THE COST OF SACRIFICE

Have you ever made a sacrifice for something or someone you love? Have you ever suffered a loss at great personal sacrifice?

I often think of my grandmother. She had 3 sons fighting in World War II at the same time. Her youngest son was killed by a sniper in the final days of the war, her kindest and handsomest son was shot in the neck and critically wounded and was physically scarred for life. Thankfully her third son returned home unharmed and even though she suffered great sorrow and loss, the war victory ensured freedom for her generation and generations to come. Victory had come at a great price and personal sacrifice.

I also think of my wonderful mama. She had 2 small children to raise alone in the 1950’s. No easy task ever, but in the 50’s there were very few opportunities for women. My sister’s father had been killed during the war and due to unfortunate circumstances she was divorced from my father. My grandmother was newly widowed and in her 60’s when we went to live with her. My mother worked at a sewing mill doing production work. Long weary days with no air conditioning in the summer and the constant pressure to produce volumes of quality work to ensure a paycheck at the end of the week. Times were very difficult and EVERY penny counted just to put food on the table. My mom’s work ethic and commitment to raising her children was born from a heart of great love. She loved me and my sister and was willing to do what was needed to care for us. Her love is and has always been unconditional and even though taking care of us was at great personal sacrifice, she did it willingly without reservation.

Sacrifice is rarely pleasant or pretty but it is always done out of great love. It is a love that is not self-serving or requires any kind of payback and usually shies away from a pat on the back or kudos. True sacrifice is always done in secret but the results are openly spectacular. Opportunities previously unavailable are now common occurrences and unlimited potential abounds…… Sacrifice pays the price.

So I ask again, have you ever made a sacrifice for something or someone you love or have you ever suffered a loss at great personal sacrifice?

I think if you really take a hard look at yourself you will find we are very spoiled ungrateful people these days. We live in an age of self gratification and it is amazing how far we go to justify whatever it is we want to do. We have ventured a great distance from the center of all life and are paying a high price for soiled goods.

Whether you believe it or not, life doesn’t just happen. There really is a God. We did not just evolve out of a lake of muck and goo but were wonderfully and fearfully made in the image of our Creator, the Lord God Almighty. He loves you and He loves me and has made the greatest sacrifice of all times. He paid the highest price that could ever be paid to purchase what is essential for our survival and well being. He has ensured that we will live forever and never perish. We are defined by this free gift purchased out of the supreme sacrifice of His son….JESUS.

Wherever you are in this life, it is never too late to invite Jesus into your heart and become born again. It is the greatest gift you will ever receive. Today is the best day to start life anew.

“For God So Love the World that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The Only Voice That Matters

Have you noticed how many voices are speaking in our world today? It seems everywhere you turn everyone has an opinion. And these opinions are as varied and numerous as the stars in the sky.

Every media is an authority on any subject you would want to discuss. Television certainly drives its agenda with a vengeance, social media is all over the map and the internet, well who can come close to describing what goes on there.

With just a click of a button there is unlimited access to resources, true and otherwise, and in this saturated information environment you would assume that humanity as a whole would be in a very good place. So why do we have multitudes feeling unsafe, insecure, frightened and just plain uncertain about what to do next. Could it be we are listening to the wrong voices?

Proverbs 16:25 says: There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death. You see God is the great communicator and He is always speaking to us. He created us in His image so we have unlimited potential and ability to hear, but this potential can only be realized by being connected to the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, the One and Only God, the One who wrote the users manual.

It is by reading the Word of God and allowing the Lord to speak His revelation knowledge that allows us to be able to have wisdom and understanding for any situation we find ourselves facing. It is having a personal, intimate relationship with the designer and manufacturer so to speak. We get all kinds of insight and secrets just by spending time with Him. After all, He sees the complete picture, past, present and future.

Even with all the voices clamoring in the world today, it is a  comfort to know we have access to the ONLY VOICE THAT MATTERS……that we can come boldly to God’s throne to see and hear the mysteries and secrets of His creation and experience the great and mighty things He has in store for those that love Him.

Jeremiah 33:3 says: Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize or have knowledge of and or understand)

Living In The Light

Have you ever found yourself in the dark? Whether it’s being outside when the sun goes down, walking through the house at night or finding yourself in an elevator when the power goes out, being in the dark is just not a secure feeling.

Not knowing exactly where my feet are headed, what they may be stepping on or what lies ahead can cause me to be quite anxious and through the years I have discovered over and over again just how wonderful it is to walk and live in the light.

As human beings, we need light. It is essential to our bodies for mental and physical wellness. It energizes us and allows us to function at full capacity and without it we become depressed and lethargic. And so natural light is a life giving matter…. but natural light is not all the light we need. We also need spiritual light. As a matter of fact, spiritual illumination is the most essential light of all.

And so, I am again amazed how our heavenly Father created the natural realm to exactly mirror the spirit realm. The light that comes from His word leads and directs us along every kind of path and allows us to be sure footed in all things. Psalms 119:105 says: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

It is His light that allows us to see, not just where we are walking, but where we are going. His light shines bright to dispel all fear and anxiety. It allows us to see His goodness and gives us the freedom to trust Him in all things.

Psalm 27:13 says: I would have despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Our God wants us to see His goodness. He wants us to believe every Word and promise He has spoken to us and to believe that He is always for us and not against us and that He will never forsake us in our weaknesses.

Our God is greater than all things. He IS life. Full of light and glory, He desires to flood us with His abundant supernatural energizing life. Let us commit ourselves to reading, listening and believing His word and allow His goodness to overtake us.

Are You Ready?

This past year has been especially trying for me personally. Many of my convictions have been challenged and in my despair I have found myself returning again and again on my knees to the foot of the Cross seeking consolation and answers. Since I have always been able to press through and hear the voice of the Lord this uncharted territory has been unsettling to say the least. This new and different season has brought many more questions than answers but I am beginning to understand that my faith is being tried by fire and that what is starting to emerge is pure gold.

You see, the Cross of Jesus offers so much more than we can ever comprehend. It opens a world to us that is so alien and unimaginable in our human mindset, that it takes divine revelation to see what has been provided for us and that God does not live in a box or in the limitations of our understanding. He is never surprised or taken off guard and He knows everything that is going on in our lives. He is not only the Creator of the universe; He is our Master, our Shepherd, our Provider, our Healer, our Deliverer, our Counselor, our Rock, our Redeemer, our loving and caring FATHER…..

All these things are not just titles; they are what He actually is to us as sons and daughters and as we humble ourselves before His throne, He builds a firm foundation in us that can not be shaken, for this world is being shaken and shaken violently. But our Father is positioning His children to not just endure, but to overcome and live victoriously having need of nothing. He is strengthening the very fiber of our beings and causing us to be whole and healthy and He is allowing us to see that He can be trusted in all things.

It is His still small voice that I always long to hear, but it is His resounding display of power starting to arise in His children that is stirring in my heart and in the hearts of His beloved. He is truly worthy of our praise and adoration and NOTHING can stop His plans and purposes for this world. It is my prayer that as the fulfillment of time begins to unfold, that as His children we will compel and invite all who are lost to come meet our Savior and Lord and that no one will be left behind. For no one knows the time or season Jesus will return………

A Heart to Dream

God is always sending things our way to inspire us. He uses all kinds of avenues to expand the horizons of our hearts and to fan the flames of our dreams and expectations. He is the very one who plants these desires in us in the first place and He watches over every opportunity to fulfill our imaginings. And so it is this very stage that has been set for our success that becomes the intense battleground to rob us of our victories. For there is such a war raging against us, that we forget there is a real enemy actively working to confound us at every turn.

But our Father does not leave us defenseless. He has the amazing ability to turn everything that was meant for our destruction into a triumph. And that conquest urges us on toward the high calling of God in our individual and corporate lives. And that is what it is all about…..completing the personal assignment in this life that we were created for.

There is no one else who can achieve what we were designed to do and there is no one else who sees things the way we do. We are all unique in our gifts and expressions and have a contribution to make to the world that is exclusive to us. It’s the dreaming of God’s dreams for us in the intimate places of our hearts that helps us to see the finish line and empowers us to continue on when the going gets tough.

We are one of a kind, irreplaceable, rare, distinctive, exceptional and when we place ourselves in the hands of our Creator, we become alive with unimaginable potential and it is this promise of possibility that will…. lay hands on the sick and they will recover, raise the dead, cast out devils, and preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Freely giving what we have freely received from Jesus our resurrected Savior.

Let us never forget what hangs in the balance. There is a lost and dying world waiting to see and hear what only we can share……….the Good News of Jesus.

Now to Him Who, by and in consequence of the action of His power that is at work within us, is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams--