This will bring life into you today, even with
these frigid temperatures!
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Frigid temperatures, closes schools and campuses, local businesses, and even the court house in our area all sent people home by two o'clock in the afternoon. By 4:30 when I was hitting the highway, heading for a meeting and then our church service, there was no traffic at all. It was great having the highway to myself. In the quiet white blanket that surrounded me I heard, "When people get cold they disappear from my churches too. I would rather they be hot. My churches weren't build to stand empty just as these highways weren't built for you alone. My people have grown cold and frigid to my love, no longer wanting to co-habitate with my Spirit. I long for them to come to me." I drove on in silence. It doesn't matter what your church looks like it matters whose Spirit is in the house. It matters if you are in the house. It matters what you are and what you bring with you. It matters what you do! I often am quoted as saying, "With out you there is no church." Just look at our English Word, "C H U R C H." If you take out the "U=You" and the "R-Are", there is no church. You are the church. The church is the people, you and I and the gifts we bring and share. If you play an instrument, then bring it with you to church and share that gift with the rest of the Body of Christ. If you sing, then sing for the Church. If you are a great mechanic, grass cutter, window washer, fixer-upper, Dentist, Lawyer, Doctor, Teacher, Accountant, etc., then bring your gift to the Body of Christ, the Church. God does not want His buildings empty. He loves people. He loves us. One place it says, "He inhabits the praises of His people." In other words when we are together and begin to praise His with songs, hymns, and spiritual songs He comes and takes a seat in our presence. In another place it tells us that, "in His presence is fullness of joy..." The whole world could use a little more joy. Still in another place, in the Bible it talks about as Paul and Silas sang while in prison their chains, and the chains of the other prisoners fell off. When we gather together as the Church and give praises to God, others who are bound, are set free. ACTION STEP: Today, find a church if you don't have one, and become a part of it. If you do have a church, ask God what gift you have that you can share with the Body of Christ. If you don't see any gift in you, then make an appointment with the Pastor or leadership of the Church and ask them what they see in you? Ask them, "What do you see me doing here?" Or better yet ask them, "Is there any area that you need help?" Then, set yourself to doing it. While you are doing what you were sent to do, God will intervene and speak to you. You will find your destiny. David was watching sheep before his destiny found him. Saul was on his way to see a certain place, when God found him. All through the Bible people were doing something, not just sitting at home when God found them. I will be praying, and we know God answers prayer. Enjoy my new favorite song.
This will bring life into you today, even with these frigid temperatures!
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Happy "Hump Day". If you have accepted the challenge congratulations you are half-way through. I hope you enjoyed some sunshine yesterday. I had no idea it was going to get so cold. Thank God yesterday's assignment is not todays assignment. See, that's the way God is. He doesn't ask us to do things we are incapable of doing. He doesn't ask us to do hurtful or harmful things. He did the hardest thing imaginable so that we could have a better life, life eternal. But, He does expect us to do something. That something is to obey whatever He has asked us to do, knowing He will be there to help us through. Remembering why we started this challenge in the first place? Many break their New Year's Resolution by now. Many stop the diet they began. That workout piece of equipment is now a place to hang clothes, and the membership fee to the gym is costing way more than it benefits. My point today is this, "Do Over". God tells us in His word to start again, go back, do your first works over again. What the Lord is telling us is that He is a God of second chances. When we mess up He doesn't just throw us down, but picks us back up and puts us on the Potters Wheel for another "go round". He destroyed all but a few in the story of Noahs Arc, but then put a rainbow in the sky making us a promise to never destroy the earth again in that manner. God loves us. We are His children. He works with us. Give Him and yourself a"Do Over." Just tell Him, "God I am willing to start new, help me." He hears our prayers. ACTION STEP: Make a list of things that you have done that have been real mistakes. Now, on another sheet of paper write what you can "Do Over." Then throw away, tear in shreds that list of mistakes. Today, begin to do one thing from the "Do Over" list. It may be writing an apology to someone saying you were wrong. It may be calling someone on the phone and asking if you could meet them, and when you do--tell them "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you in person and ask for your forgiveness." God will help you do whatever is needed, He is the God of second chances.
We made it through Monday! Give yourself a hand. Most think Mondays are ranked the worst day of the week. They're not! In the fall you have Monday Night Football and every now and then, you'll have Monday off for some obscure holiday (three cheers for President's Day!). Yeah, you have to get back to the daily 9-to-5 grind, but hopefully you can at least wistfully reminisce about the weekend's activities--especially CHURCH! So, what's the challenge you are facing? I truly want to help. I'm a great prayer warrior. No, challenge you say? Then I have one for you, get outside. Sunshine is actually proven to improve our moods and our productivity and it's only Tuesday. Remember when we had recess? Everyone had to go outside at recess, unless your mom had written a note of course. Yes, we had parents that hand wrote notes to communicate to our teachers. "I hear you young people laughing...hey you in tent...yea you Sarah, I heard you laugh". Prophets know these things. God can even rebuild a total waste! A waste of years? He will restore the years the canker worm ate. Waste of time? No worries He redeems it. Ezekiel 36:33 ESV “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. ACTION STEP: Get up and go outside. Look up at the sky and see the sun. God told Abraham to go outside and look up at the stars. God told him his descendants would be that numerous. God talks through His creation to His created ones. You and I were made to glorify God. Your life may be far from bringing God anything but trouble at the present time. God knows how to turn things around, tear them down, rebuild them and even raise them from the dead. Nothing is too hard for God. Give God an opportunity to get in your business! We aren't even to Hump Day yet!
Breathe. It's okay. Most people who start things at the beginning of the year have failed already. So, you are not alone. To prove that just read Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." You are never alone. You are not a failure. You may fail. We all fail at times. But God will not fail us. Lamentations 3:23 (KJV) "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." This is a new week, a new day, a new beginning, a new start, make it count! As I continue to study this subject I will share with you all the resources on the subject that I have found helpful, and I will cite each source. I hope you enjoy this week as you study along with me. I am always trying different things to Blog about and perhaps one day, I will settle into a specific theme or zone. For now I am taking you with me. Lets travel the road to be a better version of ourself, the original God made us to be. This is by Dr. Robert Siegel https://sermons.faithlife.com/profile/dr-robert-wiegel
We have experienced many setbacks and failures throughout our lives. Sometimes we allow these mistakes, these setbacks and failures to enslave us to the point that we never enjoy the full Christian life that God has given us to enjoy. We have a dead-end job and we feel stuck thinking, “I went into the wrong career and now there is nothing I can do about it.” We get married, only to find the marriage is a failure. It may end in divorce, or it may survive as a tragic, unending chain of arguments and fights. We say something to a friend, and then are ostracized from them for the rest of our lives. And yet, Christ said in John’s gospel: John 10:10 “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” 2Co 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The good news is that God says, “I want to do something new in your life. I want to give you a fresh start, a new beginning.” This news is a major element of our Christian faith – to start fresh and have a new beginning with God. At the beginning of a new year it is customary for us to think of this as a time of new beginnings, a time for new resolutions. But the truth is that with God anytime is a time for a new beginning. I. God overruled in the affairs of men and gave their forefathers a new start (Isaiah 43:16-17). A. God takes us to places of dependence, then creates new beginnings, new blessings. II. Don’t look back! (43:18). A. It’s one thing to remember the past successes, but another to live in the past. Our faith is often limited by what we have experienced in the past. Israel was where they were because of a history of failures and disobedience. Yet God says don’t look back at the past. B. He makes all things new. When we come to Christ, we become a new creation. All things become new. (Isaiah 42:9). C. God is a creator-King (43:15). He makes new things; He is not in the box we try to place Him in. He can do in your life what you have never seen done before. III. God is only getting started! (43:19) A. Once God delivered Israel by making a path through the water, now water will make a path in the desert. God is not predictable! B. He does not deliver the same way each time. How he heals one is not how He may heal you. C. Can’t you see it? IV. Become a blessing to others (43:20) V. You were created for God’s praise. (43:21) A. Why would He leave you to die in the desert, when He desires for you to bring Him praise? B. Our desert experience. Step 1: Quit making excuses. It is always too soon to quit. The Bible tells us to quit making excuses, admit when it’s our fault and get on with life. I’ve discovered that people who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else. They spend their energy thinking up reasons why they can’t do what they are supposed to do. Step 2: Act in faith! New beginnings come to those who step out in faith. To change anything in your life by the power of God takes faith. (Matt 9:29) Mat 9:29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." All next week I will be discussing new starts. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" Then there are verses like, Isaiah 40:31 "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." God is all about us becoming new and starting anew. I want to encourage you every day next week to do what you've always wanted. Become what you know you are called to become. The end of my 20's brought the beginning of my 30's. The end of my 30's brought the beginning of my 40's, and I will end there. You all do not need to know my age. I will say I am young at heart! But, what I thought was going to be sad, or bad was really something new with new adventures, new friends, new family and the opportunity to learn more about myself, life and others.
ACTION STEP: Join me next week. Let's explore the Word of God and what He has to say about new starts. I am praying for you. I believe this year can be different. You can have what the Word of God says. Perhaps, I can say it in a way that you can hear like never before. I know God is telling me to do this. Perhaps it's for you. We have all had to start over in some area of our life. I was pondering about this and realized fresh beginnings, are not the same as a new start. Perhaps you've been married before? You know, a new start, in a new city, with a new husband, or wife, is not the same as the fresh beginning of falling in love for the first time. Remember, having your first house, your first job or your first child? New starts are a little harder. We go in with some preconceived notions. However, they are doable! I want to encourage you today to start new, regardless of how things were before. Things can be different now. Every day has a new beginning. You can start again. Why am I writing this to you today? By today several people have already broke their New Years Resolution. They have already forgot their "My One Word". Many are ready to throw in the towel. Perhaps, they were planning to do the 21 Day Fast and failed at that too. It is okay! God will never fail you. His mercies are new every morning. Go seize the day! Start again! You got this!
I know this word is for someone reading this. Drop me a line. I will encourage you. It is never too late, as long as you woke up and are breathing. ACTIONS STEP: Open that Bible! Start reading today. I don't care if it is one sentence. Just start! Before you do anything else tell God, "Good morning, help me today, be all you have called me to be." He hears us when we pray. Forgive yourself first. Don't even try to forgive everyone else. Forgive yourself. Next week we will pick up here. So, if you have friends that are struggling send this to them too. Monday through Friday we will journey together to make this your best year yet, no matter how it started! Many of you know that I started a "take care of yourself" regimen on October 15th after I returned from my annual Women of Witness Intensive. This regimen includes a 10 day cleanse, and then eating every 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours and then adding exercise once you are in the swing of things. I have been doing great on the program losing just over 15 lbs and 21 inches. I had more difficulty adding the gym due to my busy schedule. However, for the last 3 weeks I have faithfully been able to participate in a Spin Class. It has literally been an uphill climb. (pun intended) However, I am please to announce between Advocare and Spin classes I am changing my body and my mind. I have more energy and I sweat more. Yes, sweat more. Now before you close your laptop, or turn off your phone, hang with me. I was talking to God and He said, "I sweat too." Luke 22:42 (NIV) "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." In no way am I comparing what Jesus did with a workout class. No that's not it at all. What I was hearing is a confirmation of the word of God. God created us in His image, both male and female He created He them. (Genesis 2:27) God was just sharing with me that as His created being, I am like God. That I don't need to be embarrassed or ashamed because I am a sweaty mess, and a further thought is I am not working our nearly as hard as He did, to save me from my sins. One of those sins being, gluttony, laziness, not taking proper care of my temple. Sweating it not as much about how hard I worked in class, but how hard Jesus worked while on earth to insure I could even be here and enjoying my life. Today, is the last day of my 21 Day Fast that our church does every year. I have enjoyed it so much. No, not the Daniel eating or the juice fasting, but hearing from our Father so clearly about every little thing. It seems He is engaged in constant conversation with me, opening up more details about our similarities and our differences. God loves us and He longs to go everywhere and do everything with us. Truly He is a friend. I love this video below, it talks about coming alive and getting stronger. When we converse with God on a daily basis and He becomes our everything this it what happens to our mortal bodies, they become more like Him. ACTION STEP: Think about doing something that brings you back into the image of God. Do something that makes you stronger. Challenge yourself. Tell yourself what to do, down to what you eat or choose not to eat. Quiet your flesh with a fast. If you have never fasted before, try just three days. Then, you can work up over the years from there, to a ten day, to a fourteen day, and/or then to a twenty one day. You will be amazed at the things God talks to you about. I was. Joel 2:12 (NIV) "“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Colossians 2:2-7 (Message) "I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery. 3 All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery! 4 I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the Secret." 5 I'm a long way off, true, and you may never lay eyes on me, but believe me, I'm on your side, right beside you. I am delighted to hear of the careful and orderly ways you conduct your affairs, and impressed with the solid substance of your faith in Christ. 6 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. 7 You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving." If you've never loved someone and then lost that someone, you may not understand what I am about to share. If you love someone and know that they can never be in your life, sometimes it feels as though life is no longer worth living. We have so many dreams we want to share with the other person, and all that we are seems wrapped in their presence. Then they are gone. I lived this in 1980. My first born was delivered on March 31st only to find she had a severe heart abnormality. She lived sixteen days and then went back to Heaven. I wanted to go with her. She'd been part of all my dreams for eight long months. We hadn't seen her yet but she had changed our lives. It's amazing how you can never lay your eyes on someone, yet they rock your world and change you forever. God is like that. I've never seen Him, but I have felt Him. I was all of twenty-four years old and had looked forward to being a wife and mother all my life. She was my dream come true. I had felt her, but never seen her. After my short time with her I had to say, "Goodbye". I thought to myself, a mother should never have to let her child go, it should be the other way around. I tried to make deals with God, but you and I both know God doesn't make deals. So when she left, I wanted to go too. When I hear this song, I think of that young girl some thirty-nine years ago, and wish I could have treated her more gently and explained so many things to her I have learned in those thirty-nine years, but that too is not a deal I can make. So I surrender. Years have passed, I have let go of my dear daughter knowing I will be reunited with her in Heaven, but God has never let go of me. And He still holds her, even though I can't. Here is His presence I still don't understand everything, but I trust Him. I know He has only good planned out for my life. I don't know what you have had to release? I don't know what you are still holding on to? I do know that God will never let go of you. If you want released from all He has prepared for you, you will have to let go of Him.
ACTION STEP: If you are struggling with feelings of depression, go to the one who will never let go of you. God wants you with Him. When we see Him all our questions will be answered. Spend time in His presence. In His presence everything changes. You may be wondering how do you get in His presence? His word, the Bible is His language and in it He has a conversation with those who read it. It's unlike any other book you will ever read. It comes alive as you breathe it in and taste and see, in each word that it is life to those that find it. Go ahead and search for Him today, and you will find what you are looking for. "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" is the opening song from the musical Oklahoma!, which premiered on Broadway in 1943. It was written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The leading male character in Oklahoma!, Curly McLain, sings the song at the beginning of the first scene of the musical. The refrain runs: "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'! / Oh, what a beautiful day! / I've got a beautiful feelin' / Ev'rythin's goin' my way." Curly's "brimming optimism is perfectly captured by Rodgers' ebullient music and Hammerstein's buoyant pastoral lyrics." Due to a winter storm, all parts of all 50 states received sleet or snow cover on Wednesday, resulting in a weather phenomenon that hasn't happened since 2010, reports The Weather Channel. With the Blood Moon last night and all the prophecies I heard, "I have covered you with my Mercy". Now, I know not too many of you may feel that it is merciful to wake up to all of this snow, but look. Everything is white. Can you see the Father telling us I will offer you mercy? I will make your sins white as snow. Jesus wants to cleanse us America, of all of our sins. He has given us mercy. He has given us a time to repent. If we ask for forgiveness He is faithful to forgive us. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Isaiah 1:18 ""Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." ACTION STEP: This is the year of Harvest readers. It has been 9 years since this snow completely covering all 50 states. Nine is the number of harvest. As you look out at the snow this morning, be reminded of Romans 10:9-10 that says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Today could be your day, or the day of someone you love. Reminder today is Martin Luther King Day. Please take a minute to honor him and all he did and stood for.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.,[1] and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is an American federal holidaymarking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. Acts 2:17 (KJV) "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" I have always been a dreamer. Since I was a child I have dreamed. For the most part they are dreams from God and I know what they mean in part. Sometimes, I can interpret the entire dream whether it is a dream I have had, or a dream someone brings to me to interpret for them. However, at other times I am just stumped. It is during these times that I use this book. I have had it for years and they have recently changed the cover, but it is still available. Sometimes our dreams challenge us about things in our heart that we leave unattended. In the book “Dreams and Visions”, author Jane Hamon talks about a dream she had one night about wallpaper, something she and her husband had been working on when renovating their kitchen. In her dream, she was in a kitchen when all of a sudden the vines started growing from under the paint and taking over. In her dream, she wondered what was going on. That’s when the Lord responded, “This is what happens when you merely cover up things that are too difficult to deal with. They grow back.” After this dream, she began to reflect on things she had set aside so that she wouldn’t have to deal with the disappointment she was feeling. This dream brought healing to her heart as the Lord revealed that He was near her. He was there to bring healing. As she began to share this dream with others, God was able to use this message as a tool to bring healing to those who had been hurt, suffering or disappointed. Read more at https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/galleries/how-god-speaks-to-us-through-dreams-and-visions.aspx?p=2#Q7gM1B3md2wOJQIy.99 ACTION STEP: Begin to keep a journal and write down your dreams. If you don't dream ask God to give you a dream. When He does, be faithful to write it down. If you don't understand it, seek out someone who has the gift of interpreting dreams like Joseph did for Pharaoh. Also, consider purchasing the books above. I look forward to hearing about what God is doing in and through your dreams.
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AuthorRena Perozich is a wife, mother, nonna, mentor, author, and encourager. Her life's purpose is to become all God has called her to be and to encourage others to do the same. Learn more. Categories |
The Remarkable Blog is a publication of Rena Perozich.
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