...'

1. John 4:25&26 -- '...the Messiah.'
2. John 6:35 & John 6:51-- '...the Bread of Life.'

3. John 8:12 -- '...the Light of the world.'

4. John 8:56-58 -- '...the I am.'

5. John 10:7 -- '...the Gate or the Door.'

6. John 10:11-15 -- '...the Good Shepherd.'

7. John 11:25-27 -- '...the Resurrection & the Life.'

8. John 13:13 -- '...Teacher & Lord.'

9. John 14:6 -- '...the Way, the Truth & the Life.'

10. John 15:1-13 -- '...the Vine.'

11. Revelation 22:13 -- '...the Alpha & Omega, the First & the Last, the Beginning & the End.'

What promises these verses lead to... Jesus IS... that's all I need to know. Whatever I need, He is.

Psalm 148:13 -- "Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens."

Jesus has given us the same authority that the Father gave to Him, but again we need to choose to utilize it in our daily lives. There is power and authority in the NAME of JESUS.

Luke 20:1-8 -- (Click verse to read the Scriptures from Biblegateway.com) In these verses, Jesus' authority was questioned by chief priests, teachers of the law, & elders. Jesus knew that these men were coming on authority of themselves, not of the temple or God (or else they would have known from which His authority came). He answered them with a question of his own, proving their motives for coming. The Word says, "if...", the men had to stop and think about their response. Either response would get them into trouble of some kind, so they replied, "We don't know where it was from". Jesus knew their thoughts and motives replied in all truth, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things", for He knew that they just weren't going to tell him the answer due to circumstances and consequences. WOW! What a thought is this, the church leaders arguing with Jesus about who He in fact is, and under whose authority He is working. So true is some of the church today...

Having the authority of the Father, has given us the power to act in someone else's name... and it's not just any name as we have mentioned. Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." With God giving us the authority to use the name of Jesus, we also have to give Him the glory in all that we do. Too many times we find ourselves praying for healing for example, and the person on the receiving end thanks us for the healing. We NEED to right then and there thank the Lord for the healing. We can accept thanks for being an obedient vessel which allowed God to work through them, or to be one that God could use, but we cannot nor should ever take credit for the healing. The ability to pray using the 'name of Jesus' is not to be taken lightly. There is a matter of the 'heart' for it to be used properly and with the right authority. The attitude of our heart is the main way that we are going to be used by God. Just because one prays 'In Jesus' Name...' doesn't mean what was prayed is going to come to fulfillment. As has been said by many preacher, teacher or speaker, "in Jesus' name" is not a magic chant or a magic potion to be used in tough times. We need to pray in His will for the fulfillment to come about. There are two main scriptures, one in John 14 and one in 1 John 5 you can read below.

John 14:9-14--"Jesus answered: 'Don't you know me, {insert your name here}, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.' "

1 John 5:13-15--"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

There are a lot of promises in the Bible stating things that God will do. However, in most cases there is an "If you..." before or after them. Too many of us want to slide on the coat-tails of other Christians or Christians who have gone before us. We have to discover the truth of Jesus, His life, His love & His miracles for ourselves. We need to do our part in the equation for the complete fulfillment of His promises. One thing we know is that God is faithful & true, so we know in our knower that He WILL do. In fact, in most cases, He will do 'exceeding abundantly more'. (Ephesians 3:20 KJV)

For more information you can check out, http://www.learnthebible.org/praying-in-the-name-of-jesus.html or just Google "in Jesus' name" or "power in the name of Jesus".

I close with the song "When I Speak Your Name" by GATEWAY WORSHIP... written by Elizabeth Clark / Klaus Kuehn

I pray that you will begin to use the AUTHORITY given to you to glorify God in all that you think, say and do! But first remember you have to get your heart right, and have the right heart attitude seeking after the Will of the Father, not your own. Be blessed as you walk in the power of His name!