Tag: Jesus Loves You

What is your Story?

Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Do you have a story? You know, that story you like to tell at parties or to family and friends. When you tell it, you get very animated and excited. You draw people in with the humor or suspense of the story.  The more times you tell it, the better you get at the delivery of it. It really is a great story. 

That story is your testimony (spoken statement) of an event that you saw first-hand. That is all a testimony is. I think sometimes, when it comes to a testimony about your faith, people are scared to share it. Well let me tell you, it is a just a story. A story about one event in your life where God was present. You must have hundreds of them. I know I do. So, pick one and start telling it. The more you tell it, the better you will get at sharing it and the less scared you will be. Here is one of my stories.

A few years ago, I was cleaning out my purse and I found several gift cards that I had forgotten about. One was for Wal-Mart and I decided to use it to get gas. I called the number on the back to see how much money was on it and they confirmed there was $20. During my lunch break at work, I ran over to the Wal-Mart gas station to get my “free” gas. There must have been something wrong with the card (probably from floating around in my purse for so long) because it would not work at the pump. So, rolling my eyes, I went to the cashier’s window and tried to use the card there. Again, it did not work. The lady said she could not fix it but that I should go inside the store to the Customer Service desk. 

So, I got back in my car and drove over to the actual Wal-Mart store. I did not have a lot of time because I was on my lunch break, but I figured, how long could this take, right? Of course, when I got inside there was a line. Evidently the computer was not working right, and it was taking longer than normal to process each customer’s request. While I was waiting my turn, I noticed the lady in front of me had three children. Two young boys (maybe 5 and 3) and a little bitsy baby girl in one of those light weight “umbrella” strollers that fold up like an umbrella. The boys were patiently pushing the stroller back and forth as though to comfort the baby who was not making a peep. So sweet. So well behaved. When it was the lady’s turn, it appeared as though she was making an exchange. I guess it was not an equal exchange because she had to pull out her wallet and she started counting coins. Now I am thinking to myself, seriously? What was supposed to be a quick stop at Wal-Mart for gas has now taken me 20 minutes and I still do not have any gas! 

It was finally my turn and I told the worker behind the counter that my gift card was not working but that I had confirmed it had $20 on it. I was trying get some gas and they said I needed to come inside to fix it.  After about 5 or 6 minutes (remember the computers were not working right) I finally had my gift card and I headed out of the store to go get my gas. Thirty minutes! I could not believe I had wasted half my lunch hour trying to get gas. As I am walking back to my car, I pass the lady and her three kids. They were standing in front of a Redbox looking to rent a movie. I kept walking and then as clearly as I hear anyone speak to me, I heard God tell me, “Give her the gift card.”

I kept walking. In my defense, I was not sure what I was hearing or if I really heard it at all. But then I heard it again, “Give her the gift card. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.” I have heard people talk about hearing God speak to them, but it had never happened to me. I had prayed that it would happen to me because I really wanted to hear from God, but up until now, it had never actually happened. So, I stopped, turned around and started walking back to the lady and her children. Honestly, I was scared. I had never done this before, and I was not sure what to say. I literally started weeping a little because I was so nervous and excited to be doing the Lord’s work. When I got back to her, I said, “God spoke to me and he wants me to give you this gift card. God bless you.” I handed her the gift card, she thanked me, and I walked away.

I got in my car and just cried. I was so overwhelmed with the entire situation. I could not believe how blessed I felt. I had used up 30 mintues of my time and ended up giving away the gift card, but I felt like I was the one that received a gift. I can see now that God orchestrated it all. Finding the gift card, going to the gas station, the card not working and putting me in line behind the lady He wanted to bless. All I had to do was listen and obey.

So, there you go, that is one of my stories (testimonies). I love telling it because it clearly shows God’s love for me and His desire to help me grow in my faith.  It also shows how He loves His other daughter and wanted to bless her through what He had given to me. I have shared that story a number of times and everyone I tell seems to be inspired by it. Now take some time and think about your story. Then look for opportunities to share it.

Heavenly Father, thank you for opportunities to bless other people. Open our eyes to see the needs of those around us, open our ears to hear you speak to us and open our hearts so that we can pour our faith into those you put into our path.  Amen.

The Naughty List

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Merry Christmas!!  Christmas is one of the most festive times of the year. This year I started seeing glittery lights on houses and decorated trees in front windows as early as October, right after Halloween! Christmas songs have been playing on the radio for months already and of course I heard the one that goes like this:

He’s making a list,
He’s checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

The words to this song alone can convince children to be good so they do not end up on ‘the naughty list’. What about you? Are you on ‘the naughty list’? Have you sinned and believe that your sin separates you from your Father in heaven?  Do you believe that what you have done in your life is so bad that God could never forgive you?  Have you been saved and then walked away from God?  Perhaps you have an addiction that you cannot seem to break away from?

Well, I have good news for you, in 1 John it says that if you confess your sins, God will forgive you your sins and you will no longer be separated from your heavenly Father. God does not keep a list of your naughty deeds.  In fact, in Psalms 102:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions [sins] from us.” Jesus carried the burden of all those naughty deeds to the cross so that you can be redeemed.  So that you can approach your heavenly Father and have a relationship with Him.

So, let’s talk about confessing your sins. This is an important step of forgiveness. When you confess your sins, you are standing in agreement that what you did was wrong. You are admitting to it. But you are also promising that you will turn away from sin and you are asking God to help you, because we all know that it is hard not to do it again. When it gets hard, and it will get hard, remember that Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to redeem us from our sins. We are so thankful there is not a naughty list that keeps us from a relationship with you. Please help us to turn away from our sins. Amen.

Why Not You?

Romans 8:31-32 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Why not you? That is what God spoke to me last week when I was having a hard time comprehending His incredible goodness. I struggle with asking for help. I struggle with receiving help.  As a single mom, I typically have to do it all. Grocery shopping, house cleaning, permission slips, homework, projects, budgeting, doctor’s visits, pep talks, discipline, you name it. When it is all up to you, you get in a grove of just doing it. Muscling forward no matter what. As Dori from Finding Nemo says, “Just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving, moving, moving.”

So last week I needed work done on my home. This was something I could not do myself. So, I reached out to my church community and found a few contractors to come take a look and give me a bid. I had no idea the repair was going to cost so much, and I was unprepared to cover the cost. But I did what I always do and just kept muscling forward trying to find a way to make it work. Then the contractors came back to me and said, we talked to our church about your situation and they would like to cover the cost of your repairs.

Why me? That is exactly what went through my head. Why me? I do not deserve this. Then God spoke to me and said, “Why not you? How many times do I need to remind you that you are a daughter of the King, a child of the most high God? I want to do this for you.” In that moment, I was humbled. I do not know how to explain it but with everything going on in the world today, I felt so humbled to be important enough to Him that he “arranged” this for me.

You are important to God too. He is patiently waiting for you to give your heart to Him. He sent Jesus, his son, to earth to clear the path for us, to conquer our sins, so that we could have a relationship with Him. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” So, why not you too?

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son to earth to conquer our sins so that we can have a relationship with you. Thank you for keeping an eye on me and for loving me completely. Amen

Unbelief

Acts 16:31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

I heard something this week while I was listening to old sermons on my way to and from work and I have a burden on my heart to share it with you.  I had never heard it put quite this way before and for some reason it really made sense to me. To summarize it said you will not go to hell because of your sins. You will go to hell because of your unbelief. What do I mean by unbelief? Well to put is simply, if you do not believe that Jesus is the son of God who died on the cross and rose again to cleanse you from your sins then you will go to hell. No matter how “good” of a person you are. You must believe.

Salvation is that easy. Just believe. You do not need to DO anything because we have been saved by GRACE alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

You see sin separates us from God. In order to remove that separation, God sent his son Jesus to DO what was necessary to fix that. He died on the cross and rose again to make you righteous before God. So now all you have to do is believe and you will be saved. To believe, you have to have faith and Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”

Your faith is increased by hearing God’s word. So, if you are a Christian, a believer, a follower of Jesus, you need to be IN THE WORD. Take time every day to read the Bible or listen to the Bible or watch video sermons about the Bible. Talk to God. Tell him about your thoughts, ideas, worries and accomplishments. Make him a part of your everyday life. Then tell others. Their faith will increase by hearing the Word of God too.

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son to save me from my sins. Give me faith to believe, courage to share, and grace to be saved. Amen.