Tag: God’s love

Why Read the Bible?

On By CarmenLeave a comment

With our busy schedules and fast-paced world, it’s vital that we prioritize God and make time to read His message to us through the Bible.

Why?

Because the Bible is God’s inerrant word, His testimony of love for us, His book of promises that hold true, and our guide to living life victoriously.

The Bible unfolds God’s great love for us despite our sin by providing us with redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The following Scripture verses tell us this.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned— Romans 5:8-12

This one man from whom we inherited sin is Adam, God’s first creation of mankind. As descendants of Adam, we all have his sin nature because we live in a fallen world.

Just like Adam, we all are deceived by Satan.

We have the same nature that steers us to do our own thing which we think benefits us opposed to following God and His ways.

Think about this:  Holy God sees and knows our sin against Him; but He because He is love, He provides us a way to be forgiven.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17

This truly is amazing grace!

I wonder how many of us freely and quickly forgive and restore those who have committed sins against us.

I will admit that this is probably the hardest thing for me to do. My sin nature wants to hold a grudge and reminisce the hurt others have caused me. But God does not want me to do this; so, I must surrender to His will and change my way of thinking and acting for my own good.  

Why?

Because God has forgiven me—over and over again.

We should all thank God for His love and grace toward us.

The Bible is factual history and inerrant prophecy.

It is His story—God’s story of His creation which includes Earth and mankind.

God is the author of history since the very beginning and He tells us not only about the past, but also the future.

‘Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
    from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
    and I will do all that I please.’ Isaiah 46:9-10

Through His word, God gives us a foundation and principles on which to base our lives.

We read about real-life stories of those who lived before us who followed Him and those who did not. We read about their actions and consequences, both good and bad.

None are without sin, but when we repent, God guides His children to overcome any adversity, wrong attitude, and poor decision.

And there is no fooling God for He knows the hearts minds of us all!

God is so good that He shares what the future holds for mankind on Earth, as well as during Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, and into eternity.

Even though life will change on Earth as we know it (becoming gruesome for a period of time), those of us who are God’s children will make it into eternity to live forever with our Creator and Savior. We will finally live as God originally intended in Adam and Eve’s time in the Garden of Eden—in perfect peace and complete joy, without sorrow and physical pain or physical restrictions.  

We can only gain knowledge and truth if we read God’s word and we are told that we will be blessed if we read it.

God wants only the best for us and wants us to be overcomers.

As stated previously, our heavenly Father knows that we live in a world tainted by Satan’s wiles and temptations.

This is why He gives us a glance into the lives of the many whose names are in the Bible. We learn from them as we read about their trials, their failures, and their victories. And these victories were given to His followers by God Himself!

Our heavenly Father does not change, and He does not show partiality. What He did for His children in the past, He will do for His children today.

God is our provider, protector, and best friend.

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
    and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Psalm 91:1-4

I believe that God’s word is His book of love written to us. It has stood the test of time over thousands of years and has been proven to be true over and over again.

It is a wealth of knowledge made just for us so that we can

  • believe and understand His love for us
  • receive the gift of eternal life and be restored to Him through His Son Jesus Christ
  • draw near to our Creator and commune with Him
  • believe in and witness His supernatural power
  • know what pleases God and follow His ways
  • hold onto His promises despite the trials we face
  • be encouraged in our daily walk with our Savior Jesus Christ
  • learn from the mistakes of others’ past
  • be thankful for the good in our lives and praise Him
  • know that our struggles never last
  • help others in their time of need

I want to share with you a few tips that have helped me read and better understand the Bible over the years.

Choose a translation (there are many) that you can understand and are comfortable reading. The New American Standard Bible (NASB) and English Standard Version (ESV) are good ones to start with. You may also want to invest in a study Bible which expounds on the text.

Pray and ask God to help you understand what He wants you to learn each day as you read His word.

Set aside a specific time each day or evening just to study God’s word. We are told to meditate on His word day and night. (Joshua 1:8) This means to think about what you read each day for retention.

Keep reading even though you may not understand everything, it’s okay. This is why it’s good to have a study Bible.

Make it a lifelong habit to read the Bible. When you finish one translation, pick up a different one and continue seeking. I’ve read many translations of the Bible over the years, and I learn something new every day.

Apply what you read daily to your thoughts and actions. We should be “doers” of His word for which we are promised to be blessed. (James 1:22-25)

Attend a Bible study with others at church or in a group setting. When we share our understanding and compare notes, we gain even more understanding.   

Use godly resources online to help you and don’t forget to ask God to help you discern which resources to use.

May you be blessed as you dive into the truth of God’s word and may it transform us all to be just like Jesus!

I would like to share one of my all-time favorite songs that praises God. I hope it will warm your heart and move you to praise God also. 

If you want to have a relationship with God and are not sure how or where to start, see my previous posts Relationship with God and Relationship with God – Part 2.

Spending Time with God

On By Carmen1 Comment

If you joined me last week for Starting the New Year with Promise, you read how important it is to study God’s word (the Holy Bible) daily.

We learned that we should meditate on His word, that is, to think upon what we read and strive to commit it to memory and apply it to our lives.

It can be done. It just takes carving out a set time in your schedule and perseverance.

It takes time to form a habit, so don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or so while trying to set up your schedule. Just start again the next day where you left off.

Most importantly, ask God to help you. He delights in helping someone who is trying to follow Him.

This week we are going to go further in seeking after God by forming another new habit (if you haven’t already), which is to spend time with God.

That is, to schedule time with God where only you and He are together to commune with each other.

Let’s look at a scripture verse that suggests we should seek after God.

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

God makes it clear in His word that any who diligently seek Him will find Him.

I want to confess something—only because it will help you know that it can be done, not to offer any excuses.

It took me some time to get this special time with God placed solidly on my calendar. I had to want to do it and stick with it in order for it to become a habit in my life.

When I first heard how to do this from Dr. Charles Stanley, founder of InTouch Ministries, I wanted to do it, but made excuses that I didn’t have time or didn’t have the space to do so.

I believe that God pursued me about this because I heard Dr. Stanley’s sermon about this topic again and again. Dr. Stanley gave all kinds of reasons why and ideas of how to get alone with God—he even spoke about just going into a closet and turning off the lights to avoid distractions.

He said that it was during these times that he spent alone with God that he had been the most reassured of God’s love and given the most insight in how to handle any situation that he was involved in—good or bad. Dr. Stanley insisted that this was a practice that would bring great reward to the seeker.  

So, I started my time alone with God in a closet (with the lights turned off) in an apartment many years ago. Today, I have a special room in my home where I go to spend time with God, seeking His face, praying, and talking to Him. I also set aside time to be quiet and just listen to God speak to me.

This act of seeking God and spending alone time with Him has been such a blessing in my life.

A couple of years ago, I was asking God what He would have me do with my life after moving to South Carolina. It was during Covid and I no longer wanted to work outside my home.

I believe through prayer and time spent alone with God that He showed me the next career for me—blogging about His goodness in order for others to know Him and walk with Him. If anyone would have told me prior to Covid that I would be blogging, I would have laughed and said, “No way, not my thing!”  

If you’re questioning whether or not God speaks to His children, the answer is YES, He most certainly does!

In the parable of the Good Shepherd, Jesus says,

“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” (John 10:27)

Jesus said it, so I believe it!

After some time, listening to God and following Him was something that I desired and needed. I once told a group of friends that I would never want to be so happy with my life that I would forget God. I still feel this way today.

By the way, I am very happy with my life, and I know it’s because of God.

He must be first in my life—first before my family, my work, my pleasures.

It is when I put God first that I can be and do what I should for my family, my work, and have a healthy balance in my leisure time.  

Before I close, I want to share with you one more promise I have always treasured and held on to. It is our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ reassuring His followers.

 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?  And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. God is more than willing to help you!

This is good news from God that He is for you and He will provide for you no matter how bleak your situation looks. He loves you because He created you and He has a purpose for you.

Seek His kingdom and His righteousness and let Him show you how much He loves you.

He is my Creator, my best friend, and my priority. Without Him, I would not exist; I cannot breathe; and I cannot discern what is best for my life.

I hold my relationship to Him as dear and privileged.

I hope this is or will be the same for you.

May God grant you His peace, His wisdom, and may His face shine upon you as you draw near to Him.

I love to end my messages with an inspirational song for your listening pleasure. The one below is perfect for today’s message.

“First Things First” – Consumed by Fire

Trusting God

On By Carmen1 Comment

What do you do when you feel deep inside that a life storm is on the horizon? You’ve seen the warning signs and you know that trouble is around the corner. You just don’t know if the trouble will directly affect you. I’m not writing about a person who has a habit of worrying, rather someone who has committed their life to Jesus and has walked with Him; someone who has acknowledged and experienced God’s blessings in their life, but now is in the middle of a storm. Life has been pretty good for a while, and now despite all your efforts a storm is heading in your direction.

This is what is going on in our life and I’ll explain, but first I want to share a scripture verse that can help bring perspective and assuage fear.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 
Isaiah 41:10

God gave us scripture (His word) for many reasons, one of which is to encourage us. His word is true and can be trusted. I know this personally because I have had occasion to deal with storms in the past and I have relied on God’s word to help me through each one. The anxiety could have done me in if I had not redirected my focus and belief to what God says. There were times during bad situations that fear would rise in me; I had to carry a notecard in my pocket with specific scripture to read several times daily. This helped me overcome my distress and although my future was unknown to me, God knew all about it—and He knows now. He also knows all about your situation that is causing you anxiety.

It helps me to really question my faith in times like this. I tell myself if I can believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, then I should be able to believe that He can protect me through a dark storm.

Reread the scripture verse above from Isaiah. He is telling us that He will uphold us, so we should hold on until God changes the situation or takes us through the storm. This means that we don’t give up if we don’t see results quick enough. It means that we trust blindly. A side note, we should also be open to what He tells us to do or gives us to do—even if it is hard or we don’t like it.

I remember many years ago listening to Dr. Tony Evans, senior pastor at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas. I had a cassette series of his sermons on faith that I listened to while I jogged around my neighborhood that helped me tremendously. I remember Dr. Evans saying “Life is full of trials; you are either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or about to go into one.” There is no way to avoid them, so we must accept this fact and learn to grow in faith in God. Below is one of the scripture verses that I memorized and still use today, thanks to Dr. Evans.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 
Hebrews 6:11

This verse has always meant so much to me. It has helped me understand that I must have faith in God before I see His answer; that I have to hold on to His word; and that He will reward me for my faith. This is one of those verses that I wrote down and put in strategic places that would remind me daily of my part, which helped to relieve my fears. I have good news for you, my friend—God will do His part! I am happy to share that I’ve been there, done that. May this be a blessing to you while you are walking with God through your storm.

If you are a Christ follower and you are seeking God and His will, He will provide for you in good times and difficult times. This provision comes not only in our basic needs like food, shelter, and money to pay the bills; it also comes as messages to us through the Holy Spirit while we’re seeking Him. What I mean is that God will speak to us through the Holy Spirit to keep us on His path and He will provide a word in time of need. For example, recently one Sunday while eating breakfast before I started getting ready for church, I was watching Dr. Charles Stanley on TV. “It just so happened” that Dr. Stanley’s message was about levels of faith—exactly what I needed to hear and be reminded of. God’s timing is perfect!

Our Current Situation:

My husband was informed a few weeks ago that there would be layoffs in the company he works for and has been with for many years. We have seen this coming in the last couple of years due to loss in sales. My husband is a diligent worker who treats his job like it is his own business. There are a few employees that report directly to him and he likes all of them. He is very upset that he may be losing any of them because he knows that they depend on their income to support their family. He is also aware if sales don’t improve he may very well lose his job. He is a few years away from retirement and we still have a mortgage to pay as well as life goals we want to accomplish including goals for a business we want to start when he retires. Meanwhile, I have just determined what God wants me to do after having a previous career in corporate America 30+ years.  I am now starting to write this blog to share with others just how good God is. This means that my husband is the bread winner and sole provider at this time.

We both know that God is our provider and that everything good comes from Him. We have seen Him change our lives for the better when there were storms before. We trusted Him and prayed for His help and guidance. He moved on our behalf which was seamless and better than what we could have asked for. There are so many stories of just how good God is that I want to share as I continue writing.

Remember His Past Faithfulness:

Around twenty years ago, I personally went through a massive round of layoffs with a company I worked nine years for when I was single and needed every penny of what I made. I had little savings and no family nearby. The one thing I did have was my faith in God. I was already seeking after God prior to this scary event in my life and was learning about Him through reading the Bible and listening to men of great faith. Dr. Evans taught me to remember God’s faithfulness in the past just as the shepherd David said to King Saul when he encountered Goliath.

And David said to Saul, “May no one’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” But Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him; for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior since his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, I went out after it and attacked it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it.  Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”                                 1 Samuel 17:32-37

God is pleased with our outrageous faith in Him! These teachings and truths are what got me through.

Within six months, I was rehired by the same company, but only part-time, which was okay with me as I had started working to build my own business as a wardrobe consultant.

As for now, my husband and I will go through this impending storm in our lives trusting God. This doesn’t mean that we are not concerned, it just means that we have another opportunity to grow our faith in God. It means that we will endeavor to learn from this experience and put it to good use. As a friend of mine used to say when a tough situation would occur, “I can’t wait to see what God is going to do.”

Going through a storm may not be easy, but God is always faithful! We increase our faith by walking with God through hardships so we can be a blessing to others who go through similar situations.

Heavenly Father, I pray for everyone out there today that is going through a storm in their life. Give them the encouragement that they need to follow You and to not fear. Help them to feel Your presence and to follow You in faith so that they too can see Your divine power at work. In Jesus’s mighty name. 

Below are some resources to help you through your walk of faith with God. I have listened to both Dr. Charles Stanley and Dr. Tony Evans for many years and they have always been on point in their teachings from the Bible. I consider them both godly men who have walked the life of faith with God. Even though Dr. Stanley passed into eternity last year and is now resting in God’s glory and peace, his teachings are still available. I have included links below to the messages that have helped me in the past to overcome my fear while walking with God through my life’s storms.

Dr. Charles Stanley – Levels of Faith in the Life of a Believer  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLuK_tSOxBk

Dr. Tony Evans – The Heroes of Faith https://www.ocbfchurch.org/downloads/heroes-full-series/

As always, I have a song to share with you that has been a great comfort and encouragement to me.

“Walk by Faith” – Jeremy Camp