Beautiful Freedom

God has changed me through traveling. I have often thought it was the people and it was the cultures that so impacted me and my love for traveling, but I am realizing more and more all of my travels, missions oriented or not have been to grow me closer to the Lord (while often times using the people). Whether it was from one end to the other of the earth and in between...England out of all of these trip has shown me Jesus in a new light and who He is in my life. By His GRACE am I saved and I thank Him for that. He shows me different facets of Himself in each of these places I have traveled. That has been the beauty of my travels. He reveals His character. This time it was His love for us...we so often deny and sin against our Lord yet He chooses to love us still. He showed me how to love and love genuinely. We had the opportunity to spend time in the schools over there. That in itself was an amazing opportunity and something we would not have been able to do in America. We broke into ...

“The Bible must be our standard. Whenever we are confronted with a question about Christian practice, we must apply the teaching of the Bible. Sometimes the Bible will deal with it directly, and we must go by its direct teaching. Often the Bible will not deal with it directly, and then we must look for general principles to guide us. It does not matter what other people think. Their behavior is not a standard for us. But the Bible is a standard for us, and it is by the Bible that we must live” (J.C. Ryle, Walking with God)   The Word of God is our standard. As I have been sitting in classes this week and processing my time in England, it is the Bible that offers the only Hope that can change a person. God is sufficient and His Word is what guides us in our decisions and daily living. God only guides or leads His people today: 1. By providence (we know it after the fact) – Proverbs 21:1 2. By Scripture (we can know it before we act) – Psalm 73:24...

This is something I have had forever and just can across it again. It is something challenging and powerful stuff.  His Disciple "that you should follow In His Steps" An African pastor was imprisioned by a group of rebels that demanded that he renounce his fatih. He refused, so they have him one night and told him if he did not renounce Chirst bny that morning they would kill him. That night before they took his life he wrote the following lines: I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won't look back, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame vision, mundane talking, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, or popularity. I don...

It happened to be the last week of our Bible study with our girls on Saturday morning. We finished up in Philippians 4:10-23. It was a powerful lesson and I wanted to share with you some of the things that I learned through this lesson. It is about being confident that God is in control! There was a puritan writer by the name of Jeremiah Burroughs who defined contentment as: Christian contentment is that sweet inward quiet, that gracious frame of the spirit which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. It is understanding and believing that when we are walking right with God and know that He is in control of all that happens to us, that brings His peace and contentment no matter the circumstance in our lives. Discontentment comes when we want to control everything. It is essentially taking the place of God in our own lives and not trusting in His sovereign plan. People seek contentment and typically in the world they assume that conte...

I was listening to this song recently and I don't believe I have ever truly grasped what it means to be able to praise the Lord in every season. We have a reason to rejoice no matter and we have a reason to worship! It is in the times of trial and pain that I feel the presence of the Lord the most, but it is my desire to know Him like that no matter the season. When we feel dry, let's hunger still, when we're in pain and feel week, let our faith stand. I pray the Lord puts me through the fire constantly, that I am always being refined and turning to Him! We are co-heirs with Christ, how amazing is that. The part in this song that is my favorite is when they sing the bridge, "All of my life, in every season, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship." Every bit of our life has a reason to worship the Lord and in every season of our life, no matter what. We have a reason to worship Him! Romans 5:20 gives us the proof through His grace and His love for us. ...

I was reminded the other day of how precious the faith of a child is and how we need that faith in our own lives daily. A friend of mine's son was at church for Easter and asked the teacher about heaven and needed to know right away. The teacher asked why, and he said because if Christ is in my heart, but he is in heaven now "resurrection Sunday", does that mean heaven is in my heart? It was precious and I am sure that I am telling just the basics of the story, but it was so amazing to me! I was then listening to this song in my car and it brought tears to my eyes at how amazing Heaven is and what a precious heart this little boy has, and that I need to have. When we do have Christ in our hearts, we have the ability to experience a little bit of Heaven each day. One of my favorite lines of this song is; there's a hope that never fails. We have a hope that never fails, that is huge! We need to think of Heaven more and who Christ really is and ...

I have been reading a lot lately on what it means to have the reality of Christ in you. I don't think we take the time often enough to really think about it. I challenge you to dwell on what it really means. 1 John has really challenged me lately with this. 1 John 3:1 says, " See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." It goes on to say that ..."we are God's children now...but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as HE IS." How amazing is that, that one day we would see God for who HE REALLY IS. We are marred now by our sin nature to fully understand who God is, but there is an amazing relationship we have here on earth now that pushes us to understand our purpose on earth now. We are to live as Christ and to be in fellowship with the Father as Christ was. We have direct contact to God because of Christ. We are God's children! So often I find myself und...