God makes all things new!

“I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:13

Wait a minute! The title says, GOD IS THE PROVIDER! The series says, GOD MAKES ALL THINGS NEW! Shouldn’t the verse be something about good and perfect gifts coming from above, or maybe something about God will give you the desires of your heart?
NO, for this season and for this situation my favorite verse sustained me and kept my eyes on JESUS!

Philippians 4:13 came to me when I was in college! I was alone and scared and walking through the hardest steps in my young faith than I had every walked before!
My parents were getting divorced after twenty years of marriage! I was devastated. I felt as if my entire life was falling into broken pieces around my feet. I was numb from the inside out! My parents were Christians! How could this be happening! What were my sisters and I going to do? What would we become?
Would we be placed in “THAT” category, you know, the one that paints the words on your forehead, “I COME FROM A BROKEN HOME!”
I mean after all, wasn’t being a “Christian” supposed to guard and protect you from these things? My world was spinning out of control FAST! I had to do something to try and salvage it. I did the only thing I could think of. I ran to my grandparents and asked them if they could help me go to a Christian College. I needed support, encouragement and it was the only place I could think of to find it.
When I arrived at my college dorm room, I met the cutest little gal from Texas who was on fire for JESUS! For this gal, “everything was coming up roses!” She bubbled over with Jesus in the morning, at noon, and all day long!
One day she walked into our room and handed me a small plaque with the verse that would become my LIFE’S VERSE, Philippians 4:13.

“I can do all things through CHRIST who strengtheneth me.”

Yes, it was in the King James Version! That is how this gal rolled!

That plaque, with that verse of TRUTH, sits on my desk still today! It has traveled all around the United States with me, and all around the world with me!
No matter where God has taken me and called me to go, that plaque with that verse goes with me!
Every HOME God has placed Jim and I in, (very few of them have we owned), that verse hangs on a wall in!
If you asked my children what their Mom’s favorite verse is they would both answer immediately and without hesitation, PHILIPPINES 4:13.
It is my email address, it is my verse after my signature, IT IS MY LIFE PROMISE FROM GOD AND IT IS THE TRUTH THAT SUSTAINS ME!

I have walked through many other difficult trials and steps that have caused pain, suffering and struggle! But I have never again faced a circumstance where I felt hopeless!
I know God’s WORDS are TRUTH, AND I CAN DO ALL THINGS TROUGH JESUS CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH!

So today, I am concluding a series on ‘GOD MAKING ALL THINGS NEW,’ and I am pleased to give HIM ALL THE GLORY FOR BEING THE GREAT PROVIDER!
I am thanking Him for providing Jim and I with a beautiful NEW home! But I am also; believe it or not, THANKING Him for taking us on a difficult, painful and LONG journey to get there!

I am in NO WAY pretending to be a “martyr” or “Super Christian.” I AM NOT EITHER ONE OF THOSE! Those closest to me will testify to that fact! They will tell you that through this LONG four and a half month journey to our new home, there were days of doubt, sadness, fear and longing. But they will also tell you that we clung to THE TRUTH of Christ Jesus being our strength and HE PROVIDED!

So, today as I sit here writing and listening to this very large dog next door barking non-stop for no apparent reason, I am not annoyed (ok, well maybe just a little)! Seriously, all I can think about is how happy I am to be sitting in my house listening to the dog barking next door!
YES! You heard me right! I am sitting in MY HOUSE! The house that God PROVIDED for Jim and I! The house that God knew would be perfect for Jim and I and our family and our new church family! The house that was intended for us from the beginning of our move. But, also the house that God would provide for us in His Timing, NOT our timing.

On Monday April 3, we were handed the keys to our new HOME!

With joy, gratitude and full, but tired hearts, we put that key in the front door lock and turned it! We stepped inside to the perfect home that God had for us! The work of moving in and making it our home, was not yet over. But the long wait, the trusting, the prayer, the cries for help and direction, were over! God had answered and WE WERE HOME!

Truth Bomb

Home is where Christ is the center!

GOD TRULY DOES MAKE ALL THINGS NEW MY FRIENDS!
TRUST HIM, BELIEVE IN HIM, HOLD TIGHT TO HIM, AND HE TRULY WILL MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!

The process is painful at times, but just as a rough, ugly piece of coal must be polished and turned into the diamond it was intended to be, IT IS WORTH IT!

With a full and humble heart I thank God for all of you and for the provision of our new home! May we only use it for His Glory!

Speak Truth Love

GOD MAKES ALL THINGS NEW!

As we continue this series, remember, it’s a promise my friends, GOD MAKES ALL THINGS NEW!

“I am making everything new!”
Revelation 21:5

I have started something “NEW” recently, Bible Journaling. I was introduced to it by a “NEW” friend, at our “NEW” church, (are you catching on to why God led me to write on this theme?
At first when she introduced me to it over a lunch that she took me out to, I was not interested. I thought it sounded cool, but truly, it did not sound like me! It is artsy, which unfortunately, I AM NOT! I do not have an artistic bone in my body! Stick figures are as “ARTSY” as I get! But as I found myself doing my morning devotions, I was struck with the fact that something “NEW” may add some spice to my morning routine. So, I went to the Book Store and there we piles of these “Journaling Bibles.”
If I was going to spend the money on a “NEW” Bible, then I wanted it to be a version I did to yet have. My husband and my son had been recommending the New Living Translation to me (NLT), so I started looking for a Journaling Bible in that translation. They had a beautiful one with birds, flowers, butterflies, and all sorts of green nature covering every page! That is not the way I roll, and I walked away from it several times. But, as I continued looking I kept coming back to it! Around the third time I picked up the Bible, I noticed that through the artistry of the birds, butterflies and flowers was one simple word…INSPIRE! Eventually, I bought it. I’m not gonna lie, I said to myself, “I can write and color in this Bible, and carry my brown leather “classy” looking Bible when I speak.” Don’t the craziest thoughts pop into our heads!

God knew I needed this “NEW” Bible! He knew that I needed to be INSPIRED! And God, in His infinite wisdom knew that something “NEW” would indeed INSPIRE me!

Truth Bomb

NEWNESS INSPIRES US!

It keeps us fresh, updated, encouraged and looking forward to the next NEW thing!

I was recently Blessed beyond words, INSPIRED, ENCOURAGED, and BUILT UP by the NEWNESS of my precious granddaughter turning 5!

I was snuggling with her in her bed the morning of her fifth birthday! The girl wakes up each and every day, happier than any of us deserve to be! She pops up as I love to say, “like a pop-tart”, happy and excited to start each NEW day! But this day was like nothing I had every seen!
She peered at me with her sweet little face and her brilliant blue eyes shining, and with the biggest smile said, “I’m five today!
I am taller Mamma, can you tell?
I can reach higher Mamma, can you see?
I can jump higher Mamma, watch!”
She jumped out of bed, and jumped up and down on the floor! This girl was convinced that turning 5, made “EVERYTHING NEW!”

And she was RIGHT! God tells us in Revelation that,
“The One sitting on the throne,” that’s JESUS, is making “EVERYTHING NEW!” Revelation 21:5

If we belong to JESUS then He is making EVERYTHING NEW in our lives!

My precious baby girl knows she belongs to Jesus, Do YOU? She does not hesitate to take Him at His Word when He tells her that “I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW!”
DO YOU?

Listen to the life-giving words Jesus speaks to each of His children in Revelation 21:

“And The One sitting on the throne said, Look, I am making EVERYTHING NEW!” And then He said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And He also said,” IT IS FINISHED!”

Friends pause a minute and take in the magnitude of what the LAMB OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST is saying to His children!

“IT IS FINISHED!” I suffered, I died, and I rose again on that cursed cross, so that ALL of your sins are forgiven, and now you live a new, blessed life where “I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW!”

We just celebrated EASTER! We just gave honor to our King for suffering and dying and resurrecting from death to life! We cannot miss the power of this! He raised from the dead, walks out of the grave, spends time with His Disciples so that they would “GET IT”, and then he ascends to heaven where He is seated on the throne making “EVERYTHING NEW” for us!

Look and see what the rest of Revelation 21 says to us:

“I am The Alpha and The Omega – The Beginning and The End! To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. ALL who are victorious will inherit ALL these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children!”
Revelation 21:6-7

His gift of “NEWNESS” costs us NOTHING! It is FREE! It is as natural, and free as my granddaughters exuberance at turning 5!

She knows that she is a child of God!
Do you?
She is so convinced of it, that she takes God at His Word! She allows Him, NO, she expects Him, to make EVERYTHING NEW IN HER LIFE!
Do You?

I was blessed and challenged by my “NEW” Bible”, and by my “NEW” five year old granddaughter to allow God to bring His Word to life in my life! To shake off the “OLD” dust from my life that makes me drag my feet, causes me to doubt, and brings in far too much gloom, and allow Him to make “EVERYTHING NEW” no matter how old I am or what circumstances I face!

After all, “IT IS FINISHED!”
I serve a risen Savior, and He is setting on The Throne making EVERYTHING NEW!

Speak Truth Love

God makes ALL things NEW! If it wasn’t for this week in history, for Good Friday, which in reality is the worst Friday mankind has ever known, and if it wasn’t for resurrection Sunday, than NOTHING would have the ability to be made NEW!

I have many “new” things to write about. I have a beautiful granddaughter who just turned five, and entered a new Year with more excitement, joy, and enthusiasm than I’ve ever seen! I have a new home that is nothing less than a miracle and gift from God! I have a new ministry alongside my Husband which is the call on our lives! I have a new chapter in my life as I look to God for His hand of significance on me in this more “mature” season of my life.
But today, this Tuesday, the Tuesday that walks the steps historically through the last week of Jesus’ life here on Earth, the only thing “new” that holds any significance at all is that of the new life that God gives me and you through the sacrifice of what Jesus did on the cross!

The Friday that preceded the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday, was a dark day in history. Dark, not only in the spiritual sense as our Savior was misunderstood, rejected, mocked, beaten, and tortured by the cruelest means by crucifixion on a Roman cross, but also dark physically. History recounts on this day the failing of the sun to shine mid-day. The shaking of the Earth in a violent earthquake and the tearing of the veil from top to bottom in the Holy of Holies. The veil hung as a shield between the presence of God and His people.

But the glory of the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ demolished the need for the separation. Through the sacrifice of the cross, a Holy perfect Savior, Jesus Christ, paid the price once and for all! For my sin and for yours, and allowed us direct communication and relationship with God the Father!
My past, ALL of it, the good, the bad and the ugly, and your past, no matter how good, no matter how bad, and no matter how ugly is made New through the cross of Jesus Christ!

Do you find yourself in a place of gratitude at the realization of what Jesus did for you at the cross? Then tell Him! Use your life like a “thank you card.” Smile at others, let His light shine through you without having yo say a word! Extend His grace, even when it isn’t deserved! Show the world that the love of Jesus is the opposite of the world’s definition. Jesus brings unconditional love! Not love that is shown because it is shown to us, but a love that loves at ALL times!

Proverbs 17:17 says,
“A friend loves at all times.”

Did you catch that? At ALL times! When it is deserved and when it isn’t. When it is given in return and when it isn’t.

If you do not feel worthy of His love and forgiveness, YOU ARE. God speaks to you clearly through His Word in Romans, chapter 8, verse 11 which says,

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are made NEW through the power of His resurrection! If you are a living, moving, walking, breathing child of God, then you are made NEW everyday through the power of Jesus’ resurrection from the cross! As the quote “Good Friday’s” come in your life, and you feel the darkness, sadness, discouragement, depression, doubting, fears, and unworthiness, remember it may be Friday…but our God makes all things NEW, and Sunday is coming!!!

Truth Bomb

The Spirit of God which raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and makes all things new!

This resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday, step with confidence into the newness of the gift God gives you through His Son Jesus Christ!

Easter is all about becoming New!

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17

Speak Truth Love

It’s SPRING and God makes all things NEW! Through the month of April I am going to be sharing on ‘God Making All Things NEW!” We follow a Faithful Father that loves us beyond what we can dream, think or comprehend!!!
It’s true, there are times in our lives when we go through difficult situations and we can not understand why. There are days that seem to never end! There are moments when we feel alone, afraid and confused. Those difficult times can cause us to question why our “GOOD GOOD FATHER” would allow us to go through such struggles.

Truth is, we may never know. God may graciously show us why after the process, but He also may not. So, how do we go through those tough times? How do we hold firm to our faith and confidence in God? And most importantly, how do we go through our trying times and continue to point others to our loving Father?

We remember that HE IS OUR GOOD SHEPHERD!

The first verse of Psalm 23, gives it to us in a nutshell…

“The Lord is my shepherd; I HAVE ALL THAT I NEED.” Psalm 23:1

I HAVE ALL THAT I NEED? What a minute God, do you not see this storm I am in the middle of? Do you not feel my pain, see my tears, hear my cries? “THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANT!”

“No, child,” He gently whispers, “I did not say that you have ALL THAT YOU WANT! I said that in me, Your Good Shepherd, you have ALL THAT YOU NEED.”

Our “NEEDS” verses our “WANTS,” that dilemma will get us into trouble every time.

So, sister, take it from me, read God’s tender words to you as He tells you HE IS YOUR GOOD SHEPHERD!
He will lead you into good and beautiful places. He will renew your strength when you feel weak. He will guide you and allow you to bring honor to His name, even when you walk through your darkest places. He will be ever close to you through it all, and you will not need to fear. He will keep you fed and steady with your enemies. You will overflow with His blessings in the middle of it all. His goodness and unfailing love WILL pursue you and never let you go!

Read these words and allow them to comfort you as if God’s own arms were reaching down, picking you up, and walking you HOME, just like a shepherd does with the sheep He loves.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close to me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of The Lord forever.”
Psalm 23:1-6

Truth Bomb

The Good Shepherd is ALL that we need!

We are loved and cared for by The Good Shepherd Himself. He promises to be by our side though each and every circumstance. He will hold us close, give us strength and never let us go!
And one day, we will live with Him FOREVER!

No matter what you are going through, cling to the Good Shepherd! He loves you so!

Speak Truth Love