Straight from the Word

I can share all the words in the world but there is nothing like the words that come directly from God’s word. They are there to lift us up, to bring hope, peace, mercy, love, compassion, discipline and direction. So today I am bringing you words from The Word.  Many of these have spoken to my heart in the many different seasons of my life.

Wherever you find yourself today know that you can fully trust in the author of these words...because they are truth…they are hope…they are Life.

John 3:16 – “For God so Loved the World that He gave his only Son, that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

Romans 3:23-28 – “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26. for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.  27. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

Romans 8:37-39 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 – “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

James 1:2-6 – “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH0Mc7zn4vc

Broke But Not Broken

Joel 2:25 – “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten– the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you.”

I came across this verse today in my quiet time and once again I am reminded of God’s merciful goodness to me.

 Every time I see of this verse I think of the years of struggle that our family went through.  Several years ago when we lost our business, thus effectively making us unemployed and without an income, we descended into a two year time that felt like all was being devoured in our lives.

We lost almost everything and the struggle was great.  There was little work on the horizon, and what little my husband could find served just enough to put food on the table.  We ecked by and did without much.  

During that time we lost those we thought were friends…who judged our outward situation and made assumptions about our hearts.

But during that time we gained friends and strengthened relationships…those who saw our hearts and loved us despite the outward.  Who choose to reach into our pain and loved us anyway.

We saw miracles during that time…provisions from none other than God’s hand. Days when there was no gas left in the car and just enough bread for our next meal.  We would walk to the mailbox and there would be a check….

We would leave church to find clothes in our car or groceries sitting on the hood.  No name….just a  note saying “Be Blessed.”  

And we were…despite the pain of loss, despite the pain of need…we were blessed. 

Then one Sunday…God’s word came through another.  In that word he told us that God had spoken to him that the years the locust had eaten would be restored to us. That our God….our Heavenly Father….had not forgotten us…that He loved us.  He told us that it would still be rough for awhile but to not give up hope for relief was on it’s way.

And so we waited…and we hoped…we strained to see his goodness come.

And it came…a few months later my husband was employed and we began to feel the hope…the assurance that indeed our God had not forgotten us.

Our hearts and lives began to green with the goodness of his love for us as he restored our family and our lives once again.  

My thankfulness overflows at God’s goodness…for his provision and for his promises..which never return void...even when they may feel long in coming.

Maybe you need to hold onto his promises today?  I pray that you will. Cling to them as life itself.  For it is when we cling to the only one who can truly restore…that we truly find life. 

~Victoria 

BROKE BUT NOT BROKEN

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken.  We are perplexed  but we don’t give up and quit.  We are hunted down, but God never abandons us.  We get knocked down, but we get up and keep going.”