Tempted

Did you know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was tempted by the devil? You may feel like God can't understand temptation but that's just not true. God became flesh and went through trials and temptations also. The Bible teaches us how to fight off temptation. See Jesus had a very different method for fighting His tempter than you may think. I mean this is Jesus, He could have fought off the devil in many creative and powerful ways but look at the scripture below and how Jesus warded off satan's attempts to make Him stumble:

“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

Matthew 4:3-11

Jesus weapon was the Word!!! The scriptures are so powerful that Jesus quoted them and ultimately made satan flee from tempting Him anymore! Now did you catch the part where the devil quoted the scripture also? This is no new trick, since Adam and Eve satan has attempted to twist and pervert Gods Word. If The devil can get us to question Gods Word he is doing his job but you see if we follow Jesus example we can throw the truth right back in the devils face. Get in the Word (the Bible) and see how it will make you confident against the enemy's attack!

His Way

I have found myself in a place many times where I have made God too small in my mind, and while He is a very personal God I can not assume that His line of thinking is like mine. 

I love this reminder found in Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

When life gets me down I have to remember how big God truly is and how wise and high are His thoughts. By doing this it gives me freedom not to have to understand everything that happens and good reason to trust His plan above my own! #trustGod #Godisgreater #Hisplan

Poured Out

I woke early this morning startled from a sci-fi like dream. Oh 5:40am during vacation 😩 We were getting up early anyway to go to the zoo this morning (although plans may change due to storms headed this way now) So I decided to just get up, have some coffee, read and watch the little birdies come eat.

Isaiah 53 gives us a picture of prediction, calling out the multiple ways Christ will suffer for our sins. I bet you may have heard some of them before "He was bruised for our inequalities"... "By His stripes we are healed"... "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter"... 

I've heard these before myself but one I had not heard, the one that really struck my spirit when reading it was this sentence in the midst of Isaiah 53:12 "He poured out His soul unto death"

Jesus, in a short 33ish years on earth, poured out his soul for us. But what does that really mean? The original Hebrew for "poured out" defines the term as this: to be (causatively, make) bare; hence, to empty, pour out, demolish:—leave destitute 

Jesus emptied Himself for us, He was left destitute on the cross for our sins, His cause for suffering was to bring Glory to the Father through the cleansing of our sins. He was the only perfect man and He suffered unto death to save us. His ministry was one that reached out to lost, lonely suffering souls. He was challenged, put down, beaten, laughed at and ultimately left for dead. He poured Himself out... Of all the beautiful pictures the bible paints of Jesus this one of His pouring out His soul captivates my heart. 

I pray that I could live a life that pours back, that I could empty myself for Gods Glory and that Jesus would remain in the forefront as my beautiful example for all the days of my life.

Living Water💦

There is a living water that can satisfy our thirst, it will amaze you and fill you like nothing else this life can offer. That living water is Jesus and He desires nothing more than for you to run to Him. 

John 7:37-38 says: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 

Today I read, in the last few paragraphs of the Bible, in Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

This living water is waiting for you, are you thirsty? Come to Jesus! Are you suffering? Come to Jesus! Are you weary? Come to Jesus!

He will drench you with living water and fill you with His unending love, I promise 💗

#livingwater #raindownonusLord

He is with You!

This is one of my favorite verses in the bible, it came up in my reading a few days ago and made me think of a time when I was very broken and God reminded me of the strength of His hand over my life with this verse: Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.” 

I don't know about you, but this promise of God walking through tremendous affliction with me is soothing to my soul! 

This is my first time reading Isaiah all the way through and I love how God reveals His character through out this book. In this verse the Lord is reminding us of His ability to protect us from the strongest forces we encounter. A reminder that we are not to fear the things we will face. More than that though He is saying "I AM WITH YOU" and this promise to be with us shows what a personal God He is! 

It's not my job to understand why the Lord weaves certain trials into my life, it's my job to trust Him, to be still and know that He is God and to rely on the character of His beautiful nature. My character is flawed, it's just the fact of being human. The enemy will always try to tempt us and prey on our weak flesh but when we rely on the Lord and know His character is flawless we are relying on the unlimited source of power and love, with an unlimited ability to prevail and overcome!

Somethings I will not fully understand, but I know this if God who formed the whole universe and also knit me together is willing to say "I AM WITH YOU" how could I not walk forward with Him?

Not Alone

Life can feel very lonely sometimes, even when your surrounded by many people it can feel like you are one person walking through a life that no one understands.

This verse in Isaiah 41:13 just reminds me of Gods character "For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, Fear not, I will help you.' 

These are not the words that come from a cold and distant God but only from a loving father. Gods character is holy, just and loving and when you feel alone He is there ready to hold your hand and whisper "fear not, will help you" into your spirit. #Godislove

Weary?

I woke up so tired today, I feel like this a lot though. It seems like I'm burning the candlestick at both ends right now and begging to sleep 30 more minutes! I wasn't going to have time to read my bible this morning as I just couldn't drag myself out of bed at the normal time, I consented to read tonight. As I was brushing my teeth the Holy Spirit reminded me that all who are weary should come to Him for rest. 

Hmmmm, Ok Lord I guess I shouldn't skip my reading this morning, I'll fit it in. I just love the way the Lord is so personal and the way he speaks to us and impresses His love upon our hearts, He knows what we need when we need it. So I flip to the place where I'm reading clueless of what's in this chapter and I behold these words "Gods people are comforted" With a smile I already know the Lord is speaking to me this morning. 

Here's what was in my reading Isaiah 40:28-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

WOW! Those are some words I needed God to speak to me today! I am so grateful for a personal God who renews me! 

This stuff is real and it is available to everyone. God is waiting to speak to and lead those who will open their hearts to Him. His word is powerful and alive and that is a truth I know to the depth of my soul! Thank you Jesus!!! #weary #renewed #Jesus #kingofkings 

A Fix for Lukewarm

In Revelation 3:14-22 Jesus addresses the church of The Laodiceans. He said to those who were part of the lukewarm church, I know your works, that you are neither hot nor cold. See the water in Ladocia where this church stood was not cold and refreshing nor was it hot and therapeutic, it was just lukewarm and useless. Their spiritual state made the Lord sick! He said in Revelation 3:16 “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

The Lord does not want us to be in spiritual limbo riding the fence between a fiery passion and a cold heart. He wants us to choose a side. I spent many years riding that fence my self, I was a half believer. My heart knew the truth and loved the Lord but my actions only followed when it was fitting. I wasn't reading my bible, I had no passion, I was just part of a statistical group claiming to be a Christian. One day I was forced to choose because the Lord didn't want me lukewarm and I am so grateful for that! I know we can not fulfill our God given future if we choose to be half in. At half in the world just has too much of a grip on us. Been there, done that...

But the Lord has a solution if you are somewhere in the middle today He says in Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." The Lord is ready and waiting for us, in fact he is knocking at our door and for some he has been trying to beat it down for a long time. That was me, I'm pretty hard headed :) 

And look at the promise of the prize he offers in verse 21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

What a beautiful promise from our Savior. Would you hear his knock today? Can you open the door of your heart and really let him come in? Don't make the mistake I once did trying to compartmentalize Christ, he wants to invade every crevice of your life and you will be so blessed to let Him!