Olah!
Recently my wife and I became grandparents, so we hosted a get together for family and friends who had yet seen our Grandson. Our Daughter and her husband live two hours away and many of her youth group friends(near us) and her grandmother had not seen him. My wife and I also got to see friends/ and neighbors from years ago when our children were young.
I had recently lost my mother, (who lived a long life) and as to expected, didn't feel so much like hosting and entertaining. But you know life goes on and I married an New York Italian who loves to entertain! We had a fantastic time seeing our daughter honored and seeing our friends who rejoiced with us! It was a time which was meant to be and refreshed us as much.
My wife's mom, as you are aware was at this event, and is also a God fearing woman who loves the Lord. In this process, she was able to share with us a devotion website which has been a God send. The site is called first15.org. The premise of this devotion is to be intimate with heart of God towards you. Each week is a subject theme with a link to worship to reinforce what God is speaking during the week. What a blessing! Please check it out for your connection to God's heart and His desire for a intimate relationship with you!
We as people, to find God's wonderful love and presence, need to be open to anyway God would choice to minister to us. The people God places around us, often become the avenue by which God will minister to our hearts, and in turn He will allow us to do the same.
Not only is it unhealthy to be often alone, it also limits God's ability to minister, change, and challenge us to grow up in Him. So as hard as it may be to reach out, to love, to serve, to encourage, to bless, it is a much better plan. As a added benefit, in reaching out to others, God will fill you!
I am SO glad God had me marry an Italian!
Ask God where and with whom to invest His Love and watch and see how Jesus will in turn full and satisfy you!
In His Peace
Pete
Monday, April 18, 2016
Rooted and Grounded
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him.
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith
as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving
(Colosians 2:6,7)
Recently, due to some personal issues I went through a time of discouragement. When we get discouraged it is much easier to walk away from God's revealed will. It shouldn't happen but for many reasons it does. During that time God's Spirit began reminding me of these scriptures. They were life to me and spoke the wisdom of God into my situation! Are you in a time of discouragement? Come with me and let us look at the Wisdom of God.
Let's first look at:
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him.
....Paying attention to the underlined text:walk ye in him I don't know about you but I need to understand the Word of God in my mind. The Word of God says walk ye in him Ok,
find....How do I do that? What is God requiring of me in this situation? Say I work as a mechanic at a car dealership. If the information I know concerning cars is not workable knowledge how am I able to fix a car? Concerning the Word of God we need to be clear as to our understanding and our responsibility to God. The next scripture holds that answer but we are going to have to dig a little bit.
as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving
Paying attention again to the underlined text, lets look at them one at time in the order they are written:
Rooted: Rooted here in the Greek means... a channel as with a stream to flow
together. It mentions in the base Greek root word, sparkle and cheerful.
built up Built up here in the Greek means; to rear up, to build thereon.
stablished Stablished means: Walk, steadfast, firm.
abounding Abounding here means: super abound, in excess, abundant.
If we take these definitions in the order they are written we can see God's order of importance. Number 1 is coveted joyful, flowing together as one (intimate) relationship with the Lord Jesus. Number 2 is the realization that this is what God wants us to build upon. Number 3 is reminder to be secure in knowing our right to that relationship. Number 4 is a by product of the other 3.
It's a relief to know that God wants a relationship with us more than any sort of performance. IF that was the premise of one's value to God it could be very discouraging especially if you weren't a exceptional performer.
May God richly bless you and encourage your heart!
Pete
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Willing
Greetings!
As you may have gathered, in regards to this blog, this is simply one man's Journey to find a genuine relationship with a righteous, Holy God. I openly admit, I'm not one without faults, nor do I confess to have all the answers. I do trust in the grace of the Lord Jesus to redeem me and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to be transformed into His image. I do believe in the authority and truth of God's living word and in conjunction with the Holy Spirit the heart and deeds of sinful man can be changed.
I was saved at the age of 18, in the United States Navy. It was a wonderful experience and I will never forgot the day my sins were forgiven and I had, by the blood of Jesus, entered into a genuine, intimate relationship with my Father in heaven. I had a good long drink of living water and my soul was forever changed. Truly God gave me a heart of flesh for a heart of stone. I still remember how God radically changed me and I will always be sincerely grateful.
I served about 3 more years in the Navy, got out and the Lord directed my steps to go to Bible School. The Lord allowed me to be grounded in His word, understand His Government, and to develop healthy relationships with my brothers and sisters in Christ. With one of those sisters in Christ, God put us together for love and His purpose. We were married and in the fall of 2015 we celebrated 25 years!
It was during those 2 years in School God put a message on my heart and allowed me to see things about the future. I can't recall if any of this was what I had asked for, so to be fair maybe I did. Even so God saves us for a purpose and in this purpose, we will struggle at times in our will even as Jesus did in the Garden before the Crucifixion. Certainly my life is no different.
In the Navy, I was a mechanic and after Bible School, God sent me back into the mechanical field to be a witness. What I was shown in the spirit was for days ahead, so the words in my heart and my life in those things were neatly placed on the shelf.
About 12 or 13 years ago, due to shoulder injuries, I began trucking to support my family. To be truthful, I was running those roads somewhat to run from God.
For about two years now God has been speaking to me about what He is wanting me and many others to be doing. Am I anyone important...Heck no but what we must not do is apologize for our calling in Christ. Why should we insult the grace of God and the price Jesus paid, as if to say what God did wasn't quite good enough to change and equip a life??
So reader, this is one man's Journey to be willing and obedient to God's divine will. Has God lead you to read this??? Reader, stop running and receive from a good God, a willing heart. Listen, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. This whole transformation process began in Him and must finish in Him. Let us, let the Spirit of God create in us a clean heart and a right Spirit even as David cried out in the Psalms. Whoever you are reader pray for me and I will be praying for you. I desire that you would have God's best and allow Him to make your heart willing!
In Christ love,
Pete
As you may have gathered, in regards to this blog, this is simply one man's Journey to find a genuine relationship with a righteous, Holy God. I openly admit, I'm not one without faults, nor do I confess to have all the answers. I do trust in the grace of the Lord Jesus to redeem me and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to be transformed into His image. I do believe in the authority and truth of God's living word and in conjunction with the Holy Spirit the heart and deeds of sinful man can be changed.
I was saved at the age of 18, in the United States Navy. It was a wonderful experience and I will never forgot the day my sins were forgiven and I had, by the blood of Jesus, entered into a genuine, intimate relationship with my Father in heaven. I had a good long drink of living water and my soul was forever changed. Truly God gave me a heart of flesh for a heart of stone. I still remember how God radically changed me and I will always be sincerely grateful.
I served about 3 more years in the Navy, got out and the Lord directed my steps to go to Bible School. The Lord allowed me to be grounded in His word, understand His Government, and to develop healthy relationships with my brothers and sisters in Christ. With one of those sisters in Christ, God put us together for love and His purpose. We were married and in the fall of 2015 we celebrated 25 years!
It was during those 2 years in School God put a message on my heart and allowed me to see things about the future. I can't recall if any of this was what I had asked for, so to be fair maybe I did. Even so God saves us for a purpose and in this purpose, we will struggle at times in our will even as Jesus did in the Garden before the Crucifixion. Certainly my life is no different.
In the Navy, I was a mechanic and after Bible School, God sent me back into the mechanical field to be a witness. What I was shown in the spirit was for days ahead, so the words in my heart and my life in those things were neatly placed on the shelf.
About 12 or 13 years ago, due to shoulder injuries, I began trucking to support my family. To be truthful, I was running those roads somewhat to run from God.
For about two years now God has been speaking to me about what He is wanting me and many others to be doing. Am I anyone important...Heck no but what we must not do is apologize for our calling in Christ. Why should we insult the grace of God and the price Jesus paid, as if to say what God did wasn't quite good enough to change and equip a life??
So reader, this is one man's Journey to be willing and obedient to God's divine will. Has God lead you to read this??? Reader, stop running and receive from a good God, a willing heart. Listen, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. This whole transformation process began in Him and must finish in Him. Let us, let the Spirit of God create in us a clean heart and a right Spirit even as David cried out in the Psalms. Whoever you are reader pray for me and I will be praying for you. I desire that you would have God's best and allow Him to make your heart willing!
In Christ love,
Pete
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