Getting close to God #2 Be sincere and honest with your saviour.
NO JOKE a lighter yoke……..
This is no YOKE ….his yoke is easy. (Laura Grace) So Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden light. This woman is not having a hard time but what if she were to take on more on one side or the other say ….10 or 20 pounds more? There are 57 references to the word YOKE in the bible. In Nahum God said “NO MORE” he was going to break the enemies yoke!
IF you feel overburdened and your heart feels heavy: best to find out why. God doesn’t do that to you.
His anointing “bre…aks the yoke’ of bondage.” You should feel less burdened not more with Jesus. so if you are carrying the weight of the world Christians, best to find out why that is (really.). Thank you Lord for breaking the yokes of bondage. Fears, oppressions, taking on more than we should: Yeah, all that stuff! and Amen!
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Words of Jesus) .
Pain changes people …………How do we restore them?
It’s true. I miss this one song we used to sing in church “I’m healing you sayeth the Lord, restoring you, sayeth the Lord” Making you whole “for I am the Lord your God…….”
So often a person never gets the chance to be restored if someone is ‘on their case’ about what they are doing wrong all the time. It’s really important to get to know people before we jump to conclusions. what have they been through? Do they want to be restored? If so how can we help that to happen? Souls (even though a person is born again) can need healing. Jesus is #1 into reconciling people to God #2 healing and restoring them #3 training them HIS way to do what they were called by him to do! In between they have to take care of jobs, family and take care of business and he knows that also. he is not into over burdening people with more burdens they cannot bear. #knowtherealjesus -Laura Grace, Author #Grace to Grow and more to come.
The bible: It’s still Good news to the believer……..amen
IT’s STILL GOOD NEWS! ……..
Soak…..look into….inquire…………plant…….water…….grow……
if you are a believer you’re now supposed to be built up, encouraged, growing………The law is there to help us see we sinned and needed a savior…………
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Do children thrive and grow better with encouragement and love or with guilt and condemnation?…..(or shame)…….
The gospel is good news! (continually) and amen.
Justification by Faith Pauls’ letter to the Galatians:
3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth,[a] before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you[b] as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
The Law Brings a Curse
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith. 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”, 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Therefore do not give me “that old time religion” ….
amen.
Peace!
Good Morning my friends! God never changes, you know? He’s still the Prince of Peace! The mirror was dark in the Old Testament because it was a shadow of things to come. (therefore a darkened shadowy picture of the Lord.) So now in the beginning the Angels said “Peace on Earth” (when Jesus was born.) So He spoke peace to the earth. In this passage in Jeremiah we see God saying to the prophet:
Jeremiah 29: “pray” for the city where you were sent into exile, for if it prospers you will prosper as well” Here they were sent into exile into a strange land and God is saying “don’t worry” Pray for them to be blessed! In the New Testament in Matthew 5; Jesus has now come on the scene and preaches; “Blessed are the Peacemakers” “blessed are the Merciful” blessed are the meek!”
Hey if you are being abrasive and stirring things up wherever you go THAT is not being a peacemaker. IT doesn’t mean compromise either; which is why the Lord made a reference to being pure in heart (and how do things become pure I ask you?)
When the heat is on; the metal or gold is refined. Why would it feel this way? Well because it’s a trial to believe in things nobody else believes right now. Don’t be all upset! this is your time (to shine) and believe God to be a peacemaker, another son, another merciful vessel prepared to receive those who formerly did not want to know God; but change their minds and are determined to know him. I ask you; how can we be prepared to help anyone Receive the Good news if we are all upset about what is going on in this world? When Jesus came to earth he was not upset. He calmly sat down and begin to teach the things he knew would be helpful and bring sanity and clarity to a turbulent world rocked with pain and suffering. Peace! To you to your household and to your city….in Jesus’ name! Never underestimate the power of your influence in the world around you. Laura Grace 
Author and light bearer in my corner of the world.
The MIrror
The Mirror: …….by Laura Grace
When we look into the word of God and read it it’s like looking in a mirror. We see Jesus and we see ourselves and we see where we don’t look quite LIKE HIM…..so we begin to pray we do look more like him.
Pretty soon we begin to see his traits develop in us. this is a prayer Journey and a growing Journey. Most people want to just put their Jesus clothes on and dress up like him but at the end of the day the clothes do not fit. Better to be patience and …behold him and let him change you from Glory to Glory than to rush and be deceived into thinking you are further along than you actually are.
It’s not fair to the others who want overnight success to lead them to believe there is such a thing. The truth is the journey of becoming Christ like is a long Journey and we develop day by day.
We are Saved (born again) but LIKE babies we need to grow and nobody likes to hear that. Everyone wants to believe to be an overnight success story or “instant Jesus” like add water and POOF……..
it doesn’t work that way.WE need to look in the mirror our ownselves and allow God’s Spirit to show us what is what. read books go to church….but don’t let that take the place of your personal relationship with God. Laura Grace Author of Grace to the Rescue, Grace to grow and more upcoming books.
Titus 3:3-7… a passage that captures every Christ follower’s personal testimony!
Peace!
I was thinking about Peace this morning. If we think about how Jesus said in the beginning “blessed are the peacemakers’ and later on he told the disciples (Apostles) to speak Peace everywhere they went……….and then he said a profound thing: “If they don’t receive you the peace will come back to you.” God intends for us to be at peace with people who do not receive us. Another passage of scripture says if we are righteous “even our enemies’ will be at peace with us.
This is actually a future thing (the Lion laying down with the lamb) and one of those “thy kingdom come” blessings. WE do not have to compromise our beliefs in order to be at Peace with those around us. Whenever I have what I would consider to be an enemy or someone “attacks me” I always pray God will bring peace. It’s the very first thing I pray for. What about you?
Loving myself by Accepting what I cannot change…….a preview from Grace to Grow study Guide coming soon……….by Laura Grace
Common sense Christianity and walking in the Spirit —-what is it?
Have you ever seen a kid throw a tantrum and refuse to go anywhere? I have, and more than one time too. You can pick the child up and make them go; or you can sit down and talk with them and ask them what is going on that they cannot seem to move forward. Common sense Christianity says there are times you need help or you won’t be able to move forward. Legalism says do it or die.
Yes, relationships can be very hard, they seriously can be. One of the first letters Minister Diamond ever wrote me was about accepting what I cannot change. Oh I did not want to hear this. I was so upset and I said: “isn’t that like giving up?” He said no, it’s actually selfish to not accept what you cannot change about a person. Whew! I did not wish to hear this either.
I guess if I am honest; I’ve tried to change a lot of people in my life time. One of the justifications for my doing this actually came from this passage: “Since we know what it is to fear God, we try to persuade men.” (Paraphrased.) It’s so easy to cross the line from testifying to arguing; then go from arguing to debating; after that maybe even a full blown fight. Why? Because deep down we are afraid.
When we believe something strongly and someone else does not (especially a spouse or children) we tend to get all agitated and up in arms. Sometimes it’s justified (we think) because we are trying to save their very lives; which crosses over into “saving their souls.” There is even another passage that suggests if we win souls we are wise, however it didn’t mean getting into a knock-down drag out over the cause.
Let’s get an example going, shall we? My grandchildren are watching movies that I believe are going to hurt them spiritually, let’s say. It’s my personal revelation that these movies could cause them to have nightmares, bad dreams or they may even have a seed planted by the enemy which could wreak havoc in their lives later; all because of these television shows. As their grandma; I am concerned so I pray and feel led to go and “say something’ to the parents; who tell me it’s none of my business, please butt out.
Here’s another example; I have a friend who is drinking so much it’s affecting their finances, their job and their relationships. I’m praying for them; and I’ve even made a suggestion maybe they should examine their ways. The friend also told me this was “none of my business” or got very upset at me.
There is a prayer used in support groups that goes like this: “Lord, help me to accept what I cannot change, courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” This prayer was inspired by a person who wanted to truly help others to mature and grow. The prayer I believe has lost a bit of its luster through the years with all the repetition; but it’s still a very great prayer.
What can we change? We can distance ourselves from a situation that upsets us. We can also pray for that person. We can try to be a great example, we can write a book (like I am doing) and hope they read it. We can worry, fret, cry, wring our hands, pound on the table, have a big fit, tell them how stupid they are; or we can just accept what we cannot change and go pray about it.
I know, it seems like we don’t care if we say nothing, right? Heaven forbid we should become one of those complacent go-with-the-flow type people who never get ruffled up about anything. I am starting to wonder if many people are drawn to the more charismatic type churches just because they equate “on fire’ with “all fired up” about something. As I grow more and as I develop more into God’s ways I find that a lot of things I used to get all upset about just are not worth getting upset about any longer.
Why? Because I couldn’t change it anyway. My blood pressure went up and I was so angry about things sometimes I was not being very kind to myself. What good did I do getting all upset like that?
Let’s try another exercise here. Write down three things that upset you that you wish you could change right now. It can be about the whole world or something in your family or one of your friends.
Now write down how you think you can change it. If you cannot truly think of a way to change it, why not pray about it and just let it go? Examine why you cannot let it go. Ask God to help you with this.
I have had so many things come up in my walk upon this earth that I could not seem to “let go” it isn’t even funny. I know there is a song that plays on the radio at times; it talks about letting go as well. It used to every time I heard that song I would equate “letting go” with “giving up” and I felt like I was a big failure in the kingdom of God if I did not keep fighting and warring against the problem.
I know there is spiritual warfare, but I also know the God who said we should be at peace; be content; be merciful; be forgiving; be loving and be kind; also talked to us about spiritual warfare. Surely he did not intend for us to get out of the spirit of love, kindness, gentleness, self-control and all his other attributes while we are warring in the spirit, right? I mean would he actually say that? I can almost hear him now; “Okay friends, drop the fruit and start the battle!” “Heads will roll today; none of my other words to you applies today we are all going to be “sons of thunder.”
Do you see why Jesus told his disciples when they wanted to call down fire from heaven “they didn’t know” what spirit they were of?
PEACE! How do you get it?
accepting what I cannot change: by Laura Grace I was reading an old letter from “Minister Diamond.”
he used to tell me I need to accept what I cannot change. It made me upset so I said that is like giving up. He said it’s not giving up, it’s wisdom. And he said it’s selfish not to accept what we can’t change…….because if we don’t we are not leaving it up to God what to do about it.
He said also that it’s not faith if we don’t accept (and give it up to God what to do about it). So I started to pray I could accept what I can’t change and change me. I didn’t like “ACCEPTING” But I had to otherwise I’d go crazy.
Make me more Christ like I prayed…..”Make me be what you want Father…..the whole time deliberately ignoring what I could not change.”
This was the real beginning of my Journey…other than I had been convinced I was in the secret place with God, he was not going to leave me……… So what happened is I began to get happier, fruit of the spirit began to emerge in my life…….soon I was growing. I know it seems like such an insignificant secret (accepting) but it’s a lot more powerful than you think it is …….and ……you will be at peace as well. A very nice fringe benefit.
-Laura Grace, author of Grace to Rescue and Grace to Grow.
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