Hey there!
It has been years since I have blogged but that's ok! I feel I need to share this!
I have been going through an amazing yet hard time in my life learning to Love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and also trust him when I can't see very far ahead. And so for the last 4 days I have been on this journey with God to deal with a fear I had in my heart called "failure". One, there are many verses in the bible that talk about us as Christians, as the body of Christ, being more than conquers and overcoming all hardship all through Christ for the glory of God. So some background, I was visiting with one of my mentors and God showed me that there were some circumstances from my past that I had judged. And when I did that, I locked my self up, and forced myself to live under the law. And so many times we make judgments (which are not our place to make, only God's) and we THINK we are thinking the way God thinks or sees that situation but we really aren't. He sees it entirely differently. And when we see it through his eyes, that judgment will lift and it frees us to live under grace and then and only then we experience FREEDOM! Freedom to live, freedom in the spirit, and freedom to live in the supernatural. And so since that meeting, my mentor challenged me to ask God to see it the way he sees it and to give me his father heart over those matters. She promised that it would be completely different! So I have prayed and today I got my answer:
"I don't think that God sees it as failures, but as opportunities to grow in!!!"
Ohhh! The freedom God brings is so beautiful! and so precious!
Blessings,
Anna Marie :)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Storms of Life
A while back I had been studying Jesus and Peter when they walked on water. So I thought that I would share. Let me know your thoughts.
Matthew 14:22-36
vs 22. Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of
him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
vs 23. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. Later that night, he was there alone,
vs 24. and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the
waves because the wind was against it.
Let me stop there and talk about this. This tells me that when storms arise and we can't see Jesus, doesn't mean he is not doing anything. Jesus was up, praying on a mountian when the storm started, but he was interceding. Okay let me continue.
vs 25. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
vs 26. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a
ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
vs 27. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Okay stopping again. This is telling me that when we are afraid, Jesus is there. Its says that IMMEDIATLEY Jesus said to them Don't be afraid. He was there for Peter and the other disciples. He is always there, even when we don't see him. And another thing, is they didn't reconize Jesus until he stated who He was. Are you able to reconize him from the distance? Or does he have to state His name or prove who He is. Okay continueing.
vs 28. “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
vs 29. “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and
came toward Jesus.
Stopping yet again. After reading this, in vs 28, Peter tested Jesus. He said "Lord if its really you...." How many times have we done that? We blame God for things that he isn't to blame for. Many times they are consequences from our actions or choices that we have made. I think that sometimes it is easier to blame God, or sometimes its easier to believe that its not Him talking to us. We don't want to believe it is Him. Sometimes the persecution can make us look at things and say "No, God wouldn't ask me to do that." But, sometimes God ask's us to do things just to see if we are willing to do them, to take that step of faith no matter the consequences. Sometimes He doesn't even make us follow through, like Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 when Abraham was tested to sacrifice Isaac. But sometimes He does require us to follow through with it. God asks us to sacrifice things all the time, but are we willing to follow through with it? Okay going on.
vs 29. (again)“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the
water and came toward Jesus.
vs 30. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried
out, “Lord, save me!”
vs 31. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”
he said, “why did you doubt?”
Okay, pausing again. First of all, Peter was the only one who got out of the boat. That took courage! How many of us have the courage to get out of a boat, far out in the water, and walk? Um, not me! But he walked on the water going to Jesus, his focus being Jesus. The very next word is BUT he saw the waves. How many times are we 'walking on water' but we see the waves? Meaning, how many times are we focused on God, we have a goal to get close to him and as we reach that goal, we take our eyes off of our focus for one second and see the waves and we doubt. We look at our waves, lifes storms, or situations thrown at us and we doubt. I believe that when Peter was walking on water, Jesus was his only focus. But when he looked at the storm, his focus was on that storm and not on Jesus where it needed to be. We don't give our storms or situations over to God, so they come in crashing waves and consume us. It says in vs 30 that when Peter BEGAN to sink he cried out. He didn't wait until he was under, It was when he BEGAN to sink. Jesus didn't wait to respond to Peter either, nope he was right there. It says immediatley Jesus reached out and caight his hand. Jesus never said for Peter to wait. It wasn't "One minute!" or "Let me finish this first and then I will be there!" No, it says IMMEDIATLEY Jesus reached out and caught his hand. That means Jesus didn't let him drown, He was there, holding Peters hand in the midst of the storm, helping him through the storm. Jesus is there for us, the WHOLE time, we don't have to wait for him to come rescue us. I don't know about you but that EXCITES me! So many times we have our highs and lows in our relationship with Jesus but as long as our focus is on Jesus and not the storms of life, we too can walk on water. Remember that God's yoke is easy and His burden is light! (*) Okay 2 more vs.
vs 32. And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
vs 33. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son
of God.”
Okay this is the last. This tells me that when Jesus gets in "our boat" our storm calms down, and not only that, but when we LET Jesus in, other people will notice a difference not only in us, but in our everyday lives, and that gives us our chance to witness to them.
(*) This was for a little side note. As I was reading this, Psalm 116:1-7 came to mind and goes with that little section. Hope you enjoyed, even as I typed this up God gave me new stuff and it just refreshed my mind on everything that He showed me. Hope to hear your thoughts. Sorry it has been so long since any of us have written. Be Blessed!
Have A Jesus Filled Day!
Ruthie =)
Matthew 14:22-36
vs 22. Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of
him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
vs 23. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. Later that night, he was there alone,
vs 24. and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the
waves because the wind was against it.
Let me stop there and talk about this. This tells me that when storms arise and we can't see Jesus, doesn't mean he is not doing anything. Jesus was up, praying on a mountian when the storm started, but he was interceding. Okay let me continue.
vs 25. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
vs 26. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a
ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
vs 27. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Okay stopping again. This is telling me that when we are afraid, Jesus is there. Its says that IMMEDIATLEY Jesus said to them Don't be afraid. He was there for Peter and the other disciples. He is always there, even when we don't see him. And another thing, is they didn't reconize Jesus until he stated who He was. Are you able to reconize him from the distance? Or does he have to state His name or prove who He is. Okay continueing.
vs 28. “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
vs 29. “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and
came toward Jesus.
Stopping yet again. After reading this, in vs 28, Peter tested Jesus. He said "Lord if its really you...." How many times have we done that? We blame God for things that he isn't to blame for. Many times they are consequences from our actions or choices that we have made. I think that sometimes it is easier to blame God, or sometimes its easier to believe that its not Him talking to us. We don't want to believe it is Him. Sometimes the persecution can make us look at things and say "No, God wouldn't ask me to do that." But, sometimes God ask's us to do things just to see if we are willing to do them, to take that step of faith no matter the consequences. Sometimes He doesn't even make us follow through, like Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 when Abraham was tested to sacrifice Isaac. But sometimes He does require us to follow through with it. God asks us to sacrifice things all the time, but are we willing to follow through with it? Okay going on.
vs 29. (again)“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the
water and came toward Jesus.
vs 30. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried
out, “Lord, save me!”
vs 31. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”
he said, “why did you doubt?”
Okay, pausing again. First of all, Peter was the only one who got out of the boat. That took courage! How many of us have the courage to get out of a boat, far out in the water, and walk? Um, not me! But he walked on the water going to Jesus, his focus being Jesus. The very next word is BUT he saw the waves. How many times are we 'walking on water' but we see the waves? Meaning, how many times are we focused on God, we have a goal to get close to him and as we reach that goal, we take our eyes off of our focus for one second and see the waves and we doubt. We look at our waves, lifes storms, or situations thrown at us and we doubt. I believe that when Peter was walking on water, Jesus was his only focus. But when he looked at the storm, his focus was on that storm and not on Jesus where it needed to be. We don't give our storms or situations over to God, so they come in crashing waves and consume us. It says in vs 30 that when Peter BEGAN to sink he cried out. He didn't wait until he was under, It was when he BEGAN to sink. Jesus didn't wait to respond to Peter either, nope he was right there. It says immediatley Jesus reached out and caight his hand. Jesus never said for Peter to wait. It wasn't "One minute!" or "Let me finish this first and then I will be there!" No, it says IMMEDIATLEY Jesus reached out and caught his hand. That means Jesus didn't let him drown, He was there, holding Peters hand in the midst of the storm, helping him through the storm. Jesus is there for us, the WHOLE time, we don't have to wait for him to come rescue us. I don't know about you but that EXCITES me! So many times we have our highs and lows in our relationship with Jesus but as long as our focus is on Jesus and not the storms of life, we too can walk on water. Remember that God's yoke is easy and His burden is light! (*) Okay 2 more vs.
vs 32. And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
vs 33. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son
of God.”
Okay this is the last. This tells me that when Jesus gets in "our boat" our storm calms down, and not only that, but when we LET Jesus in, other people will notice a difference not only in us, but in our everyday lives, and that gives us our chance to witness to them.
(*) This was for a little side note. As I was reading this, Psalm 116:1-7 came to mind and goes with that little section. Hope you enjoyed, even as I typed this up God gave me new stuff and it just refreshed my mind on everything that He showed me. Hope to hear your thoughts. Sorry it has been so long since any of us have written. Be Blessed!
Have A Jesus Filled Day!
Ruthie =)
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