Tag: hope

What Is the One Truth That Cannot Be Compromised?

Jesus Christ, “who being the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” Hebrews 1:3-4(NKJV)

Some of the false doctrines that tried to invade the early church continues to invade some of the religions today.  Many tried to proclaim that Jesus was either a prophet or perhaps even an angel sent from God. There had been mention in old testament scripture that angels were sent at times to guide the people or to speak God’s words to His people. It would be much easier to believe that Jesus was “an angel or prophet of God” than to accept that He was God Incarnate as God’s only son.  Some said then and some still say that it doesn’t really matter which we believe, as long as we believe in God.  Yet, that is a lie!

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That is why the book of Hebrews is so important to grasp both for those who know Christ as their Savior and those who are yet in search of God’s Grace.  For the sinner, knowing who Christ really is becomes the pivotal point of accepting Him as your Savior.  For the Christian to truly comprehend the truth of this great salvation we have been given; we must first place Jesus in His rightful place without compromising to sound politically correct.

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Joy Pours Over Me

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

Out of the darkest valleys or sorrows that life can bring, God remains Sovereign and His Plan is always to bring us good.  It all goes back to Faith is 1. Knowing that God is and 2. Believing that God richly blesses those who seek Him.  My journey to discover the truth of love and joy took me down a lot of winding roads.  Some of those roads seemed at the time very treacherous indeed; but, God had a plan for my good.  That plan never depended on my figuring it out or my getting it “right.”  It depended 100% on God’s Grace, Love and Sovereignty to complete the work He began in me.    My life is filled with peace, joy, hope and love.  Oh, don’t get me wrong; there are trials as well.  The difference in my response is how I view the trials.   I have learned to embrace each trial as a precious gift that once unwrapped will reveal to me some precious aspect of God’s Glory that I had not seen before.  As I concluded the series, In Search of True Love; my prayer is that I have helped you to see the magnitude of God’s Grace and Love toward you.  Tomorrow, we will begin a new series through Hebrews (at least that is my plan for now, unless God chooses otherwise).  I wrote this poem today and hope it touches your heart with joy, peace and hope.

Joy Pours Over Me

JOY POURS OVER ME

by Effie Darlene Barba

Every Step of my journey here

Through the darkest nights

That were filled with fear

Or the mountaintops

Clothed with laughter’s cheer

Your voice called to me

Your heart drew me near

 

Through pain and tears You taught me how

To seek your face Be-

Fore your throne to bow

Where You my heart would

Grace and Love endow

Your wondrous Strength to

Soar above the now

 

The scars from all the years gone by

Were healed because Your

Tears You chose to cry

As on a Cross You

Sent your son to die

And pay the price for

Someone such as I

 

And then I saw the value, worth

Of all the sorrows

Pains upon this earth

Travailing pains

That brought new birth

To life eternal

Filled with Joyous mirth

 

For purest gold to truly shine

It must endure the fire’s

Flames which do refine

Or pressed beneath the

Darkness in a mine

A diamond forms so

Precious, rare and fine

 

Your truth revealed this mystery

Pain is a gift that

Helps my heart to see

Glimpses of You

Spectrum of Glory

Dimensions of Love

Until

Joy pours over me

[tweetthis]Each trial is a gift; once unwrapped reveals a new aspect of God’s Glory [/tweetthis]

Please feel free to post a comment, share a story or just say Hi.  Hope you can join us tomorrow as we start a new series.

©Effie Darlene Barba, 2016

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post.  I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

How Is Patience a Wonderful Demonstration of Love?

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30) Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalm 27:14) Love is patient; love is kind (I Corinthians 13:4 NIV)

So, often in our Christian walk, God bids us to wait upon Him. There are promises throughout scripture for strength, victory, peace and even joy as we learn to wait upon God in the midst of any circumstance. There was a time that I would have said, “God, please let me just skip this lesson on patience. It is not one that I am going to ever learn, so can we move on to something else?” Yet, God knew that this was a lesson which is vital to both my faith and my ability to love Him as I should. Patience while waiting is both an act of faith and an act of love toward God.

As I wrote in the last post, I arrived into Columbia with great anticipation of all that God was going to do. He had moved rapidly in preparing my move. Mountains were flattened and laid at my feet. After I arrived, there was the bitterest cold winter with snow fall after snow fall. Each day I would carefully, cautiously make my way safely to work in my car not made for snow. The short sale on my house in Florida had come to a standstill. The applications for a second job only ended in closed doors. For the first time in all of my career, I was being turned down for a job. Financially it was tough on a part time job. Certainly God knew this. So, I opted to have no cable, kept my house at the bare minimum of heating while wearing layers of clothes to keep warm, and did everything I could to survive financially. At the end of each month I rejoiced that I made it. I never failed to tithe and God would stretch the remainder of the money.

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What Does Mustard Seed Faith Have to Do with Love?

 

Jesus said unto them… verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17:20

I had packed my car full of everything I would need for the rehearsal dinner, along with my finest china and crystal to take to Alberto. As I left Florida for the two-day drive to Missouri, my heart was filled with excitement. I loved driving long trips because it was a time I could spend alone with God. I had audio books by John Piper and Jonathan Edwards to accompany me on the trip with lots of Christian music. Over several months I had felt a restlessness of spirit, I wasn’t certain as to its source. It was my prayer that God would reveal to me the reason for this restless dissatisfaction as we drove down the road together.

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The long hours at work while also providing for Mom were taking a toll on my health. Her mental illness with her constant depression had forced me to spend lots of money on private sitters; much more than I could afford. The house, like many people who purchased when I did; was upside down with its value now being 100,000.00 less than when I purchased it. Work, which had always been my solace; was changing. Those whom I trusted as my extended family had turned hostile toward me. All of my writing, my poetry, speaking, and my blog seemed to be futile; as I wondered did they matter. So, it was I looked forward to this time alone with God as we drove down the road.

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What Is the Second Greatest Enemy to Love?

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. Psalm 119:35-37

As I have pointed out previously, anger is enemy number one of love. Our hearts are so quickly filled by anger so as to crush any hope of love. There is another enemy which can grow like a cancer within our hearts preventing any hope of feeling true love. That enemy is covetousness. Much like anger it begins with a thought or desire deep within our hearts and then grows until it destroys joy, love and hope. It is very subtle at the beginning. We may look at something and just for a moment desire that it was ours. We may see a couple in love and wish that was ours. We may see another who has a nicer home or car and wish it was ours. Someone may have a better position, better grades, greater success, better health, and the list goes on. Whatever it might be, a small seed of discontent starts within our heart which can grow rapidly creating doubt, fear, and depression; while at the same time choking out any signs of love within our feeble hearts. It is no wonder, “Do Not Covet” is one of the 10 commandments. (Exodus 20:17)

Faith

To covet is defined as to yearn to possess or have something. That can be anything!! Then when we don’t have it and we see someone else who does, we become jealous or envious. We wonder why “God loves them better. Why would they have that? Haven’t I been faithful?” If we look at the apostles, this too was evident within their hearts. They were always wanting to know who would be greater, sit closer to Jesus, or suffer less. Paul even spoke of his own struggles with coveting in Romans 7. So, how do we destroy the cancer of coveting; so, that we might know the joy of having hearts filled with love? Faith!! Faith is the key. Let me help you to understand this; as this is a lesson I too must often go back for a refresher course. A seed I often need to destroy before it takes root in my own heart.

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