Move Close to the Heart of Jesus

Do you ever feel like you can identify with the Israelites?

I’ve read about the many miracles they witnessed first hand and wondered how their faith faltered so often. I mean come on, they saw the Red Sea part!

Moses reminds them in Deuteronomy how God loves them. Not because of how good they are, far from it actually, but because He’s chosen them.

In the same breath he also calls them out for being a stubborn people.

Oh good grief, here I am, raising my hand. Yep, that’s me. Just go ahead and put the name tag on. “Hello, my name is Stubborn.”

I come from a long line of stubborn people. We’re a strong willed bunch and it can take us longer to listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting than I’d care to admit.

It goes back to our faulty self preservation mentality. Generations of abandonment and addictions led us to believe the only way to survive was to dig in our heels.

However, let’s not forget an important part of Moses’ reminder. God chose them! Hand picked. Set apart. WANTED

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

I love this! My family may have been “back row people” before, to stubborn to come to the front row when called, but we are chosen!

Chosen to rise up from our past and come forward

into a relationship with Jesus.

I want to step out and have a front row seat at the feet of Jesus unobstructed by distractions. Nothing to block my line of sight to the everyday, wonderful miracles God has for each of us through His grace!

We may never get to see the Red Sea part but we have seen addictions broken, lives saved and legacies changed.

Many of us have been more than happy to hang out in the “back row” out of fear to move to the front. Fear of the unknown. Fear of failure. Fear of being truly seen.

If God is calling us to come forward, He’ll make the path,

we just need to step out and follow it.

If you’re reading this and not real sure you feel chosen, let me reassure you, Abba Father is calling you. The whisper you hear somewhere down deep, it’s from Him. He wants YOU!

It doesn’t matter who your name tag said you were before, God is calling you by your true name, “Chosen”.

Whatever is holding us back from moving forward as God calls to us, let’s offer it up to Jesus. Take His hand, put one foot in front of the other and move into whatever row will put you closest to the heart of Jesus.

I'm sharing this post with several other blogger's at these Faith Linkups. I encourage you to check them out. If this post resonates with you and feel it would help others please feel free to share. Easy to share buttons below. ~Laura~

Is There Power in the Tongue?

Have you ever been in a situation where you wished you could reel the words back in you spoke in haste?

Yeah, me too. Way more times than I care to admit.

Scripture tells us there is the power of life and death in the tongue.

We must use our words wisely.

Negativity can quickly seep into our lives if we don’t stay on guard for it.

My family and I ranch (raising cattle and sheep) and as such are very dependent on volatile markets, expenses and weather. It’s WAY too easy to get caught off guard and let negative words from others suck you into the black hole of doom and gloom.

“The cattle market is dropping!”

“We’ll never get any rain!”

“Feed costs are out of control!”

You have a choice when these kind of words come flying at you from family and friends. Either join in and let the power of the tongue fill you with negativity or speak words of life to counter them.

“The cattle market is fine - God will provide.”

“The rain is coming in God’s perfect time - God will provide.”

“Jehovah-Jireh - God will provide.”

Have you ever seen a massive ship sailing effortlessly across the water? Despite its immense size and the fact that it is propelled by mighty winds, a small rudder directs the ship in any direction the pilot chooses. It’s just the same with our tongues! It’s a small muscle, capable of marvelous undertakings. And do you know how many forest fires begin with a single ember from a small campfire? 
James 3:4-5 (Voice)

Let’s squelch those embers of negative words before they spread like wildfire through our lives. Instead, let’s make the choice to use this small muscle for positive, life giving power.

Life and death are in the literally in power of our tongues. We believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and we are saved by our tongues speaking it out.

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 
Romans 10: 9-10 (NLT)

Jesus came to live in human flesh and die a brutal death to save each of us from an eternal separation from Him.

If you haven’t accepted Jesus into your heart and would like to - feel free to use this very simple prayer as a guide.

“God, I know I’m a sinner and I can’t save myself. I believe that you sent your son, Jesus, to die for my sins, raise Him from the dead and give me eternal life. I repent and turn from my sinful life and ask You to come and be the Lord of my life. I invite Your Holy Spirit to fill and guide me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Welcome to the family of believers! I highly suggest getting into a good, Bible based church and fellowship with others.

I encourage you to share your decision with me either in the comments or privately through the contact form. I will be praying for you!

Marked for Christ

Scars can run deep. They leave a lasting mark that each of us handle differently.

My dad grew up in a home where food was scarce for quite some time due to his father leaving his mom with several kids in the backwoods of Missouri. The effects of a starvation mentality from a young age has definitely left  it’s mark on my him.

When he was young his uncle took him to work with him for job and afterwards they got a big steak. Uncle Hank told him, “We work hard and we eat well.” That has stuck with Dad. He has always worked very hard to make sure no one in his scope of influence goes hungry.

Being raised by a single mom, who was blessed by a church family that literally prevented them from starving to death, left another profound mark on him. Dad has always had a strong desire to help people out who are struggling, especially single moms.

The scars from Dad’s childhood could have made him bitter and had the opposite effect on him. But...he was marked as child of God and the Lord had His hand on Dad always.

I’m not saying he’s lived a perfect life or never made mistakes. He’ll be the first to tell you that too. He’s tried running from God’s calling on his life in the past. He was set apart to follow Christ and share the good news of God’s love with others however.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit never stopped pursuing Dad. After a big wake up call he realized it was time to throw off everything that hindered him and follow the path God had marked out for him.

When we run we look forward to where we’re going. We don’t try looking over our shoulders to see what is behind us. I’ll admit I’ve tried that and ended up on my knees. We’ve already seen what’s behind us so we’re well aware of it so we need to focus on the path marked out in front of us.

God has a path of faith marked out for each of us. We need only to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

I, for one, don’t want to let the marks left on me from the past define me. As soon as I accepted Jesus as my savior, God put his mark of salvation on me and I want to share the good news with others! God loves. God saves.

Join me at Suzanne Eller's for #LiveFreeThursday.

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30 days of Life Shaking Study.

Check it out!