Past, Present and Future

It's fun to look back at the last (almost 2 years) and see how I've grown with God in this short time. My second entry to this blog was talking about being a co-leader for Grace's G2K and how I was born with the potential to lead but not ever really the skills! We just started up (what will be Grace and my) 3rd year of G2K. Last year I lead her small group and this year I took on a new role! Large group leader! It turns out that I lead both small and large group sessions on Sunday because we haven't had enough volunteers sign up! So God has definitely taken this Heart and these Hands and molded them into the leader He saw in me all along. God you are So Faithful and Good.

and again..

on my drive home last night. It was later than I usually get on the road after work because we had an off sight meeting south of Minneapolis. But as I was driving into Elk River around 5:55 p.m. there it was to the left of me, a maroon mustang same license plate as the Dodge Avenger.

More on Abraham

This Sunday we will gather around the story, GOD BUILDS A NATION. It is the story of God's call and promise to Abraham. God promises three very specific things to Abraham; I will give you a PLACE (land), I will give you a PEOPLE (more descendants than the stars of the heavens), and I will give you a PURPOSE (you will be a blessing to the nations). In one sense of the word these are three timeless and true promises to every follower of the Lord God! At the same time they are unique and particular to Abraham as the one through whom God begins to save, redeem, restore and reconcile the world.

Today...

It was a Dodge Avenger.

You are just going to have to trust me on this one. It's not an MN license plate. Speak Lord, Your Servant is Listening.

This Sunday

I'm reading from The Story this Sunday at church. I'm reading about Abram and what God asked of Him. I do believe I am being called to Go. Keeping my Eyes AND my ears open Lord. Thy Will Be Done, On Earth AS IT IS in Heaven. To You Be ALL of The Glory.

Your Love Never Fails

And there it was, on my drive in this morning about to turn onto Thurston Ave., a truck in the lane next to me with the license plate that i see far more often than one might think they would see in MN. huh. Keep Your Eyes Open My Love.

Reminder in Colossians

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 3-14

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

P.s.

I know I am always pointing out to Grace the numerous small/big ways that you listen to her heart and Give Her the Desires of Her heart! But today I need to say Thank You Lord for always listening to my heart. Grace and I had a wonderful time yesterday at our fun lunch stop in Alexandria. I know you know how much my cup overflowed from that experience. Thank you for Loving me the way you do.

God, you are My God

Seek Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with your God. Well, Lord, Thank you for blessing this weekend. I am SO grateful that I was proven wrong, and that I was humbled and over-joyed to know that you WERE present at Mike and Cindy's wedding this weekend. It was a beautifully written sermon that acknowledged you in a couple of glorious ways. To you be ALL of the Glory. I pray that they walk humbly with you and each other and that they do grow in Love. Thank you for the gift of my immediate family this weekend. I pray that we all learn to find forgiveness in our hearts for EVERYONE who ever says or does things that hurt us. Praying for my Aunt especially. Thank you for the gift of Aunt Liz, Uncle Larry/Aunt Nadine AND Aunt Kathy/Uncle Joe and Jeff, they are all so kind and genuine and I am grateful when I get to spend time with them.

John 14:6

Jesus answered: "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me."

Isaiah 53: 3-6

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Galatians 6-10

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1-9

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 12:12

Be Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction, Faithful in Prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be Joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Luke 7:50

I also believe i needed this reminder: Jesus said to the woman, "because you have believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace."

Luke 8:15

And the seed that fell on good ground is like those who hear God's teaching with good, honest hearts and obey it and patiently produce good fruit. Another translation said "with good and honest hearts and Patient Endurance". I needed that reminder. Patient Endurance. Wait with Joy and Hope.

John 2 1:11

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b] 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Jesus' Mother

Hail Mary, Full of Grace The Lord is with Thee, Blessed art thou among women and blessed if thy fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

1 John 1: 5-10

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Need to let this sink in deep

Christian holiness is not the avoidance of darkness at all costs. It includes going into the darkness, letting our Light shine without compromise, and bringing people back from the darkness by the power of God. Jesus’s true followers are not only crucified to the world, but also raised to new life and sent back in to free others. Let’s die to every sinful desire in us for bad company, and yield to the holy impulse to befriend some of the world’s worst for Jesus’s sake.

Romans 3:23

It is God’s grace for those who have put their hope and trust in Him, that brings us into eternity with Him, despite what we deserve. All are sinners, all have fallen short, and deserve hell, yet for those who believe, for those who have faith in Him, we are able to spend our time here on earth sharing His love with others, and looking forward to forever with Him. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Great Reminder

“Real spiritual growth happens when we look up to Christ and what He has already done, out to our neighbors and what they need, not into ourselves and how we are doing.”

John 16: 33

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 15: 9-17

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

John 7:28-29

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

Jesus Heals Many

Luke 4: 38-41 38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. 40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

You overcame

I Love you My Lord, My God with All of My Heart, My Mind, My Body and Soul. Savior, worthy of Honor and Glory, worthy of all of our Praise, You Overcame. Thank you for the continual stream of Grace and Mercy.

Luke 1:26 thru 1:38

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. Having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!" But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name 'Jesus.' He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?" The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For everything spoken by God is possible." Mary said, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word." The angel departed from her.