Latest Posts by cheeryblueheart - Page 2

This is one of my favorite hymns!

History of Hymns: "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"

by C. Michael Hawn

“‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” by Louisa M. R. Stead | The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 462

“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, and to take him at his word; just to rest upon his promise, and to know, "Thus saith the Lord.” Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him! How I’ve proved him o'er and o'er! Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust him more!“

From her childhood, the call to missionary service was the guiding motivation for Louisa M. R. Stead (c. 1850-1917). Born in Dover, England, and converted at the age of nine, Stead came to the United States in 1871, living in Cincinnati. She attended a camp meeting in Urbana, Ohio, where she dedicated her life to missionary service. Ill health prevented her from serving initially. She married in 1875, and the couple had a daughter, Lily. Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck describes a major turning point in the family’s life:

“When the child was four years of age, the family decided one day to enjoy the sunny beach at Long Island Sound, New York. While eating their picnic lunch, they suddenly heard cries of help and spotted a drowning boy in the sea. Mr. Stead charged into the water. As often happens, however, the struggling boy pulled his rescuer under water with him, and both drowned before the terrified eyes of wife and daughter. Out of her ‘why?’ struggle with God during the ensuing days glowed these meaningful words from the soul of Louisa Stead.”

The hymn, “’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus” was inspired by this personal tragedy.

Soon after, Lousia and Lily left for the Cape Colony, South Africa, where Louisa worked as a missionary for fifteen years. She married Robert Wodehouse, a native of South Africa. Because of her health, the family found it necessary to return to the United States in 1895. Wodehouse pastored a Methodist congregation during these years until, in 1900, they returned to the mission field, this time to the Methodist mission station at Umtali, Southern Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe).

Kenneth Osbeck records a message sent back to the United States shortly after her arrival in Southern Rhodesia: “In connection with the whole mission there are glorious possibilities, but one cannot, in the face of the peculiar difficulties, help but say, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ But with simple confidence and trust we may and do say, ‘Our sufficiency is of God.’”

Her daughter Lily married after their return to Africa. Louisa retired because of ill health in 1911. Lily continued to serve for many years in South Rhodesia. Her mother passed away after a long illness in 1917 at her home in Penkridge near the Mutambara Mission, fifty miles from Umtali. Following her death, it was recorded that Christians in South Rhodesia continued to sing her hymn in the local Shona language.

While the exact date of the composition is not known, sometime between 1880-1882, Lousia Stead’s hymn was first published in Songs of Triumph (1882). The Rev. Carlton R., Young, editor of The United Methodist Hymnal, describes the hymn’s content as “a series of loosely connected key evangelical words and phrases.” Indeed, the hymn is full of the language of piety common to the day in evangelical circles. Furthermore, the succession of stanzas lacks the usual progression of ideas leading to heaven that characterizes most gospel hymns.

Perhaps the hymn might be best described as a mantra on the name of Jesus. Indeed, “Jesus” is sung twenty-five times if one sings all four stanzas and the refrain. Stanza one is a simple statement of “trust in Jesus.” The singer is invited to “rest upon his promise.” Though the “promise” is not specifically articulated, it is assumed that all know that this is the promise of salvation. The stanza ends with “Thus saith the Lord” – a phrase, interestingly enough, that appears 413 times in the Old Testament in the King James Version, and is a reference to God rather than Jesus.

Stanza two continues the theme of trust, drawing upon the “cleansing blood” of Jesus. The poet demonstrates her trust as she “plung[es] … neath the healing, cleansing flood,” a possible reference to the William Cowper (1731-1800) hymn, “There is a fountain filled with blood”: “… and sinners plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” The typology of the cleansing flood may find its biblical roots in Genesis 6-7, the account of Noah and the great flood, or perhaps the blood and water that flowed from the crucified Christ’s side (John 19:34), or even a conflation of these ideas. Cowper’s hymn was probably well known to Stead, and she referenced it in her hymn.

Stanza three stresses that one should die to “sin and self” by “simply taking life and rest, and joy and peace” in Jesus. Stanza four is a personal witness by the author that she is “so glad I learned to trust thee.” The final stanza concludes with a fleeting eschatological reference, “thou art with me, wilt be with me to the end.” Though this reference to heaven is not as pronounced as one would often find in similar gospel hymns of this era, especially in Fanny Crosby. Referencing heaven in some way is virtually obligatory in this theological context.

The refrain establishes the Jesus mantra, singing his name five times, the last strengthened by adding the qualifying, “precious Jesus.” Though the singer has “proved him o’er and o’er,” the prayer is for “grace to trust him more.”

C. Michael Hawn is University Distinguished Professor of Church Music, Perkins School of Theology, SMU.

Attribution: Photo (The old red books or red worship songbooks in church) courtesy of Wirestock at: https://www.freepik.com/ijeab

You can't Not Speak your Truth. Tell it. As is.

how do you tell someone "I'm not ignoring you, I'm just disconnected from reality rn and the days are all blurred together and I feel completely apathetic towards everyone/everything around me so it's really hard for me to maintain a conversation" without saying that?

Questions that make you think

1: What inspires you?

2: Favorite book?

3: Favorite fictional character?

4: What’s your favorite part of the day?

5: What’s your favorite fictional ship? (Canon or otherwise)

6: List 3 positive traits you have

7: List 3 negative traits you have

8: How does someone become important to you?

9: Do you trust people easily, or do people have to earn your trust?

10: Do you give people second chances?

11: How do you decide when it’s time to cut someone out of your life for good?

12: What can you spend forever talking about?

13: What are your favorite lyrics currently?

14: What are your thoughts on romance?

15: Are you open about how you feel or do you tend to keep your emotions to yourself?

16: What is something you really want?

17: If you could make a wish, what would you wish for if you knew it would come true?

18: What do you do when you have a crush on someone?

19: How do you handle heartbreak? Is it something that’s easy for you to get over, or something you struggle with?

20: Have you ever had a dream that made you wonder if it was actually a memory?

21: How does someone become friends with you?

22: Do you tend to have strong emotions?

23: What do you want your future to be like?

24: Have you ever met someone you never thought you’d become close to?

25: How do you stop yourself from going back to toxic people?

26: Do you have someone in your life that you don’t know how you feel about?

27: What helps you realize that you have a crush on someone?

28: Do you ever make impulsive decisions?

29: Do you think zodiac signs can influence someone’s personality to an extent?

30: What makes you happy?

31: What does ‘self care’ look like for you?

32: If you could go back in time and re-live your life up to this point, knowing everything that you know now, would you make different decisions?

33: Do you have someone you know you can always rely on?

34: What do you look for in friendships?

35: What would a perfect date look like for you?

36: Favorite book quote(s)?

37: Have you ever been surprised by someone staying in your life?

38: If you could move, would you? Where would you move to?

39: Have you ever wished you could disappear?

40: What makes you feel confident?

41: How do you show you care?

42: How far are you willing to go to find the truth?

43: Which of the seven deadly sins do you feel represents you the most?

44: Do you consider yourself talented?

45: Do you consider yourself creative?

46: In a group setting, do you prefer to take charge or do you prefer to let someone else make the decisions?

47: What are you passionate about?

48: Have you ever started to try learning about a subject only to realize it’s not something you enjoy?

49: Do you feel like you’re a good person?

50: What scares you the most?

Thank you High King. I need it.

God is saying to you today.. You have My favor.

“Do you want to be well?~John 5:6”

— REBLOG IF YOU DO! 

Sincere worship

When we serve God it must come from the heart, we should serve Him because we love Him and bec. we are grateful to Him for everything He’s done for us. We should not serve God just bec. we want something in return. To most people this is the problem, I will share to you a true story related to this. There is a certain businessman(family friend) who owned a flavoring company w/c is successful, he was thinking of expanding and launched a new product. This new product failed, and he told us that he does not believe in God because if God existed his new venture would not fail. It’s a pity why we often blame God for trials and obstacles we have to face. What’s also sad is that some people will abandon their faith just because God did not give in to their requests. That’s equivalent to a child throwing a tantrum. The reason for this trials are simple: God has a plan better than yours and God wants you to learn something from the current situation you’re in.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

If you think God has abandoned you, then you should look at Job(from the bible.) Job had all kinds of disasters enter his life, yet his faith did not falter. That’s what I call FAITH, our faith in God should be like Job’s SOLID. 

You see, God loves us all He’s not the one for special treatments. Even his anointed are not exempted from temptation and disasters. Job was considered so righteous that even Satan asked God if he could test Job’s faith.

Job 1:10-12

10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

As you can see not even the righteous ones;those who worship the Lord in truth and in Spirit can escape trials. The enemy wants to destroy our relationship with God through these trials.Trials like these are just God’s way of proving to the enemy that you can do it, God trusts us so lets not disappoint Him.

“Nothing is more necessary than finding God and falling in love and deeper into Him. Love decides. Love decides everything. What you are in love with decides what you live for. Fall in love with the One who fills your lungs with this breath and all these people and this sky and all this light, all this glorious light. You have to fall in love because this will get you up and keep you going every day.”

— Ann Voskamp

Okay.

Heard Your Voice Lord through her.

Something I recently heard from God about:

Make sure you’re sowing into ministries which have fed you spiritually and make sure you’re being a cheerful giver when you are led, whether you’re in a good position financially or not. Actually, especially when you are not it is important to “sow your mites” and to stop thinking that you’re better off saving your money and pinching pennies instead of giving your firstfruits like you ought to. A Christian friend recently said something really wise to me “you have a special opportunity while in a season that you are struggling or poor to ‘sow out of your poverty.’ You will probably never be this financially unstable again in your life so show your faith now while you have the chance to make that display”

Luke 6:38 ESV

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-7

Kingdom living requires kingdom giving and I am not promoting a prosperity gospel in saying that, but just the fundamental ideas of sowing and reaping and supporting those working in the field/vineyard

Communion.

Here’s where the dead things, come back to living. I feel my heart beating again. It feels so good to know You are my friend.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭4:3-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

To being Woman.

I think about women a lot and the pain they share. I think about my mother's nights taking care of her sister, taking care of her mother's pain. I think about her cries when she miscarried the first time and how fifteen years later she still cries in the bathroom and barricades herself in a room when my father shouts.

think about my grandmother working in a factory fixing stockings for other women in the dark, talking to other tired women outside on the street. I think about her raising children and providing for the family, spending most of her life in the kitchen between pots and pans, riddled with cuts and burns and child bearing. I think about her abortion because she couldn't feed another mouth, because she was already starving.

I think about my great grandmother providing for a family with no husband around, carrying guilt, feeding the chicken, working two jobs, sleeping in a cold house with no lights on.

I think about the women I know who have blood on their thighs, from periods, from childbirth, from rape, from sex with violent men who don't care about them.

i think about the women in bathtubs filled with boiling water, drinking whiskey, using their own knitting needles and coat hangers and throwing themselves down the stairs.

I think about the women who get home and clean the house, wash the same dishes everyday, clean the same house everyday, raising the same children, crying secretly in their bathroom.

I think about the blonde woman on the street corner who I've seen being there for eight years now, waiting for violent men with violent fantasies, waiting for the next beating, the next police fine, the next chance to eat.

I think about a classmate who dropped out from sixth grade to go to Austria, to follow her mother, who went cried in the bathroom stall next to me, because she knew what is going to happen with her.

I think about the pain that women share, the pain they can't articulate, the pain that boils in them for all their lives, becuase it's never appropriate to let it out. wailing women at funerals burying what they made, wailing girls in bathrooms, wailing women alone in their houses.

their blood staining underwears, kitchen knives, bedsheets, thrown away condoms, being consumed from the inside out, because women's pain is natural, because there is greater pain out there, because only little girls cry, never adult women.

Where I see myself in

5 years ✨ (Lifestyle)

- Source: myfemininitymemoir

YEAH. Previously on Tree Sexism.

Botanical Sexism Cultivates Home-Grown Allergies 

Arborists often claim that all-male plants are “litter-free” because they shed no messy seeds, fruits or pods. In the 1949 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, which focused on trees and forests, this advice was given to readers: “When used for street plantings, only male trees should be selected, to avoid the nuisance from the seed.”  In the years following, the USDA produced and released into the market almost 100 new red maple and hybrid-maple-named clones (cultivars), and every single one of them was male.

It took a number of years for these new trees to mature enough to start to bloom, but eventually they did and with them came more city pollen and the “epidemic of allergy and asthma.” Many of these same trees are still alive and well and getting even larger, and the bigger they get, the more pollen they shed.

Allergies are rarely triggered by small amounts of an allergen; they are initiated by an overdose. Small amounts of pollen exposure are actually good for us, but if we have highly allergenic trees or shrubs in our own yards or lining our streets, we will soon enough be over-exposed. In order to put the brakes on America’s allergy epidemic, we need to reverse the trend toward male-dominated landscapes and stop selling and planting any more of the most allergenic trees, shrubs and grasses in our cities.

and the kicker:

Female trees produce no pollen, but they trap and remove large amounts of pollen from the air, and turn it into seed. Female trees (and female shrubs also) are not just passive, but are active allergy-fighting trees. The more female plants in a landscape, the less pollen there will be in the air in the immediate vicinity. By relying less on males and paying more attention to the allergy-potential of all the plants in our urban landscape, all of us may one day breathe easier.

Mercy

by Thomas Scott

“I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.” - Romans 12:1

There is something well calculated to keep us humble in the perpetual reference made in the Scriptures to mercy. We read of nothing granted us on the ground of merit, of nothing that comes from the hand of God as the reward of our good deeds or obtained by us as matter of desert. But the MERCY of God meets us at every point: the food we eat, the air we breathe, the garments we wear, the domestic comforts we enjoy, our civil advantages, and our religious privileges are all represented as matters of mercy – undeserved mercy.

This I say is humbling; yet it is just. Mercy must be the plea of the sinner. Mercy must spare from day to day the man who deserves to be cast into hell. Mercy must supply the daily bread of the man whose very life is forfeited to the justice of his offended creator. And as we are spared and our needs supplied, and ten thousand sources of comfort are opened to us – and not to us only but to all the sinners of our race – we may well say that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,” and that “goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our life.”

And, my brethren, it would be well for us to habituate ourselves to look at all our comforts in this light. They are continued to us in mercy, since by sinning against God we have forfeited every one of them. This would silence many a murmur and produce delightful feelings of gratitude under circumstances which excite us now to anything rather than contentment and praise. Our language would often be like that of Jeremiah: “Why should a living man complain; a man for the punishment of his sin?”

But though a most powerful argument in support of a duty like that of the text might be drawn from the consideration of the innumerable temporal mercies bestowed upon us by our gracious God, yet these are not the things to which St. Paul here alludes. He is drawing this epistle to a close, which, while it is highly practical, is also most highly doctrinal. In its commencement he exhibits, in all its awful nature, the depraved condition of the Gentile world. He then urges home upon the Jews the question whether they were at all better than the Gentiles. And having shown that they were not, he draws the melancholy conclusion that “there was no difference, for that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Having thus established the universal sin and consequent condemnation of the whole human race, he proceeds to meet the grand inquiry, “How may man be just with God?” Had he remained spotless, innocent, and pure in the state wherein he was created, the answer would have been easy: he will be justified by his works, by his own acts and deeds, his constant never-failing obedience to the divine law. But when that law had been violated again and again by every child of Adam, no conclusion could possibly be clearer than that by the deeds of the law could no flesh living be justified in his sight. Justification could not, therefore, depend on the law or on merit.

The apostle then goes on to shew that though man cannot justify himself, and is consequently in a state of condemnation, he is not on that account to be shut up under despair. But he proceeds to prove that there is a righteousness imputed without works, even that righteousness which Christ has brought in, and which he has provided by his own perfect fulfilment of the law, and by his obedience unto death in our place. This is by grace; all of unmerited favor, free goodness, mere mercy. “We are justified freely by his grace.” In this righteousness we obtain a part through faith. Faith receives the record which God has given concerning his Son. Faith stretches out the hand to “receive the things that are freely given to us of God.” Faith relies on the promise, and applies in assured expectation of receiving that which it asks, and which it knows God is ready to give. So important is the grace of faith that we are said to be justified by it, and by it alone. Yet faith has in itself no merit. It is no work which will compensate for failures in other things. It only receives with firm reliance those promises and those gifts which God bestows on the sinner – of mere mercy and free grace.

“The rabbis of the Talmud used to go to great lengths to make themselves available to grant forgiveness to the people who had wronged them. They felt they couldn’t offer forgiveness until it was requested, because they were afraid to short-circuit the inner process of Teshuvah. They understood that in order for forgiveness to be complete, the person who had wronged them needed to arrive at the point of a sincere apology by his or her own inner process, and they didn’t want to interfere with this process. So if someone owed them an apology, they would hover around him constantly, both to remind him of what he had done and to be on hand to grant forgiveness the moment the person apologized. The rabbis recognized that forgiveness was a deep spiritual need for both parties. The wrongdoer needed to be cleansed of his wrongdoing and his guilt for it, and his victim needed to let go of the hot coal of anger he was holding on to. So the rabbis hovered around the people who had wronged them, so that both these needs could be met at the earliest possible moment.”

—

Alan Lew, This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation

shoutout to the most magnificently passive-aggressive power move ever recommended as spiritual practice

God’s Control and Our Prayers

John 14:13-14

Have you ever wondered why we pray if God already knows everything? What do our prayers accomplish?

First, communicating with God connects His Spirit with ours. A relationship can’t survive if the two parties don’t speak with each other.

Second, God communicates His will to His children through prayer. If we’re seeking to please Him, then we will pray with an open heart and mind. In turn, the Lord puts upon us the desire to ask Him for those things He wants to bring into our life.

Third, communing with God gives us the opportunity to participate in His kingdom on earth. As we learn to trust Him for answers, He gives us greater tasks in prayer. The Lord will turn our heart to pray for the salvation of a friend or family member, people suffering from disasters, or the state of our nation. When we see an answer, whether it’s big or small, we will know He blessed us by including us in the process.

God calls on His children to pray, because He wants us to be involved in His work. It’s a privilege for us to freely go before God and know that He is interested in what we have to say. In fact, He is pleased when we ask Him to meet our needs or the needs of someone else. And if we are praying according to His will and not our own, He answers every time.

GOOD THINGS ARE COMING!

I wish that photographs were physical spaces, like tunnels; that you could crawl inside them and go back.

— Lauren Oliver, Vanishing Girls

Oversharing Asks

(Disclaimer: These questions are very personal and may touch on sensitive subjects; you may want to look over them before reblogging. You can strike out or totally delete questions you don’t want to deal with.)

Who hurt you the most?

Who have you hurt the most?

Who do you miss the most?

Who do you want out of your life the most?

Who had the biggest positive impact on you?

Who had the biggest negative impact on you?

Who do you wish you could be honest with?

Who have you harbored (any kind of!) secret feelings towards?

Who would the world be better off without?

Who do you wish you’d treated differently?

What was the worst day of your life?

What’s your greatest fear?

What’s your biggest insecurity?

What’s your biggest regret?

Describe your ideal world.

Describe your personal hell.

What’s a hopeless dream you’re still holding on to?

What’s the most embarrassed you’ve ever been?

What’s the angriest you’ve ever been?

What’s the saddest you’ve ever been?

What’s the most scared you’ve ever been?

What’s the most hopeless you’ve ever felt?

What’s the most frantic you’ve ever felt?

What’s the bravest you’ve ever felt?

What’s the best case scenario for your future?

What’s the worst case scenario for you future?

What’s the most physical pain you’ve ever felt?

What’s the most emotional pain you’ve ever felt?

Describe a time you felt like a hypocrite.

Describe a time you felt like a traitor.

Describe a time you felt like a hero.

Describe a time you felt inhuman.

Describe a time you felt like a failure.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

What are you proudest of?

What’s your relationship with your family like?

What’s your relationship with religion like?

Talk about someone you’ve lost.

Talk about someone who abandoned you.

Talk about a desire you have that scares you.

What’s something you wish you were capable of?

What’s something you’re afraid that you’re capable of?

Describe the kind of life you wish you’d been born into.

Describe your worst heartbreak.

Describe your worst disappointment.

Have you ever taken a fall for someone?

Have you ever forced or let someone take a fall for you?

Have you ever done serious physical harm to someone?

Have you ever done serious emotional harm to someone?

Have you ever self-harmed?

Have you ever attempted suicide?

Have you ever stolen something?

Have you ever cheated on someone?

Have you ever been cheated on?

Have you ever taken revenge on someone?

Have you ever seriously considered killing somone?

Have you ever betrayed someone who trusted you?

Have you ever experienced something supernatural or unexplainable?

The Gospel

Every day, more and more, we see the signs of the times ticking by. Jesus Christ will be returning soon, and bringing Judgment with Him. If you are not a follower of Jesus yet, I beg you to consider (or to reconsider) the Gospel, that in Jesus you will find forgiveness of sins, everlasting life, and the right to be called Children of God.

It may be that, near as the return of Jesus is, you won’t live to see it. None of us are promised tomorrow; not a single hour of life is guaranteed to any of us. Some of you will live out your lives, barring Jesus’ return, and die many years from now. Some of you may not make it into tomorrow. Some people die suddenly, with no warning; this fact makes the need to be right with God all the more urgent.

If you haven’t heard the Gospel, or have heard it before and have forgotton, please allow me to share it with you:

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. After creating everything else, God finally made humankind. We are unique, the only beings in the Creation made in the Image of God, specifically to be in relationship with Him; to be His inheritance; a people called by His name, meant to share in reciprocal love with God of our own free choice.

After some time in Paradise, loving and being loved by God, our first parents fell into willful sin; that is to say, they willfully chose to do what they understood to be wrong.

God, being perfect in Justice and Righteousness, could not remain close to those first humans. He could not continue to bless them, commune with them as He had since the beginning. God, by His very nature, must judge and condemn evil. And so He judged our first parents and cast them out of the Paradise He’d made for them. He stripped them not only of their relationship with Him, but also of their immortality; He condemned them to death.

And yet, God is love; He loved humankind, and desired to save us from the fate our first parents brought down upon us (a fate that we deserve through our own willful sins). God, rather than destroying us completely, went to the very outermost edges of the possible to redeem us from our evil, to again make a way for us to be with Him and live forever.

God became a man; that man was Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life, without any sin at all (a feat none of us could accomplish), and at the appointed time, willingly offered Himself up as a sacrifice, taking upon Himself the guilt of all the sins of all humankind, from our first parents until now, and suffered a fitting punishment for that guilt.

After three days, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of God and ascended to Heaven. God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as a fitting payment, a propitiation for the sins of humankind, and has in His abundant grace and mercy allowed anyone and everyone to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life because of that sacrifice.

This is the scandal of God’s grace: no matter the sin, no matter how corrupt, how wicked, how evil a person has been, God stands ready to forgive them. God will relate to the most evil person who’s ever lived as if they have never sinned, on only one condition: faith.

To have faith in the Biblical sense means that we genuinely believe that the God of Israel exists, and that He cares enough to respond to anyone who seeks Him. And that we believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who and what the Bible says He is: the Son of God; God manifest in the flesh; perfect, and without sin; the Savior who, by His sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection, enables God to have mercy on all who trust in Him. Genuine faith leads to genuine repentance.

To repent means that we acknowledge our sins for what they are: willful acts of evil that deserve God’s justice. It means also to be willing to forsake those sins; every habit, every practice, every vice, every indulgence. We must at least be willing to turn away from our sins, and be willing to submit to God in obedience.

Anyone, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth will be saved. They will not come into judgment, but have, at the moment of faith, passed from death to life.

Please, I beg you, if you’re reading this and you do not believe, or you have not forsaken your sins, please, consider doing so now. Pray. Ask God to reveal Himself to you; He will answer, if you ask sincerely. In some way, and in His time, He will answer you. Don’t allow another day to pass by in your sins. Don’t risk your eternity. Don’t throw away the supreme gift of God’s grace.

Please, I beg you: repent and believe, and escape the coming Judgment.

Dear Good Lord, Teach Me.

This is such a Great Message

read this: When you feel as though God is distant, just remember that He is always near. God promises that when we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. No matter how many times we push Him away, He waits for us with open arms. Run to your Heavenly Father, The Constant One. The Maker of Heaven & Earth. 

Consuming less. Working less. Enjoying efficiency of labor. Saving the planet. Acknowledging climate crisis. None of these things need a higher GDP.

I’m ready for more. I’m ready for new experiences. I’m ready for adventure. I’m ready for expansion. I’m ready for growth.

🙄🙄🙄 Can totally related.

I hate writing cover letters. It’s unbearable

AMEN.

I’m wishing new homes and apartments on everyone that sees this post!!! It’s already yours!! CLAIM IT 🧿🧿🧿

HOLY Spirit is such a faithful teacher and revealer of ALL truth. John 14:26.

Holy Spirit will take care of that, of everything.

bible verses to calm the anxious heart:

Isaiah 41:10 New Living Translation (NLT)

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Philippians 4:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27 New Living Translation (NLT)

27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Psalm 94:19 New Living Translation (NLT)

19 When doubts filled my mind,    your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

Joshua 1:9 New Living Translation (NLT)

9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Psalm 118:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.    What can mere people do to me? 7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.    I will look in triumph at those who hate me.

Can relate.

realizing all over again that God is truly all we need and there’s no way around that. there have been many times in my life where i’ve searched for things to fulfill me. people, relationships, approval, popularity, hobbies (yes even hobbies) and so much more. still, every single time i think that this certain thing could bring me joy, i end up reaching a point of emptiness inside. whether it’s a split second or even an entire month, i realize all over again that i am nothing without God. not even a full days rest could compare to the refreshing joy of being connected with God and being fully known by Him. without God, i am nothing and i can do nothing. it really all comes down to this: even if everything was taken away, would i still be okay with just jesus?

so friend here is your reminder that God is all you need and all you’ll ever need.