by Carol Roberts | Jul 15, 2015 | Love
A full box of crayons can be used to create beautiful masterpieces. Some colors are brilliant while others appear to be dull but all serve a specific purpose. What if the most beautiful color decides to go its own way outside the box? What if the dullest color was ashamed to come out of the box? When the artist creates a work and those colors are not available, the picture is incomplete.
It’s the same with us. God created us with a divine purpose and He is pleased with us. He cannot use us for His glory if we have strayed into the ways of the world. He cannot use us if we are stubborn. God makes no mistakes and has no favorites. Together we represent God’s family.
Color does not matter and neither does language or culture. Being available just as we are to serve is what matters.
1 Peter 1:17
And remember that the heavenly Father to Whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as “foreigners in the land.”
by Carol Roberts | Jul 14, 2015 | Hope
The most beautiful and best groomed horse is not always the one that will win the race. The choicest restaurant may not be the one that offers the best nourishment. The highest paying vocation does not guarantee peace on the job or a divine purpose. The best looking lady does not guarantee the wisest lifestyle. The list never ends.
The right choices are always found in the Bible. With prayer, God will guide every step. There will be hurdles along the way. It’s these hurdles that God uses to guide us the most. To make the most of a hurdle, we ask Him where to go from here instead of why is this happening?
Psalm 32:7-8
For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory. The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
by Carol Roberts | Jul 13, 2015 | Encouragement
A person wrongs us over and over again. We forgive each time yet it gets harder as time progresses. The absolute worst situation is one where we are walking through torment from a person for whom others admire. To have people compliment such a person to us while things are so different for us is the biggest challenge of them all. They tell us what a loving kind person he/she is and they will do anything to help another person. We smile and agree while on the inside we want to defend ourselves. As we are listening to the compliments we can judge our own maturity in how we respond both in words and thoughts.
The best thing we can do for this type of situation is pray. As we ask God to show us why He is allowing this and what He wants us to learn, we can trust He has everything under control and this season will end. Jesus forgives all people and understands all things. Our enemy also has experienced trials and hurts. Lifting up these enemies in prayer and asking God to heal their hurts will help heal our hurts. It creates a better understanding of why they might be the way they are. As God heals them from inside out, they will be less defensive and more ready to love. True forgiveness is when we can smile and be kind to these people because we love them for who they are. We can accept their attitudes knowing that’s where they are in their growth.
Mark 11:24-25
I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.
by Carol Roberts | Jul 11, 2015 | Hope
In the beginning….. God. He created heaven and earth, night and day, sea and land and said it is all good. He created us in His image and the way we represent Him is a gauge to us what needs to be developed further. He continues to mold us more into His likeness until the day we meet Him and He tells us, “well done.” No matter what life on this earth throws at us, God has the final word. As we walk through trials and difficulties, God still has the final word. We have not been forgotten because His final word has not been spoken yet.
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
by Carol Roberts | Jul 11, 2015 | Salvation
Wisteria is one of the most beautiful dangling plants ever created. If groomed properly it can be a beauty that we can’t take our eyes off of. However wisteria out of control destroys. It will completely cover a strong healthy tree in a very short time. From the outside it is beautiful with all the purple dangling flowers going high onto the tree. What goes unnoticed is the tree underneath. It eventually dies. The cool shade and beautiful spreading leaves the tree offers can no longer serve its purpose.
There are people who serve God and have a purpose. Many people benefit from their devotion to God by the encouragement they give. Slowly the pleasures of the world creep in. These pleasures offer excitement and bliss taking over any thoughts of serving God. The witness and ministry that once encouraged others have now become confusing and hurtful to the very ones they helped in the past. Hopes are crushed and witnesses are ruined. Nobody benefits from the fleeting pleasures of the world. These temporary pleasures hurt everybody.
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
