His Name is Holy Spirit

His name is "HOLY SPIRIT" third person of the Trinity Godhead, all three in one! Helper, Comforter, Teacher, and Friend! Knowing the time was nearing for Him to ascend back to His Father, Jesus began preparing his followers about the Holy Spirit He would send back to abide within them in John 14:26,"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name; He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you;" while continuing to teach them in John 15:16-17 "And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you" and again in John 16:7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

Repeatedly Jesus tried to prepare His followers that He was about to ascend back to the Father but would not leave them comfortless. He was sending Holy Spirit to lead and guide them in all truths. Jesus knew Holy Spirit could be inside them bringing all things to mind while empowering them to become more than over comers in all things pertaining to Godliness. He knew they would need someone to walk with, someone to talk with, and someone to guide them in all truth; and Jesus knew Holy Spirit would do all that and so much more; because He was going to the Father where He would be interceding on our behalf.

We all need reassurance that God is with us wherever we go and is in whatever we are doing. Jesus knew that when we are weak, He is our strength; when we are sad, He is our comforter; when we are troubled, He is our peace! He supplies everything we need to maintain abundant lives with Holy Spirit living within us becoming our closest and dearest friend. While Holy Spirit is commonly known as the third party of the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit; there is never One without the other! None is the greater nor the lesser of the trinity Godhead, and will never work against the other but will testify and glorify as ONE Almighty God!

We are all spirits in human bodies and It is Holy Spirit that draws us to Jesus. As we repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, He takes up residence deep within and becomes the power needed as we walk along the pathway of righteousness. Jesus knew it was vitally important to have Holy Spirit in our lives as our Comforter, our Adviser, our Guide, and our Helper while becoming our dearest Friend, so He ascended back into Heaven and sent Holy Spirit to live within each believer. He did not leave us alone but actually sent a part of Him back to each of His believers; a most precious gift in Holy Spirit to walk and talk with us forevermore.

So often in life we receive gifts; but if we leave them unopened we never know what was given. So let's open up this precious gift from Above of Holy Spirit and come to know Him and all He has to offer us in this world. There is no greater joy, no greater peace, no greater power than feeling Holy Spirit stir within us, reminding us that He is forever with us and we are never alone. Isn't it amazing how God created this world and all therein and has even made every provision necessary for each of us to walk through this life empowered with His strength and wisdom, if only we come to acknowledge Him in all His glory.

Today can be the start of a brand new walk in Him if you acknowledge Him in all your ways. This is the day the Lord has made, so let's rejoice and be glad in it! Have a wonderfully blessed day, dear friend; God loves you and so do I~~~

LEARNING TO SEE THROUGH HIS EYES

I FIND IT AMAZING HOW AS HUMANS, WE SEE PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING OF THE PHASE OF LIFE WE ARE CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH,  AND EVEN THEN,  ARE WE SEEING THE REAL PERSON, OR SIMPLY SEEING THEM AS WE MAKE THEM OUT TO BE? TRY THIS EXPERIMENT..... LOOK AT SOMEONE CLOSE BY AND LOOK AT THEM REAL GOOD!  WHAT DO YOU SEE? WHAT DID YOU NOTICE FIRST ABOUT THEM? THEIR HAIR - THEIR EYES - THEIR WRINKLES - THEIR TEETH - THEIR SMILE; WHAT DID YOU SEE?  NOW LOOK AT THEM AGAIN AND REALLY MAKE A MENTAL NOTE OF WHAT YOU SAW FIRST AND THEN WHAT YOU NOTICED THE SECOND TIME AROUND.  IT'S AMAZING WHAT WE NOTICE AT FIRST GLANCE VS. WHAT WE SEE WHEN WE PURPOSELY SEE THEM AGAIN. 

EACH MORNING WE STAND BEFORE OUR MIRROR AND ASSESS HOW WE LOOK BEFORE LEAVING HOME! WHEN WE'RE IN A HURRY, WE QUICKLY GLANCE TO ASSURE THAT OUR APPEARANCE IS OKAY, BUT WHEN WE HAVE THE TIME, WE LOOK CLOSER CHECKING OUT WHAT WE DEEM AS FLAWS, AND WHEN TIME PERMITS, WE GIVE THEM EXTRA ATTENTION WHERE NEEDED. BUT DO WE REALLY SEE OURSELVES THE WAY OTHERS SEE US? WHAT WILL THEY SEE AT FIRST GLANCE; AND IF GIVEN TIME WHAT WILL THEY SEE IN OUR OVERALL APPEARANCE? AND A QUICK QUESTION: ARE WE PEOPLE-PLEASERS OR GOD-PLEASERS? ARE WE ONLY LOOKING AT OUR OUTWARD APPEARANCE TO ASSURE WE LOOK SUITABLE BY MAN'S STANDARDS, OR DO WE DRESS OUR SPIRITUAL MAN AS WELL, SO WE ARE INWARDLY PREPARED AS WELL AS OUTWARD FOR WHATEVER THE DAY MAY HOLD?

I WONDER WHAT WE WOULD SEE IF WE COULD SEE OUR SELF THROUGH OUR HEAVENLY FATHER'S EYES? WOULD WE WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT OUR OUTWARD FLAWS AND HURRY TO FIX UP SOMETHING LACKING; OR WOULD WE SMILE AND APPROVE OF WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW IN THIS PHASE OF OUR LIFE AS WE WALK IN HIS LIGHT TO THE VERY BEST OF OUR ABILITY? 

REMEMBER WHEN YOUR FIRST CHILD WAS BORN AND YOU HELD THEM IN YOUR HANDS? OH THE JOY THAT RADIATED THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE BODY! THE PRIDE AND THRILL OF KNOWING THIS CHILD WAS YOURS AND NO ONE ELSE COULD CREATE ANOTHER BEING JUST LIKE HIM. THIS LITTLE MIRACLE FROM GOD WE HELD IN OUR HANDS BLESSED OUR HEART AS WE NOURISHED HIM THROUGH THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF LIFE; WATCHING HIM ADVANCE FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER, UNTIL HE MATURED INTO ADULTHOOD; AND WE CONTINUED TO BE BLESSED WATCHING HIM CONTINUE THE CYCLES OF LIFE.

WELL, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER FEELS THE SAME PRIDE AND JOY IN YOU! HE LOVES YOU AND TAKES PRIDE IN EVERY PHASE OF YOUR LIFE, WATCHING YOU GROW AND ADJUST FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER. WHEN YOU ACCEPTED JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR, YOU WERE REBORN IN HIS SON JESUS, AND HE SMILED OVER YOU AS YOU BEGAN TAKING IN THE MILK OF HIS WORD AND GROWING IN SPIRIT. THE MORE NOURISHMENT OF HIS WORD YOU TOOK IN, THE MORE YOU BEGAN TO GROW FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER, INCREASING IN WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE AS YOU WALK IN THE LIGHT OF HIS WORD. HE CONTINUES TO WATCH OVER YOU, CHEERING YOU ON, MAKING INTERCESSIONS FOR YOU AS NEEDED.

LEARNING TO SEE OUR SELF AS GOD SEES US, IS WHEN WE LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SEE THE REFLECTION GOD SEES. WE BEGIN TO SMILE WITH A NEW SOURCE OF SELF ESTEEM; KNOWING WE ARE GOD'S CHILD AND THAT HE LOVES US JUST AS WE ARE! NOT THROUGH MAN'S EYES, BUT THROUGH OUR FATHER'S EYES.THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WORKING WITHIN US, WE BEGIN TO REFLECT CHRIST JESUS FROM DEEP WITHIN AND WE BEGIN TO SEE OUR SELF AS GOD SEES US: HAPPY AND FREE, HEALTHY AND WHOLE, AN OVERCOMER CELEBRATING THE FULLNESS OF LIFE, BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, THE HEAD AND NOT THE TAIL, WONDERFULLY AND BEAUTIFULLY MADE, THE APPLE OF HIS EYE, DELIGHTING IN HIS PRESENCE; AND WE SMILE AND WE SMILE AGAIN JUST BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS AND WHOSE WE ARE! 

REFLECT ON THIS THROUGH YOUR DAY AND SMILE, DEAR FRIEND. GOD LOVES YOU AND SO DO I~~~

Willing To Be Used

As the Spirit of God hovers over America, searching for willing vessels He can use, I wonder how many people will surrender to God's will and allow Him to touch others through them today; whether by words of inspiration and encouragement spoken, or a gentle touch or a caring hug, or by helping someone in financial need, or by offering a labor of love to accomplish a task needing completion. 
A willing vessel is all God needs to accomplish many needs in our world today, and all we have to do is to purposely listen for His direction. You could be the answer to someone feeling hopeless and in need of an answer today- not tomorrow or next week- but who needs to be shown today that God really cares and is using others to meet their need. Someone's life could be hanging in the balance and you could be that one little act of kindness that can turn their life around.
So I pray that as you go through this day, you will purposely look for ways to extend a helping hand or to offer an act of kindness along your way. We can make a difference in this world just by purposely being kind one to another, tenderhearted forgiving one another, even as God in Christ, has forgiven us; as Paul taught in Ephesians 4:32. Let's go out and have a rewarding day for the kingdom of God and be all we can be for His glory sake! Have a wonderfully blessed day, dear friends, God loves you and so do I~~~

Thinking On His Goodness

I love how David, a "man after God's own heart" knew God's love and faithfulness well enough that no matter what was present in his life, was totally convinced that God would hear as long as he came before Him with a repentant and honest heart such as displayed in Psalm 24:1-5 as he proclaims "The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein; for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation."

David shows clear understanding of God, the Creator, and that is only with clean hands and a pure heart that we come before Him with thanksgiving as proclaimed in Psalm 100, " Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD, He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name; For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations."

In reading his Psalms, the Spirit impressed upon me the last verse in chapter 100, "For the Lord is good" [and isn't He tho; so loving, so caring, and so giving], "His mercy is everlasting" [daily continually pouring out fresh mercies upon us], "and His truth endureth to all generations." [His Word is Truth, never changing/never deviating; whatever It says is so; if God said it, He'll perform it just as He said; His Word endures forever and ever, Amen]!

WOW!!! What an Awesome and Mighty God we serve. He knows each of us by name and loves each of us the same. Good or bad, there is no difference in His love for us. He forgives All our sins when we come before Him with a repentant heart, no matter how small or how great; a sin is a sin and each one is measured the same. No matter how much we sin, He loves us none the less; and no matter how great our service is to Him, He loves us none the more. We are His Children, His Creation, and He loves each and every one of us the same, Unconditionally. That is what sets Him apart from all we can ever comprehend. God Loves us just the way we are right now! He is Forevermore merciful, and Forevermore Loving, and Forevermore Faithful- WOW!!!

This is the God we serve. Think on these things and Be blessed today, dear friends, God loves you and so do I~~

Learning to Shine Light In Darkness

Ever find your self out at night when it's pitch dark and wonder what it was like in the beginning before God created light? Back when darkness covered the deep and nothing had yet been created; with only the Spirit of God hovering over the deep as noted in Genesis 1:2 NKJV,"The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." I wonder what it was like, no light anywhere, just total darkness as the Spirit was hovering over the darkness.

I wonder if He anticipated what was about to happen? It reminds me that we were once covered in the darkness of our sins as the Spirit of God hovered over us, stirring us within; how He must have been anxiously waiting, lingering so close at hand, anticipating the second we would finally realize His presence and ask Him to shine forth His light in the midst of our darkness! I can only imagine how excited He was when we finally welcomed Jesus into our heart as Lord and Savior and our darkness suddenly became Light. What a celebration began in the heavenly realms as even the angels rejoiced! So amazing to consider the love He has for us!

He loves me so much that I would never want to live life without Him in it; to feel His eyes watching over me, anxiously waiting for the perfect time to bring His plans to pass in my life. He cares about every little thing I do; and even when I mess things up and things look really bad, He has a way of turning it around for my good; performing incredible works needed within my life to make me the best that I can be. What an amazing God we serve that He even sent His Spirit to abide within us. I am forever amazed at how He encourages me, empowers me, teaches me, and comforts me; bringing such peace to my soul with full assurance that I am never alone!

While darkness may attempt to keep us from seeing clearly and temporarily diminish our view, Holy Spirit rises up from deep within and shines His light around us and the darkness is gone. You see there is no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5), and when He abides within us we walk no longer in darkness but in the fullness of His Light. Jesus tried to express the importance of Holy Spirit to His followers, but it was difficult for them to understand because The Light was right there talking with them. How could the Spirit do all Jesus said It would do with Him still present in this world? But in reality, from the very beginning when God spoke the Word, the Spirit performed whatsoever Word was Spoken! God the Father, Jesus the Word, and Holy Spirit; The Godhead-All three in One, forever and ever! Such a mystery and yet So True! Jesus is the Light!

I pray you will allow Him to light your pathway so you can enjoy the beauty of all God has created just for you. Holy Spirit is hovering over your darkness and anxiously waits to meet your needs any time of day or night. If you will ask Him in, He can make a way where there seems to be no way! Trust Him to shine His light upon your darkness so you can enjoy a wonderfully blessed life. God loves you and so do I~~~

His Unconditional Love

What an awesome Savior we have in our Lord Jesus Christ! While hanging on the cross in the final seconds of His earthly life; knowing He had completed all things necessary for mankind's eternal salvation, Jesus cried out, "It Is Finished!"(John 19:28-30). He had fulfilled everything required for us to be redeemed through His own sacrifice, lovingly surrendered upon that old rugged cross. When we repent and ask Jesus into our heart to be our Lord and Savior, our sin debt is "Paid In Full" once and forevermore, because of Him, Praise The Lord! There is nothing else for us to do; nothing we need to clean up; no words left to be spoken; we need only to believe upon Him and in His works as we receive the righteousness given by God through the Savior of all mankind, Jesus!

So let's stop trying to make our self and others good enough to be His child and learn to just relax in Him and in His works that brought about His amazing grace. God loves each one of us with an unconditional love that goes far beyond our human comprehension. No matter how far we have fallen, No matter what we have done, No matter where we are in life, young or old, no matter the circumstances that surround us; when we repent of our sins and call upon the name of JESUS, He is right there to wash away EVERY sin and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. As Paul taught in Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast;" that's God's Unconditional Love.

When we become children of the Most High God we have His assurance that He will be with us always and nothing we do or any thing can ever separate us from His love as noted in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us form the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  NOTHING will ever be able to separate us from the Love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He died for us!"

What blessed assurance of His Amazing Grace and Unconditional Love where we can of a surety proclaim, "I am His and He is mine forevermore. " Enjoy a wonderfully blessed day, dear friend. God loves you and so do I~~~

Walking In Newness

In Isaiah 43:19 we are told, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness."....... and surely today, God continues to do new things all around us. Can you not see it? Can you not hear His plea to come up a little closer; to come up a little higher? He cries out for us to move in a little closer; to trust Him more completely; to seek Him in the face of trouble surrounding us; and to lay aside the "norms" as we gather to worship Him while His Spirit hovers in our midst; as we lift up the Holy name of Jesus! It's when our minds are surrendered to Him, that He brings us into higher realms of praise and worship and miracles are performed within us. 

God seeks a personal relationship with each and every one of His children. We were all created to be His family; not just creatures who are distant and don't know Him personally! He desires to bestow His love upon us so we can feel how truly loved we are and enjoy a Father-child relationship one on one. The closer we draw to God, the more our spirit rises up from the depths of our soul and songs of praise come forth, "Because of who You are I give you glory; Because of who You are I give you praise; Because of who You are, I will lift my voice and say, Lord, I worship You because of who You are; I worship You because of who You are. Jehovah Jireh, my provider; Jehovah Nissi, you reign in victory; Jehovah Shalom, my Prince of Peace and I worship You because of who You are; I worship You because of who You are!"

God is surely our Provider, our Strength, our Healer, our Refuge, and our Peace, and so much more; "a very present help in time of trouble"(Psalm 46:1). Where can you hide that He is not there? (Jeremiah 23:24). What can you think about, speak about, or do that He doesn't know about it already? (Psalm 139:1-5). His ways and His thoughts are far above ours (Isaiah 55:8) and He loves us so unconditionally that He would move heaven and earth to give us His Best! God sent Jesus into the world, not to condemn the world; but that through Him all who would believe might be saved(John 3:16,17). We are assured continuously throughout His Word that He is quick to hear, slow to anger, and always gives perfect guidance. Through the darkest of times, He assures us that "Weeping may endure for the moment, but Joy comes in the morning"(Psalm 30:5). He is Forever Faithful and hears our faintest cry; and is ready to wrap us in His comforting arms bringing peace as we call upon Him.

I think about the eagle and its unusual large eyes compared to the size of its head, allowing it to have extremely keen eyesight. Eagles are admired the world over as living symbols of power, of freedom, and transcendence. They are so graceful as they fly high into the heavens over-riding storms that may arise. Psalm 91:1 tells us, "He that dwelleth in the Secret Place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." and in verse 4 "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy strength and buckler." 

I Peter 2:9 declares, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession; that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." It is our Father's will that we walk not in darkness but as children of Light; reflecting His Love throughout the world. His Light shines in the darkness and only those who choose not to comprehend Him are left in darkness (John 3:19). Moment by moment as we walk with Him, we are transformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus, Who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. As we walk in His light to the best of our ability, others will see the change within us and want to know the Hope we have found, so they can walk in the light in return; and this glorifies our Father in Heaven through Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior!

So "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another; Forgive as the Lord forgave you; And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace, And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."(Colossians 3:12-17)

I pray that as you walk through this day, you walk as His priesthood, allowing His light to shine from deep within as it reaches out to others in darkness; and I pray you have a wonderfully blessed day, dear friends, because God loves you and so do I~~