Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Sometimes we may uproot seeds that have not sprouted fruit yet. We take them and throw them into the fields. For a season they may lay dormant, even years may pass by until they eventually produce fruit. It is in the dormant stage they have been dead, but the rains came and allowed this fruit to be produced fully and completely in its due season.

Life comes forth out of this dead seed.

We may think that the Lord has been far removed form our lives at times, but if we truly look and listen, He is just in that place preparing us for new life. He is the one that is about to do a new thing in our life.

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. (Psalm 30:11)

Early in their marriage, Dewitt and Kim Jones were told that they would never have children. Kim had an illness that the doctors wanted her to take medication for. She refused and together, she and her husband decided that they would completely trust God for healing.

The couple has been married for 31 years and they’ve seen miracle after miracle - five of them to be exact. The Joneses are parents of five children and grandparents of one. Kim says that as she was holding her fourth newborn in her arms she told the Lord that He had given her a miracle.

God wasn’t through showing this family that miracles are still happening every day. He’s using the musical talents of the entire family to bless the world. Their music shows a heart for worship and passion for the presence of God.

You can see the Jones family and hear their new gospel hit, He Wants it All, by listening to their video.

Blessings,

Joyce

Phil 3:17-21 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Pressing on…
Pressing in…
Pressing upward…
As we awake to a new day, the Son is sure to shine in our lives as we seek the Lord.
Learning to press in during the difficult times is much needed today.
Seeking Him and learning to press in during the quiet times is refreshing to mind, body and spirit.
Pressing upward and reaching for the goal in Christ Jesus is life changing…

As we embark on a new beginning with a renewed hope for a brighter day just learning to love as Christ loved will help us through it all…

Press on, Press in, and Press upward today…

Father, may You forever be praised. Help me to abstain from anything that would take me away form You. Fill me with Your presence and help me to be a living example of Your love, grace, and mercy. May my life be a reflection of Your faithfulness. Protect my thoughts and hold me in Your arms for You are my strength, and My Redeemer. This I ask in Your most Holy name. Amen!  (Anonymous prayer)

These words were in a prayer book and they are both comforting to read, and pray. Just thinking about God’s love, grace and mercy makes one really think about His Redemptive plan for our lives. The Lord’s never ending faithfulness to hold us up, protect us and be our strength daily. Do we truly abstain from the things that war against our soul? Are we living a life honorable and pleasing to our Heavenly Father? As we glean from His word today, may our thoughts be turned to the Lord and may we find rejoicing in His presence.

(abstain: refrain or stay away from; decline; forego; to give up; to renounce; hold back from doing)

1 Peter 2:11, 12 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Thinking upon the word of our testimony my thoughts are turned toward the goodness and greatness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How great the Lord is and how He redeemed those who are His for a purpose. The word of our testimony will enable us to reach this generation and touch the nations for His kingdom. Faith, hope and love can reach those in our lives just as it did during the times Paul preached to the church of Thessalonica. These are great spiritual treasures and they come by hearing the Word of God preached in truth, studying it and living it out in our daily walk. We must remain steadfast in the word of truth, not to be easily deceived. Some thoughts to ponder:

• Do we have a passion and zeal for the reading of His word?
• Do we share in the glory of Christ and His redemptive love?
• Do we remain faithful, abounding in love and peace to all brothers and sisters in Christ?
• Do we encourage one another and help to build up?
• Do we long to see Jesus one day?

2 Thess. 2:13-15 But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Paul, Silas and Timothy preached the message of Jesus Christ, believers and workers grew and remained strong in the Lord. The word of their testimony seemed to be a continual flow of loving Jesus Christ and preaching His word of hope, faith and love. The same lessons of old are good news for today as we walk with Christ we can live out our testimony daily. Holding fast to the word of truth and remain sure follower of Christ, He is faithful and He will establish you.

2 Thess. 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (Hebrew 11:8)

Can you imagine what it would feel like to leave everything and everyone you know and strike out now knowing where you’re going? Can you imagine what family, friends and those who know you would say? That’s exactly what happened to Abraham.

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

I’m sure Abraham and Sarah may have wondered what was going to happen to them, but in faith they obeyed God. That kind of trust is what faith is all about.

I’m in a couple of places in my life that I don’t know where the Lord is leading me or how things will turn out. My daily prayer is that I will have the kind of faith Abraham and Sarah had to just obey my Lord. Is this easy? Not always. Is it impossible? Absolutely not. The Lord never puts more on us than we can bear. Neither does He ask us to do things we can’t do.

Lord God, when my faith gets weak, I pray that You will help me to trust you. Help me to listen for Your still small voice and obey, no matter what You say. I want to always remember that you are my rock, my shield and my hope. It’s in You, Lord, that I place my hopes, my dreams and my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Blessings,

Joyce

What Christians see as freedom, the world sees as bondage.

Loving and accepting Christ as Lord and Savior is true freedom. We must hold fast to the Lord in the midst of every negative thought, attitude of the heart or stronghold the enemy may bring your way today. Setting your hearts and minds on things above is needed for every believer and especially for the day we live in. We are bombarded on every side with bad news, destruction, devastation and tragedy, but through it all; Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will never leave us or forsake us.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

We must be carriers of the cross, bearers of the light in order to shine in a world saturated with darkness. All hope is not lost no matter how bleak it may look; for the Lord draws near to those who call upon Him. Come to Him today!

 James 4:8  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

If you are in a place of uncertainty and unrest lean upon Christ; placing all hope and trust in Him to see you through. He cares for you!  

Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

A hymn of old:

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame; And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.  So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, Has a wondrous attraction for me; For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above To bear it to dark Calvary. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A wondrous beauty I see, For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true; Its shame and reproach gladly bear; then He’ll call me some day to my home far away, Where His glory forever I’ll share.

When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:1-3)

Jesus’ healing of this man with leprosy is just one example of His healing powers. There are many other exmaples of His healing of physical infirmaties. Sometimes, however, Jesus only spoke a word and healing came. (Matthew 8:13)

We live in a world filled with hurting and wounded people. Some need physical healing but others are in need of mental, emotional and spiritual healing. Jesus can heal them all, no matter what their circumstances.

You never know when someone in need of the healing that only Jesus can bring, will cross your path. It’s more important than ever to be vigilant in sharing the Gospel. We serve a God who is all powerful; who can do anything but fail. Someone needs to hear that today and you are the one who can tell them.

Blessings,

Joyce

I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. (Acts 17-18)

Paul, frequently called the greatest New Testament writer, was first a persecutor of Christians. He gloried in their deaths. His zeal was known far and wide. But one day, on a road he met the one true and living God and his life was changed forever. With even more zeal than before, he brought the gospel to the Gentiles - you and me.

God forgave Paul for his previous life and used him to bring glory to His name. When Paul preached, he often reminded others what he had done and who he had been before salvation. He explained not only the saving grace of Jesus Christ, but he also shared the forgiveness we all can find in Him. Paul’s personal admissions made his testimony for the Lord even stronger

Your story is your testimony. What have you gone through that you can use to bring others to Christ? Tell them. You are forgiven. Now it’s time to share that you may inspire others to seek a relationship with the risen Lord. Then give God glory!

Blessings,

Joyce