Tag: blessings

Hidden Treasures

Treasure hunters will go to great lengths to unearth a treasure. Some may travel the far corners of the world to find the precious gem, risk life and limb, sacrifice rest and self, to excavate what they believe to be of great worth.

What may look like nothing to an untrained eye, is sheer beauty to the one who knows its worth.

The treasure seeker will dig through earth, rocks, sand, and soil, to lay hold of the prize. When they have unearthed it, they carefully lift it with their hands, as to not damage it. Upon first sight, it is covered in dirt, caked with years of debris. But with delicate hands, they will clean it, polish it, restore it back to it’s original beauty, and preserve it.

Why do treasure hunters do this? Because they recognize the value. Some treasures are worth far more value than most are willing to pay.

The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44

God did this. He is the greatest treasure hunter. He placed such value on each of us, He was willing to go through great lengths to find us, unearth us, and bring us back to our natural beauty. He sent His Son to take such a beating for us, to go into the earth for three days, to bring us up from the grasp of the thief, to restore us, reconcile us, and bring us back to our created purpose.

Even when we were caked in the soil of the world, drowning in our sins, wrapped in the bondage of our hurts, rejected and abandoned as unworthy, He saw us and He restored us. He looked beyond the outward, He looked into our hearts and He placed His strong gentle hands on us and He declared… this one is Mine.

Then He placed us on display. Paraded us past the enemy and held the banner of Love over us.

The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment. The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31

Who is our neighbor? The person who has need, the poor one, the broken one, the sick one, the one who can never repay…

How about those who are closest to us? Those we know so well, we know their imperfections, their quirks, their hang-ups, the one who has hurt us? What about them?

I submit to you, one of the main causes for break-ups, divorce, and division is we fail to see beyond the outward to look at the heart. For if we truly desired to be like Christ, we would delicately unearth the heart, speak words of compassion, create a safe environment, and allow God to use us to bring healing to the wounded hearts. We just might find a treasure of great worth, if we truly followed the words of Mark 12:30-31.

We are all broken vessels, but in the hands of God, we will shine with such brilliance hell will be blinded, relationship’s restored, ministries birthed, and the Glory of the Lord would rest on us and bring great revival, healing, deliverance, and salvation to many.

Be a minister He can use. With the same grace given to you, give to others. For inside each of us is something far more valuable than money can buy. Only through love can a heart shine.

Power of the Tongue

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What other people say about you will not kill you. What you say about you will kill you.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21

You cannot move into the future if you are constantly looking to your past. If you do not set your eyes to what is ahead, you will fall into the ditch and stay there crying for what you should have  left behind.

You were created with and for a purpose. Everything you have went through… the good and the bad… was training ground for your destiny. The steps of a righteous man (woman) are ordered by the Lord… every step.

You may have tripped up, fallen down, made mistakes, made bad choices… but do you not know that even then, yes! even then, Gods hand was in it?

Romans 8:28 says, “we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to HIS purpose.”  Did you read that? Did you see the key word there? HIS! His purpose! Not your purpose. Not my purpose. But HIS purpose.

His gifts are irrevocable, not to be revoked or recalled; unable to be repealed or annulled; unalterable. He has gifted you with all you have need of to fulfill the calling on your life, for HIS purpose. The Bible is filled with people who screwed up, yet God used them mightily. He is the same God now as He was then. Our God does not change.

Quit beating up on yourself. Stop talking about the “good ol’ days,” you think will never return because you made too many mistakes. My friend, my fellow laborer, it was training ground for something better that has yet to come.

If you have sinned, REPENT! Receive His forgiveness and get back up. You made mistakes, bad choices, got entangled. Has your heart been broken, have things not worked out the way you had hoped? Remember,God has made a way for you. It may have caught you by surprise, but it didn’t catch Him by surprise.

Our God is not a wasteful God, or a liar…. He will complete the work that He has began.  And you, my friend, you are His marvelous creation. and you have been created with a purpose.

So, the next time you are tempted to say it’s too late, hold your tongue…. speak life! Because life is in the power of your tongue.

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from 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 through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, length, depth, and height- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Romans 3.

To your benefit and to His glory. Amen

Purpose

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Everything that you have been through has been for your preparation for your destiny. Not one thing was for nothing. You hear me? Whatever you are going through now… there is a purpose.

Embrace it. Learn from it. Grow from it.

The good, the bad, and the ugly… God will use, for your benefit and to His glory.

And though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase Job 8:7

Do not look at your past and say, “But, Lord, I did this, I came from there, they said this…”

That very thing that tried to take you out, God will use to launch you into your purpose. You see, it is not all about you, God will use you to lead others out from the very thing that tried to hold you down.

Only believe, have faith, put your trust in Him and walk in His love. He has got you.

His Hand Extended

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One of the best ways to recognize and count our blessings is to be a blessing to others.

I enjoy volunteering, hands on helping people. When my children were young they would be beside me serving food in soup kitchens, loving young  girls in pregnancy crisis centers, counseling youth…

I believe this helped them to learn to be compassionate. It is also a way to be the hands of Christ.

Jesus said, in Matthew 25:

“For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you [a]brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and [b]lodged Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me [c]with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me. Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You? And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [[d]in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me.”

You see, I believe when we are available and willing to be a blessing to others, the blessing is really ours.

No matter how rough life can be, there is always someone out there going through a storm harder than ours. Volunteering really helps keep things in perspective.

I am not suggesting to help others for selfish gain, but I can testify to this… you can NOT out give God.  As a single mom, I know the struggles of trying to provide on my own. There were times I would not eat dinner to be sure there was enough for my daughter. One particular time when I was broke, I mean B.R.O.K.E.! I was worrying, God how am I going to do this? He told me to give. So I did. I gave out of my need. I went through my pantry and anything I had two of I put in a bag and gave it away to a family that was also struggling. I am not telling this to you so I can look good, or so you will think I am such a great woman of faith, I was just trying to be obedient and trusting God. Don’t you know, someone showed up at my door later with groceries for me!

This is how God works. He gets it to us, through us, and then back to us. He is a faithful Father. He is a loving Husband. He provides for His own.

I think sometimes we struggle to see our blessings, because we want what our hands provided. If we work hard, get the paycheck, then we can provide for ourselves. But, don’t you know, even that comes from God.

My challenge to you is this:

Be a blessing to someone today. Even if it is from your own need, even if it is just a couple fish and some bread. Be the hands of Christ and watch what He does.

There are many opportunities out there everyday. Make yourself available for Him to use you. Do it cheerfully.

Let us not forget, it is His goodness that calls us to repentance, so be about His business to a world who needs Him. Be Jesus to someone.

Be Free & Stay Free