What can you do to make God smile?

Have you ever just sat and wondered if God smiles at things you do in your life? David in Psalms was one who always wanted to make God smile; He was always looking at ways to make God smile. When was the last time you tried to make God smile for something you have done? David was a man who was after Gods own heart. Psalm119: 135 make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.



David was one who felt Gods smile upon Him. What can you and I do to have God smile down on us?


God smiles when we love Him with all our heart and put him first in our lives.


Making God Number 1 in our life is not necessarily an easy thing to do because many things come to crowd out our commitment to Him. We have to choose to follow Jesus. We have to choose to not allow the cares of our life to crowd Him out. Satan will work hard against this, he will tell you that you don’t need church, that you don’t need to be around other Christians. Satan will play with your mind. God sees this and will work for you if you are putting Him first and making wise decisions. You do need church, Bible, Christians to surround you. God gives each of us special abilities and expects us to be faithful in using what we’ve been given. If we use these to the best of our ability and follow Him, He will surely smile down on us.


Knowing that Our Lord’s coming gives me a real reason to smile; the joy He brings lasts forever, it’s not temporary like the things Satan will throw at you. God smiles when we love Him wholeheartedly, He smiles when we put Him first, God smiles when we trust Him fully, God smiles when we praise Him and lift Him up, God smiles when we receive His joy and spread it to others.


Will you make pleasing God a bigger part of your life and find that making Him smile will in turn make your heart soar with happiness. We glorify God by loving him, by obeying him, by trusting him and walking with him. We honor God when we have faith and trust in him, when we love him, and when we truly desire to know him, obey him and please him in all that we do. We were created to glorify God, enjoy him and walk with Him. When we glorify God and honor God, we get closer to him and enjoy him immensely. God is really pleased and rejoices over us when we glorify him and live for him. This is what makes God smile…


Keep smiling my friends and give God all the Glory so He in turn smiles back at you.

Jesus loves His Children

Gods Comfort at the time of Sadness

As of lately I have found so many people who are sad, broken hearted or just tired. Life has thrown them so many curve balls and the sadness is overwhelming them. Each day as I try to reach out to those that are sad and sick I have found difficulty in doing so in the manner in which I want to. It took some stiff looking at myself to realize why I haven’t been my best, I had to let go of issues that I knew God wasn’t happy with me for, and in one case I had to let a friend go, because I knew this friendship wasn’t what I needed to stay in a relationship with God and do work for Him. Sometimes our own sadness comes from our inner soul and the thoughts that we have when we are sinning and we know it.

This afternoon I took a walk around my house, it was a beautiful winter day, with the sun shining and a mild wind blowing. As I was reflecting on a sermon I had heard from Joel Osteen this morning I realized what I had been doing to myself and why I wasn’t finding a peace that I needed. As I walked I was asking God for forgiveness for my sins and thanking Him for all that He has blessed me with. His presence was with me today, my head was turned up quickly as I heard His voice, it was simple, do you see the wind my daughter? I responded no Lord I don’t, do you feel the wind my daughter? Yes Lord I surely do, then know my daughter that I am like the wind, you don’t see me, but I am always there with you, seek me and you will feel my presence just as you feel the wind. Tears as I write this down on paper, for I have known sadness and I have fault off making changes in my life and giving up what I know was wrong, but today I knew I had to ask God to deliver me from this sadness before I let Satan take over my heart. Yes sadness will do that. God showed me today again, just how much He loves me.

There are so many people that for one reason or the other, are sad, alone, and are in need of comfort. We tend to ignore the sad, thinking to ourselves who wants to be bothered with their depression, let’s find someone who is happy. When a person is in a desperate need of comfort we should reassure them to keep hope and faith in their hearts and let them know they aren’t alone, that maybe we don’t have the comfort they need but we surely know someone who does, and then tell them about Jesus. You don’t have to guilt them for being sad, we all have been at one time or another, but we do need to let them know that Jesus loves them and is there for them.


Jeremiah 29 :( 11-13)11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.


Psalm 34:17-20 (KJV) 17The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 20He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.


Philippians 4:19 (KJV) 19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.


Those are all scriptures from the Bible that are to comfort us when we are sad, to let us know that we are loved and are never alone.


Did you know sadness was first seen in the very beginning of the bible, fall of mankind (Genesis 3), when Eve ate of the fruit that she wasn’t supposed to, and then Adam followed? The serpent had told her it was ok, they both disobeyed God which would bring sadness to us all for our lives, because now women would suffer during childbirth and men would suffer thru the thorns and thickets to provide food. So my friend know that sadness started early, but thru it all Jesus never left Adam and Eve just as He hasn’t left us. He loved them and He loves us. It is up to you if you want to turn your sadness upside down. Choose God and you will find that the sadness will dissipate. God is so happy to love you and get you through the difficult times; I hope you will allow Him too.

I will be a friend who will not run away when you are sad, but will try to give you words of encouragement, so my friends, know that I too am here if you need me, for I will pray and give your problems to God and encourage you to do so too.






Choose Gods (Son) shine over Satan’s sadness and tears!

"Purity"

I think of the White Robe of Christ when I see these beautiful flowers; they say purity to me. 

There is no purity like that of God.

1 Peter 2:9 (KJV) 9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;

These flowers are grown under special care of people who specialize in their growth under the right temperatures and nurturing, just as we grow under the one who specializes in our growth and He has been nurturing us since before we were born as He created us in His likeness. In the beginning we had hearts that were pure and snow white as these flowers, however as you see in the second picture some stain evolved when colors were mixed, just as we became stained when Adam and Eve were mixed, as they sinned, we became stained.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul says, ". . . Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. . . "

Genesis 34 teaches us about the need to maintain spiritual purity, how to maintain spiritual purity and how not to respond to spiritual impurity. Our beliefs and thoughts have to remain pure if we are to be with Jesus one day.

(Psalm 18:26) With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Ezekiel 36:25-27(KJV) 25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you and heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Jesus stands for purity, He is there to cleanse your soul, spirit and heart if you only ask and give your life to Him. He is so worthy my friends. The next time you look into the puffy white clouds or see a beautiful white flower, or a new born baby, think of what God stands for, and what He wants for you. It is His beauty that stands before us. Jesus is amazing, let Him in.

“God is the Answer, It’s never too late”

If you want results, do not ask God to deal with the devil for you. Just as God told Moses to drive out the inhabitants of the land (Numbers 33:52), He instructs you to drive out the demons or evil spirits (Mark 16:17). "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).



Are you having difficulty getting Satan off your back? Is he jumping at you every which way you turn, if so, say this simple prayer?


Satan, in the Name of Jesus By the blood of Jesus and through the power of the cross, I bind you and command you to get out of my life. Get out of my home Get out of my family Get out of my body Get out of my mind Get out of my spirit, out of my finances. Forgiveness is mine, Joy is mine, Peace is mine Salvation is mine, Health is mine Prosperity is mine. It's all mine. In the name of Jesus and by the blood of Jesus Christ Lord, I repent and curse you Satan, in Jesus Name and Blood, Amen!


Mark 16:17-18 (KJV) Mark 16:17-18 17And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.


There are all kinds of things that tempt us, hurt us, and confuse us. The devil loves nothing more than using these things to keep us down so he can have the upper hand! Yet God has given us everything we need to keep the devil in his place, beginning with the Word of God. To win over the enemy and live in victory, we must do more than know His Word - we must put it into action and live it daily! You are in control of who controls you, not Satan; it’s up to you to walk a life for God, God wants to bless you.


It is a time in all of our life’s to put Satan in His place, to use spiritual warfare on Him, and praise our heavenly Father and get back to the basics of studying the real word of God, the King James version of the Bible, Where God’s word is still in red. Like I said before Satan will attack us, but we have to put a stop to this wrestling around with him and trust in God’s word as it states in Ephesians 6:12-13(KJV) 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.


It’s never too late to serve God……Get Satan off your back today, don’t wait another second.


God bless you my friends.

This flower reminds me of God’s Beauty and yet the washed out stains of His blood that He shed for us.  Picture taken by Brenda Redmond at the Van Wingerden Nursery in Mills River NC

Are you waiting on a healing from God?

If you are one that is suffering from an illness and you can’t seem to find relief, I hope to help you find some answers as to why you may have not received your healing yet.

The first question you need to ask yourself is where is my faith? I have found that without Faith in God, He cannot bless us.

James 1:6-8 (KJV) 6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Your faith needs to rely on God’s word, not others; you have to trust that His will is what is needed in your life, not your will. God wants to heal you, but healing sometimes has to come at a time we don’t want, we are minute people, we are impatient and if you really trust the Lord, the wait is always worth it.

You may ask where this line of writing comes from today. I have a family member who is dealing with an illness, which we are not sure of at all right now; there were scans done today, but no results till the doctor calls. I personally have faith in God’s word and I know that He will heal.

Is your heart heavy over a sick friend or family member? Do you wish you could do something to help? You can lift your friend or family member to the Lord in prayer. Here is a Bible verse and a prayer to help you ask God for James 5:15-16 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Precious Father you know my family member so much better than I do. You know her sickness and the burden she carries. You also know her heart. Lord, I ask you to be with my niece now as you work in her life. Lord, let your will be done in my niece’s life. If there is a sin that needs to be confessed and forgiven, please help her to see her need and confess. Lord, I pray for my niece just as your Word tells me to pray, for healing. I believe you hear this earnest prayer from my heart and that it is powerful because of your promise. I have faith in you, Lord, to heal my niece, but I also trust in the plan you have for her life. Lord, I don't always understand your ways. I don't know why my niece even has to suffer at all, but I trust you. I ask that you look with mercy and grace toward her. Nourish her spirit and soul in this time of suffering and comfort her with your presence. Father, please let my niece know you are there with her through this difficult time. Give her strength, faith and encouragement. I give you all the Glory and Praise for this divine touch on her life and healing in her physical and mental body. I thank you in advance for your will in her life to be done in Jesus Holy Name! Amen!

When we are in pain, we can turn to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, for healing. It doesn't matter whether we need help in our body or our spirit; God has the power to make us better. However without Trust or Faith in His mighty works, you have nothing, including that healing that you need.

Isaiah 53:5 KJV But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Messengers

Artist view of an angel who guarded the Tree of Life when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

The word “angel” literally means messenger. Angels are created spirit beings. God created them as spirits before the foundation of the world was ever laid, and before there was time.


I have heard my entire life when someone has died that God needed another angel in Heaven. We all think so highly of what this means, and even though God wants us to be angels, this isn’t the case, as you will find in this scripture.

Angels are not glorified human beings. Matthew 22:30 explains that they do not marry or reproduce like humans, and Hebrews 12:22-23 says that when we get to the heavenly Jerusalem, we will be met by “myriads of angels” and “the spirits of righteous men made perfect”—two separate groups. Angels are a company or association, not a race descended from a common ancestor (Luke 20:34-36). We are called “sons of men,” but angels are never called “sons of angels.”

You may ask why angels were created. They were created for the same reason we were created…to bring glory to God!

Col. 1:16-18 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: [17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Angels~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They are stronger than man, but not omnipotent (Psalm 103:20; 2 Peter 2:11).

They are greater than man in knowledge, but not omniscient (2 Samuel 14:20; Matthew 24:36).

They are more noble than man, but not omnipresent (Daniel 9:21-23, 10:10-14).

It is so important to also realize that all angels are not good. The Bible classifies some angels as “elect” (1 Timothy 5:21) or “holy” (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38). All angels were originally holy, enjoying the presence of God (Matthew 18:10) and the environment of heaven (Mark 13:32).

Other angels oppose God under the leadership of Satan (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Ephesians 6:12). We often call these “demons.”

What I learned while reading on Angels is that their main purpose is to worship and praise our Father, they are used to reveal, guide, provide, protect, deliver, strengthen, encourage, answer prayers, and for caring for us believers at the moment of death. These things you can read about in several places in the Bible, such as the book of Luke, chapter 16, verse 22 in the story of Lazarus and the rich man; there we find that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom when he died. We all need angels in our lives; each day I ask God to have His angels watch over and protect me, my family and friends. Even the vehicle I am driving needs protection. Satan is everywhere, I know I’m not taking any chances, for with God all I have to do is ask and He is here for me. (I love you Jesus, thank you for your divine protection and guidance today)

Spend your life learning as much as you can about our Lord and Savior and how Angels play an important part in our life. If you need an angel in your life, pray for this, and when one appears, make sure you acknowledge the love the Lord is offering.

Be like the angels and worship and Praise our Heavenly Father, ask that he provide you with strength, encouragement and guide and deliver you from all harm.

When counting your blessings this Thanksgiving, do not forget to thank God for the angels. They are always with us, always acting on our behalf, even though, most of the time, they are not noticed because they work behind the scenes and are not visible to our human eyes. This is by design, for angels do not bring attention to themselves; instead, they bring glory to God.

May Gods Angels watch over and protect you today, tomorrow and always my friends; this is my blessing for you. Nancy, Angels are around you my sister, God hears you!

Looking for God's Light

On this day of taking pictures, I was asking God to shine on me and as you see here, His Ray’s shined brightly on me through the trees.  This was a cool windy day, yet His light was bright, and all it took was me asking for it.  Praise His Holy Name!