Nail it to the cross.

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You’re struggling with something right now, aren’t you? Pain, fear, depression, financial issues, anxiety, loss, addiction, worry, illness. Maybe it’s not you but a loved one. Nail it to the cross my friends. Right now I want you to picture in your mind writing down everything on a sheet of paper that your worrying about right now. Write down your struggles, write down your pain and your addictions, your anxiety and your fears…write it all down. Now I want you to picture a large wooden cross in front of you and a hammer and nail in your hand. Now take that list of all your struggles and nail it to the cross. I want you to picture every hurt, every illness, every doubt, every worry literally being nailed to the cross. As you take that hammer and drive the nail into the wood of the cross, I want you to picture surrendering every single thing on that list over to Jesus. When your done, step back and take a moment to soak in how it feels having just lifted every burden off of your shoulders. Picture the relief you now feel that the weight of the world no longer rests with you. Look at how much more comfort and peace you now have and notice how strong that cross holds everything you once held. You didn’t hurt the cross, the cross is unchanged by the weight of what you’ve just nailed to it.

Jesus can not only handle the weight of everything you’re carrying around…He was born to carry it. God sent you and me a Savior…His only Son to carry it for each of us. We have pain and illness, depression and anxiety, loss and hurt because we live in a fallen world that is full of sin. But Jesus…Jesus died for ALL sins. He took on everything for you and for me. It’s done friends…every sin has ALREADY been accounted for. He took on it all when he died on that cross for us…It is finished. If you have faith in Jesus and that He died for your sins…it is finished for you too. 

The next time think about the struggles you used to face, go back to the cross. Remember you nailed everything to the cross, it’s no longer your worry. Don’t try to pick back up what was too heavy for you to carry the first time. Jesus paid it all…paid in full. 

Friends, I once struggled from food addiction. For me, it took hitting rock bottom to realize the end of myself and to reach out for His help. Jesus will meet you wherever you are. Take a step in faith…pick up the hammer, reach out…nail it to the cross, surrender your life and all your worries to Jesus and He will gladly take them on and carry them for you. Paid in full. 

Colossians 2:13-14 “And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross.”

Thank you Jesus!! I will praise you forever…

A thankful heart…

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One of the things I have learned in my walk with the Lord is how important it is to start each day with a thankful heart. My best days are those that I start my day by thanking and praising Him for everything He’s doing and providing for in my and others lives. 

A few years ago I had the opportunity to be a part of an evangelical outreach mission called Revive Twin Cities. I had such a truly amazing experience…can’t even put it into words! I spent a week enveloped in an event where the power of Holy Spirit was so strong and we saw God move in such powerful ways. Of course when I got home I was completely fired up and had a new stream of people and things to pray for and about but I was completely surprised when…every single time I would start praying for these things, the Holy Spirit would tell me to “thank Him”. Over the course of the next few days, every time I would think about Revive, I would be redirected to thank and praise Him for every aspect…the way He had changed my heart through this event, His power which I had experienced, the people I had met, the testimonies I’d heard, just everything. So I thanked and I praised Him over and over…He is SO worthy of all that praise! Every time I would thank and praise Him, I would get this burst of excitement all over again for what I had just experienced. It was through this that I learned the true importance and significance of starting my time with the Lord with a thankful heart that praises Him.

It’s no wonder why my best days are those where I start with a thankful heart…we were made to worship and praise Him! 

Our thankfulness acknowledges His presence in our lives and prepares our hearts to humbly bring our requests before the Lord…which He faithfully responds to! Psalm 100:4 says “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.” 

Heavenly Father, you are worthy of all our thankfulness and praise! You…who created Heaven and Earth and each of us in it. You…who sent your Son Jesus to save us and give us hope. You…who is faithful and answers our prayers. You Father…are worthy of all praise…thank you! 

Jesus is our High Priest…

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Jesus is a compassionate and faithful High Priest. He intercedes for us directly to our Father God. You do not need someone else to mediate for you…you can approach Christ yourself! Seriously people, how awesome is that?! In fact, that is exactly what He desires from us. He wants a relationship with each of us…how do you get to know each other if you don’t talk to each other directly? Jesus is our Savior and He alone is all we need!! Please my friends, don’t be deceived by false teachings that say you cannot approach our Lord Jesus directly. It IS possible to have a personal relationship with God, through Christ Jesus. Thank you Lord!! 

Hebrews 4:14-16

” Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” 

Note that word CONFIDENCE…let US (that’s you and me) approach the throne of grace with CONFIDENCE…just sayin’… 🙂

Burning out the dross…

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The worship pastor at my church has recorded a song called “Our Only Desire”. The chorus of this song goes like this…”burn out the dross til your our only desire.” I love those words. How easy is it to get wrapped up in the things of this world and lose our Kingdom focus? We must ask our Father to refine us and remove all the impurities…burn out the dross…until all that’s left is our desire for Him and the things of Heaven and not of our flesh and of our circumstances. 

Proverbs 25:4 “Take away the dross from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith”

Father, that’s my prayer tonight. Remove all the things in my life that take my focus off of You. Continue to burn off the dross in my life and refine me. Continue to mold me and change me into the person You would have me be. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Amazing Grace…

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“Salvation is not a goal to be achieved…it’s a gift to be received.”   -Robert Morris

That my friends, is called grace. Salvation is something we could never earn. It is a gift of grace, by faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus. How great is our God that loves us enough to give us this amazing gift of grace. 

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved by faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God”

God is STILL in control!!

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I came across this quote from one of my favorite pastors and it echoes the very thing that I have to keep reminding myself of. 

“There’s so much darkness in our world today, yet it’s important for us to remember that God is STILL in control, Jesus is STILL the answer, and we STILL need to do our part.”

-Robert Morris

He’s not kidding – there is a lot of darkness in the world today and it seems as if it’s spreading at a very accelerated rate. Anyone that takes the time to read about the current events happening in America and around the world can see it. I know there are people that start to lose faith when all their eyes see in front of them is darkness…but, God is STILL in control! He hasn’t forgotten about the innocent that are being hurt or persecuted. He hasn’t forgotten about your friends and family that are struggling and He hasn’t forgotten about you…He is STILL in control and always will be and Jesus is STILL the answer. Seek Jesus in every facet of your life my friends. The only way we can weather the storms ahead of us is to be nestled safely in His arms. Seek the Lord Jesus and the Father will light up the path in front of you. Let’s not forget the last part…despite all the negative coming our way we must remember that God works all things together for good. Everything is happening for a reason…we just need to trust. In our trust for Him, we need to steam on full speed ahead and complete the mission that each of us were created for…we still need to do our part. 

Psalm 27:1-2 “The Lord is my light and my salvation so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 

Oh how I love my Jesus…

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I had a moment today when I reflected on things I’ve said, thoughts I’ve had and things I’ve done that were disappointing to my Heavenly Father. I continue to let Him down. He reminded me that although I’m still learning and making mistakes, I always will be. He reminded me that He knows that I believe in Him and trust in Him. He knows that I break down in tears when I think about Him. He remembers all the times that He’s wrapped me in a blanket of peace when I’ve cried out to Him asking for a hug. 

You see my friends, He also knows our hearts. He knows we’re going to continue to disappoint Him but He STILL loves us.

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

Oh how I love my Jesus…

Let’s magnify our Lord…

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A magnifying glass is used to magnify an object to create a larger image…in other words WHAT YOU MAGNIFY YOU GET MORE OF. Come on friends…lets magnify our Savior and Lord Jesus!! We all need more of Jesus in our lives…let’s magnify Him and increase His presence in our own lives as well as point others to Him with the words that we speak, with the love that we show and the grace that we extend. Let’s magnify Him with our praise, with our worship, with the sharing of our faith. 

Psalm 34:3 “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” 

Well, look at you now!

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So who did you used to be…before you knew Jesus? On my drive to work this morning I was inspired to ask you this question. As sure as the sun sets each evening, if you have a relationship with Jesus you are changed from the former person you used to be before He was in your life. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you ARE forever changed!! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” So now…you changed person you…what’s changed? How have you seen your life transformed since walking the lighted path with Jesus? Has your thinking changed? Have you changed the words you use? Do you desire to help and serve others in a new way? Are you more generous? Do you have less worry and more peace in your life? Do you hear that small inner voice of the Holy Spirit guiding and directing you? How about an unexplainable hope and joy? 

We have so much to celebrate!! DON’T EVER FORGET how far you’ve come and how you’ve been changed and transformed…that’s your testimony and it’s your job to share it with others. 

Well, look at you now…a changed, beautifully transformed and beloved child of the One True King!! 

Blessings to each of you on your faith journey! I pray that you will always keep Jesus as the focus as you walk…

Wake up America!

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The Holy Spirit has been preparing me for changes ahead. As I read and study His Word and research the things put on my heart, I am convinced more and more each day that we are in for changes…big changes ahead. The legalization of same sex marriage last summer, now a decree that all public schools must allow transgender individuals to use whichever bathroom they say they identify with?? Our country is blatantly turning its back on God! He has been sending warnings to this country to try to get us to repent but instead this country continues down its sinful path and continues to turn away from what this country was founded on…One nation under God. Gods judgement is coming on America…the hedge of protection has been lifted (9/11 is one example) as this country continues its disobedience to Him.

The times are changing at an accelerated pace. Can’t you see it? Open your eyes! Wake up America!!

We must pray for this country. We must fervently pray for this country. 

Thank you Father for opening my eyes and showing me the things you’ve shown me. Thank you for assuring me that although times of chaos may be coming, all I need to do is rest in the peace that you provide.