Todays Thoughts 12-19-2016

I am listening to a live feed from Air1. The last couple of songs have spoken to me. So here is what God is speaking to me.

The song by Manifest makes me think of my son. He struggles financially. Just keeping his head above the water. Gulping for air every day. He is a believer that walked away from God. He claims to be "Agnostic." I always struggle what to say to him so that he won't completely close his ears to what I am saying. I know now that my past life, all the brokenness, can be used by God to open his eyes to see what my Savior has done for me, He can do for him also. Manifest sings of never giving up, that what his mother had said to him in the past is now in his life also. I want my son to see that.

Christ has given me so much! My life has changed so much in the past 7 years. And God is doing so much in my life now. I continue to pray for the courage to tell others. But I feel that God is not listening, but He is. His timing right now is not for me to verbally tell others, so maybe this is the medium?

My daily devotions, of late, have opened my eyes to His word and how I understand it. The words have lifted me up. His glorious light shone from the pages. The Holy Spirit enters into my heart so that His peace enters in, giving me a renewed strength. If anyone reads this I want you to know that. I walked through a valley for 7 years while I was incarcerated. The valley of being separated from family and friends. But even then the Glorious light of His love for me shone all around me, so that this "Valley of death" did not scare me.

If you are walking through a valley right now, I pray that you will just open His word and allow those words lift you up. Many times, as this world tells us, we have to "suck it up and just do it!" So you do that. What happens? Things don't work out and you get discouraged and get down. Christ is with us always, He walks with each one of us everyday, all day, constantly! And just as He endured the cross and was victorious over it, we can give Him our problems. We can unload our burdens on Him, and He gladly takes them from us. I was like you probably are, "I am not good enough. I can't go to Jesus as I am, He won't accept me as I am now. I will have to 'clean up my act first."' I didn't and He came to me anyway! He came to me in my brokenness and accepted me as I was, broken and bleeding.

See Christ was us broken. He wants us that way so that we can experience His mercy and grace that He has for us, just as we are. Now you are probably thinking "Well yea, but I'm in a different situation that you were. I have this, or that, in my life right now and He won't do anything for me while I am in this condition." This is the devil talking to your heart! Satan is the deceiver, lying all the time. His only agenda is to knock you down and put doubt in your mind, not only about you but also about God the Father. He will beat you up without you even knowing that He is doing so. By just asking God for help. He then has the opening that He needs to come into your heart. Dispelling all the lies that Satan had been putting in your head.

Again, allowing God to enter in He can then prove to your heart that what I am saying is true. He can bring His peace to a place that has not known peace in a long time. Satan brings peace too, but his peace is short lived, only lasting for the moment that it comes. But God's love and peace will last your entire life. So, do you want to live in, and for, the moment? Or would you rather have the life long peace that our Father in heaven can bring? Once you experience His peace, my question will be answered!

The main thing with this is that you must be patient and allow God to work in His time and not yours. The darkness only lasts as long as the night is here. Morning does come! The Light of His Glory does rise up and fills us up, allowing us to walk in the freedom of knowing that we are loved and that He does accept us in all our brokenness and shame and hurt. The feeling is so liberating that you may feel overwhelmed, enough so that tears begin to flow as you suddenly realize that the pain and hurt and sorrow are flowing away, being taken up by Jesus's love for you.

Again, I pray that you come to Him, especially during this time of year to allow Him to take you to a place that you have never been and that you will not want to leave. By accepting Christ as your Savior you will never leave that place. And death will no longer have a hold over you. In Christ death was defeated. Of course we all die, but having the knowledge that you are saved and now live with Christ, death no longer has a hold on you. At death, all believers will see God face to face, and we will experience a peace that is indescribable.