Can vs. Can’t

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Friend, do you ever feel like you can’t? Oh, how that contraction of perplexity hinders our progress of moving forward. But as we prepare to cross the threshold into the new year, we can choose to override that contraction and replace it with the Bible’s language of faith. The Bible says we “CAN” and when it comes to our faith and where God is leading us in the next season of life, the words of Philippians 3:14 can be a great source of encouragement: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

~Word for Life Says

Journeys

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Friend, as we are drawing closer to the end of this year, contemplating days and times past, realize through it all our Heavenly Father has been present, even when we could not comprehend everything or feel Him. Journeys take us through many avenues of life – some roads bring pleasure and some pain. But the journey we take with Him shall never be in vain. With God, we are never forsaken or need to feel dismayed. He is our ever-present Rock to stand up and Refuge to tuck ourselves away when the cares of this life seem too much. God, our Heavenly Father, loves you. Look to Him when you can’t figure it out. He’s there, and He’s waiting: “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

~ Word for Life Says

Upon My Knees

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Holy Affection,
upon my knees,
there I turn
with my heart’s pleas.

Near the cross
to Him, I bow,
request made known,
burdens laid down.

Unloaded griefs,
upon Christ, I stand,
blessed assurance,
promises in hand.

Helped and held
by relieving grace,
upon my knees,
I run this race.

Raised in courage,
full speed ahead,
for upon my knees,
my faith is fed.

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:14-21

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The Gift of Jesus

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“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

Not displayed in decorated windows.
Nor purchased from the store shelf.
Nay, the only purchasing to be done is
His purchasing you for Himself.

For you, the Savior has come.
For you, the prophecy fulfilled.
For you, heaven’s glory lay in a manger.
For you, born by God’s perfect will.

The greatest Christmas gift
in history to be received
is the truest reason for Christmas,
found in Christ, the newborn King.

Were it not for us, He would not have come.
Were it not for us, no storied nativity.
The begotten Son, God in the flesh, 
was born to save us from sin’s captivity. 

December 25th is waited for with hope throughout the year of giving and receiving gifts. But on that holy night, at the angel’s announcement of the Lord’s birth, the shepherds working the sheep in the field knew the real gift of Christmas had been waited for much longer.

“For unto you.” Let the beauty of those words speak to your heart. The gift of Jesus was given for you, for us, for me.

God’s gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes at His birth (Luke 2:12), and linen at His burial (John 19:40), was personally wrapped and given for failing humanity.

May we ponder, as Mary did that night, the real gift of Christmas a little more closely this year. I pray that you will feel the Father’s love as He presents this Gift to you for unwrapping. I pray you would know the heart of the Father more fully as you receive His “indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15) for yourself.

Christ was given, by the hand of God, for all who were, and for all who were to come: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).

For this Christmas, and all to come, no Christmas gift could be or should be cherished more, than this gift of God’s great love (John 3:16).

At the trial of His crucifixion, Jesus spoke these words:

“To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” John 18:37

The gift was born for you.  

Thank You, Father God, for the personal gift of Jesus Christ into my life. Neither words nor time would be enough to express my deepest gratitude for the Savior. Your Gift has intervened in my life and saved me, helped me, protected me, and blessed me far more than I deserve. My thank You seems inadequate for this season, but humbly thank You, I do, and I praise You for the real Gift of Christmas in my life.

More Reference Scriptures:

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16

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Originally Posted December 24, 2022

Good Morning, God… | Inspirational Poem

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Good morning, God,
my hope is in You.
Even in the next step
when I’m lost what to do.

So, before You, I come.
Before You, I bow.
Before this day starts
I lay it all down.

To pray and to praise
before it all begins.
Your presence saturates
my heart within.

Filling me up
from the inside out,
carrying me through,
relieving all doubt.

Teaching me
before this day begins,
Who is my Source
that never ends.

Now, into this day
I confidently go,
for mornings shared
with Your presence in tow.
©WordforLifeSays.com

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee…” Psalm 63:1

More Thankyou’s Than I Can Count

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“Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” Psalm 40:5

How many times can you tell the Lord thank you and it will be enough? How many blessings, mercies, or graces can you add, and would you find adequate praise in the sum of these alone, and then stop? How many times can we open our mouths and our hearts and completely fulfill the holy order of praise due to His holy name?

My friends, for what God has done for us, it will never be enough. His blessings, His “wonderful works,” His “thoughts… to us-ward,” are more than we could ever count or imagine! Therefore, our praise, our tongues of worship, our voices of thanksgiving can never be too much.

In prayer this morning, my mind traveled through portions of my life’s journey, and God brought me through every one of those days, even the hard ones, to the moment of today. And my heart is overwhelmingly grateful in a good way.

I cannot count back to God all the goodnesses He has shown me, for I am sure, the half of it I don’t even know. But I can approach Him with a grateful heart and try in my best way possible, this day and every day, to express my most humblest of thanks.

Today, will you step aside into a quiet place, if you haven’t already, a time with just you and the Father, and let Him know how much you love Him, how grateful you are, and thank Him for the “more than can be numbered” times He has been there for you. I’m sure you would agree, that God deserves more thank you’s than any of us could ever count.

“O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!” – Charles Wesley (Public Domain)

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34

🍁Happy Thanksgiving🍁

Blessings to each one ~

More Than Noise

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“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

“Roses are red, Violets are blue…” is the beginning of many poems regarding love. Going back through history with many versions attached, these words declare verbally (and sometimes funny), how one feels about another.

But I will tell you, while words are nice and sweet and can edify (Proverbs 16:24; 25:11; Ephesians 4:29), there is no substitute for love produced through action.

Substance. Making a difference. The Christian life is so much more than just talking and telling. It is more than sounding off. It is love with motion behind it outflowing from one’s being into the lives of others.

With God, love is the number one principle because He is love (1 John 4:16). As those who have been adopted by His grace, love should be our natural response to others as well. It’s the emblem of our Heavenly Father, not carried about on our chests or in words only, but seared upon our hearts that propel us forward.

Love is our regulator.  It governs how we behave and treat one another. It serves as a thermometer to measure that we are fervent in the things that God is fervent for.

Love is about serving like Christ did (and we all know what His love looked like, John 3:16). It is about using what God gifted you with to help one another under that same umbrella of love He operated in.

Since that’s exactly how God does everything, under love, we too should be imitators of our Father.  Outside of it, we are “nothing.”  It doesn’t matter how important one thinks their gift or contribution is, if love is not the motivator, then the gift is empty.  That box has nothing to offer the world except a bunch of extra noise; or, as Paul puts it, “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”  

I don’t know about you, but I want to be more than noise, more than fluff.  I want to have substance working at the core of my gift.  I want lives to be changed and hearts to be lifted through what God has placed in me.  This should be the attitude of every Christian.  Not to get ahead, but to make a difference.  Being a vessel so filled up with love and anointing, mixed with His special stuff He put on the inside of us so that we could help shift the atmosphere for some and help steer them on a course closer to God.

This can only happen if love is operating at the helm.

Jesus once encouraged His disciples by telling them, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith,” (Mark 11:23).  Yet, Paul says you can “remove mountains” all you want, but if love is not what’s lifting your faith to do that than forget about it. Although the action may be carried out, the core of it doesn’t mean anything.

Paul was not by any chance contradicting what Jesus said because everything Jesus did from birth to death was done through love, and His disciples are always expected to follow in His footsteps.

Neither is Paul denouncing doing things for others such as one who would “bestow all . . . goods to feed the poor” or the sacrificing of oneself (he gave the example of being “burned”); but what he is saying is that without love, it will not last; it will not make the difference that He is looking for and it will not please God because we are told, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men,” (Colossians 3:23) and that can only be done through love.

Later, Paul wrote another letter to the Corinthian church that says, “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him,” (2 Corinthians 5:9).  Everything must be “accepted of him.”  But, without love (charity) all our works and gifts put together add up to a big, fat zero.  There is no gain or “profit” from it.

The world we live in today needs more than talk, more than noise. They need to see, feel, and experience the substance of love in action through those who have been redeemed by love in action.

Today, look for ways to be more than noise. Look for ways to be that force of love in action for another.

Blessings~

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.

Translated

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“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

Ah, my friends, a mighty move took place at the moment of salvation. Physically, your position and status of life may not look different, but spiritually, you were translated. You were taken from where you were and placed in a better position. You were taken from the power of darkness and delivered to the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who you were identified as before no longer exists spiritually. While in this world there may be remnants, consequences, or residual effects from the previous walk, but in the spirit, we are free. In this new life, those identification markers do not exist. The things that bound you or tried to attach themselves to you are subdued under the power of God because now you are His. Now, you breathe the breath of each day differently. Now, your walking and thinking patterns do not follow those previous footsteps. Now, there is freshness. Now, you are a member of a new family. Now, you are a part of a kingdom that will never fail, nor will it ever fade. Eternally, you have been translated there.

Now, our souls are happy. Now, even if it doesn’t seem so conditionally, our spirits have been liberated to new life. Now, because of what He has done, we cannot help but “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12).

The move has taken place. And thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14), has secured this translation for us.

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Conversations of the Heart

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“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Conversations of the heart. What is your heart speaking or what is speaking to your heart today? What inner dialogue is taking place? Is it a place of questioning? Is it a pondering some great point? Is what is being spoken there offering you peace and comfort for the days you are facing?

There, in the deepest recesses of your being, in the only place God and you know of, is an exchange of ideas, intentions, thoughts, opinions, and beliefs.

It’s where we form a picture of our lives. It’s where we store wisdom to draw from, love to explore, feel, and give, and it is also where we find encouragement for those less-than-perfect days.

Our hearts need a constant filling of the things that will nurture the inner man. For the soul of a man is fed from the fruit thereof.

Today, I offer you encouragement that will help strengthen the conversation of your heart. May the voice and power of Scripture speak where you need it most.

Blessings~

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24

“Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Psalm 73:26

“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” Psalm 119:2

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“Indulge in Nostalgia!”

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“And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.  And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?  Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.” Joshua 4:20-22

One of my favorite things to do when the weather is nice is to open up all my windows and to put a fan in my bedroom window.  Why the bedroom particularly?  For some reason or another, no matter where I live, when there is a fan in my bedroom window, it makes the air smell just like my grandma’s house when I was growing up, particularly her upstairs and bedroom.  Sometimes, I long for weather not too hot and not too cold, just so that I can have a fan in the bedroom window that blows out that smell.  And when it does, I look for reasons throughout the day to visit my bedroom, to inhale deeply and to let my mind wander to another time.

Smells have that effect on me, nostalgically letting me remember times past.  While the fan smell is my favorite, another smell is stuff burning.  Not like a house catching fire or anything, but rather a pit-beef joint cooking or a log in the fireplace.  This smell reminds me of my paternal grandparents.  They live in the South and during the summer we would visit.  There I witnessed something I hadn’t seen before.  In the evening, they took their trash to a heap outside and set it on fire.  No trash trucks to pick it up twice a week.  They just light it up and watch it go.

It’s good to indulge in a little bit of nostalgia once in a while, especially when it comes to remembering God’s deliverance.  After a certain amount of time goes by, whether it becomes a time of prosperity or a time of hardship, it’s so easy to forget.  The daily grind and routine schedules tend to overshadow what previously occurred.  That can be a good thing when someone is trying to get over hurtful things, but when one wants to remember a glorious time it can be dangerous.

The danger of forgetfulness can leave us with a warped outlook on life.  “Why does this always happen to me?”  “Things never turn in my favor.”  “It’s useless for me to even try!”  Words such as “always, never and useless” denote negativity when used this way. This negative browbeating overshadows the good.  We use words so lightly, but what would the true outcome be if I were to really question, do things really never ever turn in your favor?  Is it really useless for you to try?  The answer, most likely, would be no.

Through times of hardship and prosperity, our perspective on life can get blurred.  That’s why God mandated for these stones to be set up as a memorial.  These stones would stand as a physical reminder of God’s deliverance; of a time when He altered nature and did the impossible just so that His people could gain their promise.

We may not have physical stones, but I do believe we have “markers” in our memory that can transport us to our time of deliverance.  Things that help us to remember that no matter what state one may find themselves in now, God is still on the throne and He is still working it out on our behalf.  Things that help us to remember, He is the one that saved me, and He is the one that ushered deliverance in my life and yours.

That’s why it’s good to indulge in nostalgia.  It opens the door to the good old days.  The thought of it can instantly put a smile on my face when I think of memories past.  Now, imagine doing that with God’s deliverance.  Sometimes we need to remember, on purpose, where He brought us from and how He brought us through.  Set that up as a “marker” to help you remember His goodness no matter what life may bring.

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.