by Carol Roberts | Jan 31, 2019 | Grief
There are times we feel a need to pray for somebody. We suspect something is going on with a particular person but they do not disclose their circumstance.
Other times we cry out to God for our own selves but have no clue what to say to God. We just know we need to be heard and understood even when we don’t know how to express ourselves to God.
God knows every heart and hears every cry. He sees every tear and experiences every feeling we have.
Whether we are trying to pray for another person or for ourselves God is the same. He understands what is not spoken. The main thing is to ask God for a better understanding and to grant wisdom seeking His face how He would have us respond. One of the most beautiful prayers is written for us in Colossians and it is proper to read it back to God with a sincere heart.
It does not matter how we approach God, He welcomes our approach and there is nothing too hard for Him to handle.
Colossians 1:9-12 Living Bible (TLB)
So ever since we first heard about you we have kept on praying and asking God to help you understand what He wants you to do; asking Him to make you wise about spiritual things; and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor Him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the time you are learning to know God better and better. We are praying, too, that you will be filled with His mighty, glorious strength so that you can keep going no matter what happens—always full of the joy of the Lord, and always thankful to the Father who has made us fit to share all the wonderful things that belong to those who live in the Kingdom of light.
by Carol Roberts | Jan 30, 2019 | Salvation
As we walk through life we find various personalities and goals of people. For many, the goal is to climb the ladder of success and become the head of a large corporation. Others will seek presidency or a political seat. Still others will seek to be noticed in a particular circle of friends or by certain social clubs. However if these goals do not put the will of God first, the loneliness will still persist even at the top. Many goals seek to please a crowd or a particular person.
Unfortunately people pleasing never stops. It always requires more effort to keep people looking our way. There is no peace seeking to please people because that type of peace is empty and only temporary.
God created each of us for a specific purpose that is a perfect fit for us in this life. As we seek to be the best at who God made us to be the peace will be greater than human understanding. While it may not be meant for us to climb to the top position in a corporation or run for an elected seat, God always sees us for who we really are.
There will be a day when we will all approach His throne to give an account of ourselves. God never bases His judgement on achieving high positions or popularity here on earth. We are judged on how well we obeyed His specific purpose for us. Many times what goes unnoticed by the world will be the greatest joys to our Lord for eternity.
Romans 14:12 Living Bible (TLB)
Yes, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
by Carol Roberts | Jan 28, 2019 | Love
As we pray God reveals Himself to us. That’s why there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from older people who have been true to God all their lives. The longer we seek God’s counsel the more we learn about Him and His way of doing things. The more we understand, the more we can accept things that come our way because He never leaves us.
During times of turmoil and uncertainties that we do not understand, we can know God is doing the understanding for us. God never expects us to understand every single thing but He asks us to trust Him in all things. The understanding He gives us is a gift for us to cherish for a lifetime.
Deuteronomy 29:29 Living Bible (TLB)
There are secrets the Lord your God has not revealed to us, but these words that He has revealed are for us and our children to obey forever.
by Carol Roberts | Jan 25, 2019 | Salvation
It takes many years for consequences of decisions to roll back around. Unfortunately each year that passes with no consequences the rolling stone gathers more momentum and sinful particles. We reap what we sow later than we sow and more than we sow. The Bible speaks clearly of this when it states “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The Bible also speaks of the farmer who plants seeds. He will always reap the type seed he sows.
This is true in our spiritual lives. If we continue to seek God’s face He will always lead us in a way that protects us from harm and take care of our needs. Unfortunately there are always people who will reject God and some will even protest to have God removed from all aspects of life. Even though it’s impossible to remove God, He will back off from those people. This happened numerous times in the Old Testament when people wanted to do things their way but eventually they cried out when they messed everything up.
Today we live in a time of consequences from decisions made by ones who wanted God removed. There are still ones rejecting God as we speak and God politely steps aside. What we have is confusion. People loudly protest what is right and picket for what is wrong. Because they speak with such a loud voice they get more press while other good news gets overlooked. Therefore people believe the negative is all that’s available because that’s all that gets reported so more people jump aboard the sinking ship. There is no remorse. Laws are being made that actually harm other people and those who stand for what is right are quickly silenced. New babies being born into today’s society are being taught that the right way is the wrong way so they know no better. All they know is to fight for their own way. However there is still hope.
As all this is being exposed as the new right way of doing things there is still a remnant of God’s people who strive to obey Him. These people still pray and believe. These are the people who seek truth from the Bible. These are the people who know the final outcome does not come from the press but the Bible. These are the people God looks out for in desperate times like this. These are the people God is growing into His likeness and He will see to it His people multiply.
God’s people may be in a minority but the silent majority will quickly multiply because God said if the people don’t praise Him the rocks will. Jesus is worthy of praise because He is Lord. It’s never too late to turn back. God will receive us with open arms just for the asking. Now is the time to seek His face. Tomorrow may be too late.
Romans 1:28-32 The Living Bible
So it was that when they gave God up and would not even acknowledge Him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness, and gossip. They were backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents. They tried to misunderstand, broke their promises, and were heartless—without pity. They were fully aware of God’s death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others to do them, too.
by Carol Roberts | Jan 23, 2019 | Encouragement
There are numerous ways God speaks even during times we feel He isn’t listening. He speaks to us in peace when we sit still beside a soft running brook. Sometimes when we read our Bibles a particular sentence will suddenly have a deeper meaning. Other times our dreams will reveal things God is trying to show us.
It seems like God is far away during a crisis, but it could be the crisis is God’s way of demonstrating His plans to recreate a harsh circumstance to make things better. There are people who have experienced an audible voice that only they could hear. When we look at the night sky and see the multitudes of stars God is letting us know His stability and His omnipresence. Even in rainy periods that seem to never end we can know He is replenishing a dry earth.
We can hear His strength and glory in the claps of thunder and bolts of lightning popping on the earth.
In the Old Testament God’s voice was so majestic that people couldn’t bear to hear it so Moses listened on behalf of the people. We can hear a small sample of that voice in the thunderstorms and know that He is always Lord and He can be trusted in all things.
Job 37:2-5 New American Standard Bible
Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. God thunders with His voice wondrously; Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.